Using two representative samples of some 74,000 students and 11,000 graduates, respectively, we analyse the accuracy of students’ wage expectations given their individual characteristics. We find that students are aware of the effects of most of their own characteristics, as a large number of determinants of expected and realised salaries do not differ significantly. However, important determinants of graduates’ starting salaries are not consistent with students’ expectations: Students seem to overestimate the presumably negative impact of age at graduation on starting salaries while at the same time they seem to underestimate the positive effects of grades and internships in renowned companies. Moreover, students seem not to be able to anticipate the effects of different job characteristics. Analyses of several subsamples confirm our main findings. Thus, students seem to focus too much on graduating fast while under-investing in more beneficial activities like preparing for exams and completing top internships. © 2016 Taylor & Francis.
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