Should I major in Aerospace and get a bachelors degree? Or should I major in mechanical, get my bachelors, then go back later for my masters in aerospace engineering? I’m sure I want to work in the space industry, but I also don’t want to be jobless in case I don’t get that job.
Assuming you’re not already in college, it’s a bit early to determine if you want to go to grad school or not. Mechanical is the more conservative pick, but if you really enjoy aerospace, you may want to give it a try. It’s usually not difficult to switch out of Aerospace, back into Mechanical in your junior year, if at that time you feel it’s not a good fit. By then you will have met a lot more faculty, other AE/ME students, and aerospace industry reps and will have a much better idea of your options.
There are more mechanical engineers working in the space and aerospace industries than aerospace engineers. The two are pretty much interchangeable except for some very specialized jobs.
MechE majors work in aerospace all the time. A grad degree not necessary.
Yes, plenty of ME’s work in Aerospace, and you will find far more jobs are available for ME’s (and more ME’s competing for those jobs) than AE, which is more specialized.
While the AE BS curriculum share many of the same basic classes as the ME curriculum, being more specialized, it does include anywhere from 6 to 8+ dedicated AE classes (based on the college), like Aerodynamics, Astrodynamics, Aerospace Structures, Aerospace Propulsion, etc. If that’s the curriculum you want, then you may want to consider AE.