this is just information from people i've heard and not any statistics i've read. but most of those big companies you have named would offer you 55-65k for an undergrad degree and 70-75k if you have a masters. as for microsoft, add 5k to that.
i would not say that a "traditional" 4 year program for CS is a waste of time. it depends on what school, what courses you've taken, what internships you've had, and also what research you've done. for example, i did my undergrad at cornell and am just finishing my masters here. i applied to one job and got an offer for 70k. i know giving an example does not illustrate a point, but from what i have seen, all of the people i know from various universities getting their undergrad and masters degrees have gotten into a phd program or a job. also, i would just like to add that all my friends (myself included) do not goto top cs schools and have near perfect gpas.
as for the original post, i agree with previous statements to not worry about the starting salary for right now. you should also try to get a job with a big company so it looks good on your resume for future jobs (that pay more). the key is to have something on your resume that you can sell, either some large project you've worked on, research you've done. in my experience, gpa is not too important. just as long as you have 3.5 or higher, that's exactly like having a 4.0. there is an army of 4.0ers out there, so its not a big selling point. for most jobs a gpa of 3.3 or higher should do nicely.
i would not get a degree at DeVry. from what i have heard, its useless. you may as well just get certified or spend that money and time learning it yourself. the original post asked about being a programmer, not a sysadmin/IT guy.
i would agree that tech is no longer a field you enter just to make money, except for maybe biotech.
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this is just information from people i've heard and not any statistics i've read. but most of those big companies you have named would offer you 55-65k for an undergrad degree and 70-75k if you have a masters. as for microsoft, add 5k to that.
i would not say that a "traditional" 4 year program for CS is a waste of time. it depends on what school, what courses you've taken, what internships you've had, and also what research you've done. for example, i did my undergrad at cornell and am just finishing my masters here. i applied to one job and got an offer for 70k. i know giving an example does not illustrate a point, but from what i have seen, all of the people i know from various universities getting their undergrad and masters degrees have gotten into a phd program or a job. also, i would just like to add that all my friends (myself included) do not goto top cs schools and have near perfect gpas.
as for the original post, i agree with previous statements to not worry about the starting salary for right now. you should also try to get a job with a big company so it looks good on your resume for future jobs (that pay more). the key is to have something on your resume that you can sell, either some large project you've worked on, research you've done. in my experience, gpa is not too important. just as long as you have 3.5 or higher, that's exactly like having a 4.0. there is an army of 4.0ers out there, so its not a big selling point. for most jobs a gpa of 3.3 or higher should do nicely.
i would not get a degree at DeVry. from what i have heard, its useless. you may as well just get certified or spend that money and time learning it yourself. the original post asked about being a programmer, not a sysadmin/IT guy.
i would agree that tech is no longer a field you enter just to make money, except for maybe biotech.