u/Glad_Department6137

CMU beats every Ivy, and the range within elite schools is wider than you'd expect.

National Universities:

#	University	Median Earnings
1	Carnegie Mellon University	$268,121
2	University of Pennsylvania	$241,380
3	University of California--Los Angeles	$228,705
4	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	$225,141
5	Cornell University	$223,309
6	Princeton University	$217,973
7	Stanford University	$214,907
8	Brown University	$214,479
9	University of California--Berkeley	$204,379
10	Harvard University	$203,169
11	Dartmouth College	$201,702
12	California Institute of Technology	$200,511
13	Johns Hopkins University	$196,467
14	Duke University	$195,809
15	Columbia University	$194,365
16	University of Southern California	$192,897
17	Yale University	$188,157
18	Rice University	$182,443
19	University of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign	$181,981
20	University of Chicago	$178,068
21	Washington University in St. Louis	$177,066
22	University of Washington	$175,616
23	University of Michigan--Ann Arbor	$172,904
24	Santa Clara University	$163,765
25	Northwestern University	$163,740
26	Northeastern University	$163,708
27	Vanderbilt University	$160,021
28	Emory University	$159,541
29	University of California--San Diego	$159,487
30	Tufts University	$156,343
31	University of Rochester	$155,464
32	University of Texas--Austin	$155,168
33	University of Maryland--College Park	$152,422
34	George Washington University	$150,716
35	Georgia Institute of Technology	$150,628
36	University of California--Santa Barbara	$149,190
37	University of Virginia	$148,175
38	Stony Brook University	$147,064
39	Purdue University--West Lafayette	$146,685
40	University of California--Davis	$145,422
41	Virginia Tech	$144,103
42	Georgetown University	$143,900
43	Case Western Reserve University	$143,580
44	Boston College	$143,204
45	University of Notre Dame	$142,970
46	New York University	$142,495
47	Lehigh University	$141,691
48	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	$141,528
49	Rochester Institute of Technology	$138,679
50	Stevens Institute of Technology	$138,468
51	University of Utah	$137,329
52	University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill	$137,047
53	Boston University	$136,667
54	Worcester Polytechnic Institute	$134,208
55	University of California--Irvine	$132,357
56	Villanova University	$130,585
57	Texas A&M University--College Station	$129,401
58	University of Florida	$128,140
59	William & Mary	$127,851
60	Rutgers University--New Brunswick	$125,303
61	University of California--Santa Cruz	$124,641
62	Ohio State University	$123,731
63	University of Massachusetts--Amherst	$123,519
64	Brandeis University	$123,460
65	University of Colorado--Boulder	$121,952
66	University of Miami	$121,589
67	Oregon State University	$121,405
68	Syracuse University	$120,773
69	Pennsylvania State University--University Park	$120,729
70	University of Illinois Chicago	$120,470
71	University of Wisconsin--Madison	$120,068
72	University of Minnesota--Twin Cities	$119,781
73	George Mason University	$117,942
74	University of California--Riverside	$117,705
75	University of Arizona	$117,451
76	Michigan State University	$116,905
77	University of Nebraska--Lincoln	$116,221
78	Wake Forest University	$115,493
79	Arizona State University	$114,868
80	Indiana University--Bloomington	$114,199
81	North Carolina State University	$113,478
82	University of Delaware	$111,520
83	University of Pittsburgh	$110,417
84	University at Buffalo--SUNY	$109,221
85	University of Texas at Dallas	$109,015
86	University of Georgia	$107,397
87	University of Central Florida	$106,680
88	University of Tennessee--Knoxville	$106,312
89	Iowa State University	$105,753
90	UC Merced	$102,575
91	University of Iowa	$88,264

Liberal Arts Colleges (wherever data is available)

#	LAC	Median Earnings
1	Pomona College	$217,051
2	Williams College	$209,574
3	Harvey Mudd College	$198,257
4	Wellesley College	$177,213
5	Colgate University	$161,980
6	Bucknell University	$156,885
7	Swarthmore College	$150,942
8	Amherst College	$142,680
9	Bowdoin College	$137,611
10	Oberlin College	$129,395
11	Middlebury College	$128,471
12	Vassar College	$124,469
13	St. Olaf College	$122,912
14	Carleton College	$121,569
15	Mount Holyoke College	$120,021
16	University of Richmond	$112,621
17	Grinnell College	$109,892
18	Macalester College	$109,457
19	Skidmore College	$104,708
20	Lake Forest College	$77,554

Caveats

• College Scorecard only includes graduates who received Federal Title IV aid (Pell grants and/or federal subsidized/unsubsidized loans). International students, full-pay domestic students, and anyone else who didn't take Title IV aid are excluded.
• The earnings figures come from IRS tax records — W-2 Box 1 (wages/tips/comp) and Box 12 (deferred comp), plus Schedule SE of Form 1040 for self-employment — not self-reported surveys. This tends to run more accurate than survey-based rankings, since self-reported income skews high (bigger earners are more likely to respond).
• The location of each graduate's job isn't known, so none of this is adjusted for cost of living.

the main reason im asking on this subreddit is because India's one of the most cutthroat countries in the world when it comes to, well, essentially anything, and quant is (likely?) no exception based on my limited analysis of user interactions on thus subreddit.

the way you guys are preparing-be it research, projects, resources/reference materials you use to study, how much grinding leetforces and codeforces is important-I am just looking for help and advice on that front. I believe if I don't lose my Indian edge and competitive grind mindset in the US ill be already putting myself at an advantage compared to my domestic peers.

bhai log kindly madat kardo.

So, for context, I am looking to get into the field of Quantitative Finance. I know next to nothing about this field, except that I can make a buttload of money, and a lot of my friends want to do it as well.

What I do know is that it involves a lot of heavy mathematics and computational knowledge to the core of algorithms and how they work, not just knowing how to implement them. And being really good at logic puzzles and math. I feel like these are some of my strong suits. I feel like I'm pretty good at math. I've always loved math and did a bunch of olympiads and competitive math contests in high school, so that should help me out. I've been programming since I was 12.

Now I know I've got a long way to go, which is why I am planning on specializing soon as I get into my second year. Here are my broadly laid out objectives for what I want to accomplish within the next few years, starting from when I'm in college to when I graduate and beyond.

In college, I want to intern at leading quant firms as early as my second year. I know that is a very aspirational goal to have, but I am willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish it, be it lab work, research, self-studying, buying any reference books or materials, and working through them to improve my problem-solving ability, grinding LeetCode problems. Anything really. And I'm willing to put in the work.

It's just I need somebody to help guide me and help me develop a systematic roadmap of what exactly do I need to do from day 1 on-campus so I can get a head start, because I know this field is exceptionally competitive. What can I do to get a head start ahead of the others who are going to be applying with me for internships to ensure that I have the best possible chance of being accepted? Because I don't go to one of the top five targets that they recruit heavily from, so I know my resume is not going to automatically clear a filter.

Of course, on top of that, maintaining a good GPA and doing well in all my classes is a must, and I'm going to ensure that, but I'm mainly looking for advice on supplementary stuff that I have to focus on. Like any particular type of projects as well I should be doing, just to beef up my GitHub.

UC Berkeley is ranked 29th on this list, and there are some, pretty questionable colleges above it. Their peer UC, UCLA, is absent from the list entirely. Is this list something we should take seriously, or is it just another QS?

https://news.linkedin.com/2026/linkedin-top-colleges-2026-the-50-best-colleges-for-long-term-career-success-in-the-us

I'm 18, and I'm supposed to be heading off to college in about 6 weeks. The doctor said that I should be able to heal relatively quickly. Although the post-surgery inflammation pain has died down severely, and I have been able to get some good sleep in the past two days, I don't know how much I'm going to be able to do. I'm scared my arm is never going to get back to its original strength.

I've been trying to do some research, and apparently not having the hardware removed can lead to complications over time. The doctor's even saying that because I'm only 18, I should get it removed, but I just don't want another operation. I'm just trying to figure this out.

My first priority is having the cast and stitches removed. Following that, I have been moving my fingers. I can move most of my fingers relatively well, except my thumb. My thumb is the hardest to move so far, and that's part of the reason why I can't make a closed fist yet fully.

He says that it will take at least 4 months for me to fully regain my strength and 2 months before I hit the gym. A lot of my forearm muscle's going to be wasted because of a lack of movement. Honestly, I don't want to be the weird kid who pulls up to college with surgery scars on my arm and then, when I go to the gym, I'm lifting 4 lb dumbbells, 5 lb dumbbells because my arm is dysfunctional. Plus, apparently it says online that I can't even do certain exercises like pull-ups and push-ups, anything really that might put even a bit too much strain on my forearm, even when the bone's fully healed.

Can anybody who's undergone this procedure for a similar type of fracture and has now recovered fully share their experience? Were they able to do everything they could do before? Did the hardware ever cause complications down the line?

I am an incoming student this fall at UCLA for computer science and engineering. As a freshman, I had applied to 10 colleges in the US, of which I was waitlisted from two, accepted to one, and rejected from the other seven. As you can probably tell, UCLA was the only one that accepted me, while Berkeley and CMU waitlisted me.

However, my dream program had always been Berkeley's EECS, which consistently ranks among the best in the entire world, literally in the top five, and has a much more vibrant startup culture, which is what I would like to get involved in. I understand that UCLA's program isn't bad by any stretch of the imagination either, but compared to Berkeley's EECS, it just doesn't compare, really.

For context, I'm an international student, so I'll be full pay either way. I will be in both top 20 programs, so my sponsor won't cut my sponsorship if I transfer. I've researched this, and apparently UC-to-UC transfers are almost impossible if you don't have a good reason. I just don't know if I'll be able to do the things I want, like research, internships, startup ventures, accelerators, and stuff, at UCLA as much as I would be able to at Berkeley.

I (an incoming freshman) submitted the CAR around 4 weeks ago, and am yet to hear anything from the housing team. I emailed them and they said that if there's an update I'll be notified via email.

I just wanted to ask current UCLA students, especially those who previously went through this process, what's it like, what's the likelihood of the CAR being approved or not (particularly for transfers into Rieber because I've heard it is a relatively popular hall especially for incoming freshman), and given the deadline for submitting a CAR is July 15, with all final decisions to be made by August, by when if I do not hear back should I accept I'm not getting approved?

For additional context, the reason for switching was roommates (which I mentioned on the form) whom I connected with via the ucla2030.bios page, and I've also now joined their roommate group via the housing portal (but that was after submitting the CAR so don't know if the housing team can see it).

I was admitted for the class of 2030, not as a recruited athlete. im hugely passionate about soccer, have regularly represented my school team at state tourneys and also played competitive club ball outside school. after graduation things have calmed down a bit, but id like to get back into competitive soccer in college and for it to form a big part of my ucla experience. ig my question would be, how can I go about doing this? is it very very hard to walk on, even if you're good enough?

*Intl student in the context of each university that I applied to last cycle*

Although I applied to the US, UK, as well as Singapore, my dream had always been to study in the US. I know the political climate is highly unstable, especially for immigrants, and I know that I could literally get booted out the country any moment, but the idea of studying in America just appealed to me so much.

I shot my shot basically, and got rejected from almost everywhere. Except UCLA, UC Berkeley, and CMU. Of 10 applications, 7 were outright rejections, but these three were waitlists. While the Berkeley and CMU waitlists didn't yield anything yet and likely won't, I did end up getting off the UCLA waitlist a couple weeks ago, and my dream actually had life. The problem was that UCLA being a state university understandably gives no aid at all to international students. I would be expected to pay around 75k a year out of pocket for four years straight. Although my parents can afford it, it would be a significant financial investment for them, and I would be expected to make something big of myself to ensure their money doesn't go to waste.

Outside the US, I got accepted to Edinburgh, Imperial, and King's in the UK (sadly no Cambridge :(), and NTU and NUS in Singapore. While the UK unis gave me nothing, and NTU didn't offer me much either, I was awarded a 100% scholarship at NUS, as well as fully-funded living costs, monthly allowances, and a stipend as part of being accepted to their honor's college program on top of my scholarship. The biggest issue is that the scholarship requires me to first take up the MOE tuition grant, which is bonded. In other words, if I take it up, I'll have to stay in Singapore for three years after graduation and work for a company registered in the country.

I've been living in Singapore as an expat my whole life basically. I want to leave this country. I want to go out and explore the world while getting the best education possible, and UCLA seemed like the no-brainer choice. Would it be unfair for me to put my parents through the financial stress however? It won't put them in debt, but it will take up around 65% of my family's combined annual income, and affect them noticeably. I've heard Imperial is also pretty good, but the UK job market for tech (I applied CS/AI/ML everywhere) is pretty crap and so I was quite put off by that.

So tl:dr, I've been accepted to UCLA, NUS, NTU, and Imperial, and am unsure where to commit. Additional factors and circumstances explained above. Any advice/input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :)

*Intl student in the context of each university that I applied to last cycle*

Although I applied to the US, UK, as well as Singapore, my dream had always been to study in the US. I know the political climate is highly unstable, especially for immigrants, and I know that I could literally get booted out the country any moment, but the idea of studying in America just appealed to me so much.

I shot my shot basically, and got rejected from almost everywhere. Except UCLA, UC Berkeley, and CMU. Of 10 applications, 7 were outright rejections, but these three were waitlists. While the Berkeley and CMU waitlists didn't yield anything yet and likely won't, I did end up getting off the UCLA waitlist a couple weeks ago, and my dream actually had life. The problem was that UCLA being a state university understandably gives no aid at all to international students. I would be expected to pay around 75k a year out of pocket for four years straight. Although my parents can afford it, it would be a significant financial investment for them, and I would be expected to make something big of myself to ensure their money doesn't go to waste.

Outside the US, I got accepted to Edinburgh, Imperial, and King's in the UK (sadly no Cambridge :(), and NTU and NUS in Singapore. While the UK unis gave me nothing, and NTU didn't offer me much either, I was awarded a 100% scholarship at NUS, as well as fully-funded living costs, monthly allowances, and a stipend as part of being accepted to their honor's college program on top of my scholarship. The biggest issue is that the scholarship requires me to first take up the MOE tuition grant, which is bonded. In other words, if I take it up, I'll have to stay in Singapore for three years after graduation and work for a company registered in the country.

I've been living in Singapore as an expat my whole life basically. I want to leave this country. I want to go out and explore the world while getting the best education possible, and UCLA seemed like the no-brainer choice. Would it be unfair for me to put my parents through the financial stress however? It won't put them in debt, but it will take up around 65% of my family's combined annual income, and affect them noticeably. I've heard Imperial is also pretty good, but the UK job market for tech (I applied CS/AI/ML everywhere) is pretty crap and so I was quite put off by that.

So tl:dr, I've been accepted to UCLA, NUS, NTU, and Imperial, and am unsure where to commit. Additional factors and circumstances explained above. Any advice/input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks :)

So I am an incoming freshman at UCLA this fall and I have no family near LA. Maybe a few distant relatives and family friends who I've met once or twice in my life, but nobody who I can genuinely call up anytime I need help.

I've also never been to LA, and this fall will be pretty much the first time.

I have two questions. Firstly, my on campus housing assignment was a plaza triple at sunset village. One of the main reasons I'm so excited about UCLA is the massive social scene and dorm culture. Based on my limited research, it seems like sunset village while modern and comfy, is not best suited to this. It's quaint, isolated from most other classic dorms like Rieber, and quiet for the most part. Is there any way I can go about getting it changed, and if so what are your recommendations?

Secondly, when it comes to selecting the meal plans, I can't find how much each costs, but like for example 19 premier sounds pretty good especially with the accumulating and stuff, but will it be worth the price, because it also sounds pretty damn expensive. And also, will I need to get 19 meals on campus every week, like would there not be functions, parties, other social gatherings and events where I'll get to eventually eat some of my meals and not need the full 19? Idk, I'm just tryna get a cost-benefit analysis to find which meal plan is most convenient and affordable.

Anybody else on here who also applied and got accepted? I applied as a solo participant and am looking for others who are looking for a team member to potentially work on a submission for the hackathon together.

Anybody else from here who applied and got accepted?

it's been so fucking hard Jesus. First of all, there's like 10 different accounts on Instagram saying that you can get posted there, and it's some sort of UCLA 2030 variant. I tried getting posted on ucla2030.bios and holy shit, is it so much work? First off, you gotta get posted through an external app called meetyourclass, and is it just me, or is it hella dead on there? I thought I could get roommates directly from that without having to even wait to get posted on ig and I was kind of happy at first. But even after my account got approved, I got like three profile views and zero people reached out (am I chopped chat). I looked through the feed, and none of the posts on meetyourclass itself had any comments or shares. There were two group chats on the app:

• an admitted group chat
• a committed group chat

There were no messages in either group for the past two weeks, and the only messages are like "hey" from a dude who got ghosted by everyone.

Anyways, the four-five people I tried reaching out to were really nice but they already had roommates cuz the housing deadline was like may 1st for them.

I guess what im saying is, am I doing it wrong, is there any other way to go about this, I mean like how did you guys find your roommates, esp if you also got off the wl and missed the regular may 1st deadline? I'm like 90th in the queue dawg (was 100+ before) and it says it'll take another two weeks before I can get posted on ig...

Is it worth it? Part of the reason I chose to attend UCLA over Imperial and NUS was the vibrant culture, LA atmosphere, and people from different walks of life that I'll get to meet on campus. I worry that joining this LLC would put me in the same type of group around the same kind of people that I've been surrounded by for the past 4 years of high school.

At the same time, I do want to do stuff like research, internships, and programs that foster and cultivate an active startup culture, since that's my passion.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, will it be worth it, or can I still do the career-oriented things mentioned above with no major downside or disadvantage even if I don't join the Tech and Innovation LLC?

I just received an email to interview for NUSC. I have no idea what to expect from this interview or how it will go, what kind of questions they will ask, and will there be an emphasis on technical rigor/understanding or will it be more of a discussion-based format?

Can somebody who's already had their NUSC interview for this cycle please shed some light on this? Would love to hear from first-hand experiences.

For context, I am an international applicant who selected AI under the Common Computer Science Programmes as my first choice major.

I know that UCLA, like all the other UCs, gives zero financial aid to international applicants, and that even OOS students often struggle to get sufficient aid.

I am not trying to bend the rules or use this route. Instead, I was wondering if there are any other, alternative ways to fund my education? Would appreciate if any internationals who attended/are currently attending UCLA could share their personal experience and how they funded/are funding their education.

Worse comes worse, my parents said they are willing to meet the full-pay demands, but I know it will definitely not be easy for them (I did some rough math, and the total costs will be around 65% of my family's annual combined income).

For example, any notable merit-based external scholarships, or scholarships within the Samueli School which I can apply for (after some digging I came across AcademicWorks and will set up my account there to see which I am eligible for). Any fellowships or other programs that might work maybe? Contacting my embassy isn't an option (I tried and they said no-which makes sense as I am not from an underrepresented country-thousands from here go to the US for higher education every year).

For further context, I do have good grades and high-impact ECs, so any merit-based options in particular would be really helpful.

If anyone knows any, please help me out, would appreciate it a ton!

I know that UCLA, like all the other UCs, gives zero financial aid to international applicants, and that even OOS students often struggle to get sufficient aid.

I am not trying to bend the rules or use this route. Instead, I was wondering if there are any other, alternative ways to fund my education? Would appreciate if any internationals who attended/are currently attending UCLA could share their personal experience and how they funded/are funding their education.

Worse comes worse, my parents said they are willing to meet the full-pay demands, but I know it will definitely not be easy for them (I did some rough math, and the total costs will be around 65% of my family's annual combined income).

For example, any notable merit-based external scholarships, or scholarships within the Samueli School which I can apply for (after some digging I came across AcademicWorks and will set up my account there to see which I am eligible for). Any fellowships or other programs that might work maybe? Contacting my embassy isn't an option (I tried and they said no-which makes sense as I am not from an underrepresented country-thousands from here go to the US for higher education every year).

For further context, I do have good grades and high-impact ECs, so any merit-based options in particular would be really helpful.

If anyone knows any, please help me out, would appreciate it a ton!