<p>Hi, I’m really interested in a engineering/comp science degree and I really want to make 6 figures. What other degrees (bachelors) and majors would pair well with an engineering/computer science degree? I plan to apply to UT Austin, U Michigan-Ann Arbor, Carnegie Mellon, UC Berkeley, U Illinois-Urbana Champaign, and Georgia Tech.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend a double major. For your academic credentials, employers only care about your grades, where you went to school, and your major. A double major doesn’t add much. You could use the extra time to get better grades in your one major and do different activities that could help your job prospects. If you want to increase your starting salary, you might want to consider getting a master’s; a phd wont add much if anything to your salary.</p>
<p>Are you interested in engineering or the 6 figures?</p>
<p>You’d get more bang for the proverbial buck if you focus on CS. Aggressively pursue internships with top organizations, get lots of experience, and take an impressive course load - possibly getting a MS in one of the 5-year combined programs (or, stay the extra year and get even more internship experience). Experience + focus = lots of money.</p>
<p>But you shouldn’t do it for the money.[/nag]</p>
<p>Get a Petroleum Engineering degree, and do internships. Or just do what everyone else does who wants 6 figures and become a doctor or lawyer.</p>
<p>I am very interested in engineering and the 6 figures. If i had to choose one, i’d go w/ engineering. i’d rather pursue something i enjoy.</p>
<p>Another hint from a practicing engineer with 30 years experience… </p>
<p>Work is like 3 different things: 1. Fun (do you do interesting stuff or not). 2. Stability (is it here today gone tomorrow or for life) and 3. Compensation. </p>
<p>Usually you get to pick 2. Jobs that are ‘fun’ tend to either be in companies that don’t pay much (startups living on the founder’s Visa) and / or are not stable (thousands laid off from places like Zynga, Groupon, dot coms, etc).</p>
<p>Jobs that are boring and don’t pay all that well are usually for life or pretty stable. A lot of government jobs are like that (not all). </p>
<p>Jobs that pay a lot of money usually involve relatively boring work or don’t last as long (stability wise).</p>
<p>So, choose what you want. In my case I chose fun + stability, so I’m nearly 30 years with the same company. They know I won’t quit anytime soon, as I love what I do and the people I work with, so they don’t need to up the ante. </p>
<p>And so on. Also, the six figure engineer in his/her 30’s is expected to produce commensurate with his/her salary. Fun stops being fun if one has to work 60 hours a week like my wife does, money or no money.</p>
<p>Great perspective. Really led me to rethink about how my career will pan out.</p>
<p>I’m glad it helped. My wife pursues the fun + high rewards part in IT consulting, and has done well but rarely for long stretches. Stable assignments are boring, fun assignments last as much as the VC funding (i.e. often not much). She finally came to her senses and chose stability and fun over high pay as well.</p>