Median Salary + Signing Bonus for Top MBA Programs

1+ kodus for you!

You mean Harvard and Wharton?

Note about the figures. Not everyone gets sign ons. It looks as if this to just adds them all together. Sure in areas like consulting almost everyone gets a bonus but in plenty of fields its not a certain thing and some companies have different ways of doing compensation. I know some programs that offered 135k salary with no sign on and ones that offered under 100k but with a good bonus. If the average sign on is 20k, then it looks like someone is making 155k and someone say 115k. So the average looks like 135k but in reality it could really only be 125k.

Another factor is location, someone coming out of Duke and working in the south making 110k is probably going to have a lot more free money than someone making 150k in NYC or San Francisco. Dont get too wrapped in the possible dollars you could make or you will drive yourself nuts. There are many more reasons to accept a job than the figure on the offer sheet, accepting the highest figure could lead you to make a mistake you might regret.
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No Columbia?

Awesome!
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Great response. Kudos to you sir/ma'am.

Another note about the above information. It often doesn't accurately reflect year end bonuses. I have friends who were anticipating a bonus but got none and then other people got significant bonuses without expecting any. Sure some consulting bonuses are performance based, and not everyone gets them even though they sell it as everyone gets them. Then some corporate gigs often dont pay first year bonuses but some companies do surprise their high potential hires and senior managers running them often have some ability to reward folks. Not a whole lot of open talk about the size but you can tell when some people didnt get something if they were expecting. I have a few friends who are looking for new jobs already partly due to promises not being met. Then some of us suddenly feel even better about our compensation, even if it was already on the high side.

Figure most people work half a year or so...if normal bonus for the company for that level is targeted at 10-15% of salary that is around 10-15k. For half a year or less lots of people assumed 5k was coming there way, especially since some companies talk about that as part of the compensation package. I dont think many people include that in their salary data at school. If a full year is going to be 20% you probably at best should hope for 10%.

Everyone is always concerned about salary...the ROI is different for everyone but it is usually pretty damn good unless you are going from IB to non-profit. You never know how things shape up after several years on the job. But if you look at the median/mean you will probably hit within that pretty close. Some schools publish the 80% range...I dont think its possible to find distribution but the few highs and lows offset with the vast majority being right in the middle. So if an industry/function is paying 120 all in first year then you probably could anticipate 105-135 and be confident you will fall in there. Sure some people will take an 80k offer but some people will get 160...you never know which you will be. However, if 80k is too low for you to justify it then turn the offer down and go get another one....no one puts a gun to your head and makes you accept. There are companies who I know went 0 for at Kellogg last year because they thought with a weaker job market they could low ball and it backfired. People have expectations coming in and a lot of people hold to what they feel is their true worth.

Realistically anything too far about the mean is tough and hell half those people probably are returning to their company or had no clue it would pay that well. Sometimes you luck into something no one else was excited about and end up with the golden ticket...just dont bet on it.
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So if you can make a generalization, who are the ones in the MBA classes that get the low-end salaries at $60k or $80k? Are these people that go to non-profits? People that had no pre-MBA work experience? People with only 2 years of pre-MBA experience? Or something totally different?

I often wonder this same thing and would love to know if someone has any sort of information about this. The more I read the more I think the answer may be internationals who return back to their home country where starting salaries are significantly lower than in large economies. But that's just a guess on my part.

I think its between internationals and then people who joined start-ups and/or non-profits. I know at least one person who definitely was on the low side but they got equity in a small start up. People with less experience are much more likely to go into MC or IB. For one its much harder to break into a corporate GM role with only a few years and people going back for an MBA are pretty focused and have a plan (often means MC).

Employment reports often show pay based on age and/or years of experience.
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