<p>I'm leaning heavily towards majoring in some kind of engineering. Right now the two types I'm really looking at are chemical and mechanical engineering, but I don't really know enough about the two to make a sound decision. What types of jobs could someone with a degree in chemical or mechanical engineering get, and what kinds of skills would these jobs involve (I like the analytical problem solving that goes with engineering, but I'm not that great at hands-on stuff)? How are job prospects for each of these? What kind of salary could I expect to receive starting off, and how much could it potentially go up to over time? Any answers would be appreciated.</p>
<p>bumpin it up</p>
<p>Job prospects are excellent in both. There tend to be more jobs in Mechanical Engineering because it is more broad-based than Chemical. But the job prospects in Chem E are excellent too. I'd really make the decision by asking yourself if you like Chemistry and chemical processes. Many Chem Es work in processing (food, oil, etc.) but they can work all over. Do you like machines or engines? Perhaps you may like ME more. I'd suggest going to school and making your decision in the freshman year.</p>
<p>I love chemistry but people are telling me that Chem E despite its name chemistry is not deeply involved.... is that true?</p>
<p>In the actual job not that much. In the coursework YES! You absolutely positively have to like chemistry to get through chemE. It seems ironic but you will use chemical ideas like for making 100,000 lbs of acrylic acid every hour you would need to know reaction combos, how to use merck, what all that **** means, etc. It is the machines like plug flow or distillation columns that is the heart and soul of chemE. Chemistry is like the important details and background info.</p>
<p>Analogy: You're a detective and you have blood evidence but that isn't always enough to pinpoint exactly so you'll need the details to help complete the mystery (like fingerprints, clothes, etc). So it is not used as much or as imperative as actual chemE stuff but is still important to learn and commonly used.</p>
<p>Anybody else?</p>
<p>bumpin it up</p>
<p>I know somebody else has something to say......</p>
<p>bump.........................</p>
<p>ME is better of the 2. Why not take both together? This can probably be done in 5 years. The degrees have very similar components.</p>
<p>Instead of spending 5 years to get 2 engineering bachelor's, I think a better way to go is to spend that 5 years getting a bachelor's and a master's. </p>
<p>Like I said in other threads, many if not most companies won't care about the difference between ChemE and ME. However, many engineering companies will care about whether you have a bachelor's or a master's. Intel, for example, gives strong hiring preference to those with a master's in engineering (no matter what kind of engineering). Engineering degrees, in that respect, are highly fungible.</p>
<p>You can get a master's in engineering in just five years? That's not too bad at all. How much more does having a master's benefit you?</p>
<p>Heck, certain gifted people can get it done in even less time than that. I worked with a girl who, in 5 years, completed a bachelor's in EECS, a bachelor's in management, and a master's in EECS, plus a halfyear coop, all at MIT. </p>
<p>And of course there are certainly legendary stories at MIT of people completing their bachelor's, master's, and PhD's (hence becoming "MIT-cubed") all in less than 4 years. </p>
<p>It's difficult to say how much more a master's will help you, because that depends a lot on what you do with it, and also what school you're talking about. However, speaking of EECS at MIT specifically (admittedly a rather skewed example), an EECS MEng degree gives you about a 10k bump in salary over an EECS bachelor's.</p>
<p>Well I'm not planning on attending any awesome schools like MIT...I'm shooting for UC Berkeley (I'm a CA resident), but I don't know if I'll get in or not...but I've got a decent shot at least I think.</p>
<p>haha mercinator, berkeley is around...the second...ranked engineering school in the us ;)</p>
<p>I know a freshman at my school who is two years younger than me, is getting his degree in 2 years, and and going for his MBA. And he's a complete alcoholic. I don't know why some people get all of this intelligence they don't deserve. haha</p>
<p>Well OK yeah Berkeley is pretty good...by awesome I meant really high-caliber schools like MIT and Cal Tech, which I would have no shot at getting into. I'd like to go to Berkeley, but my guess is I won't get in, so I'll probably end up at UCSD or maybe Cal Poly SLO...which are still good in my opinion.</p>