<p>I am going to attend Stanford university next year as a freshman and I am very seriously considering majoring in Chemical Engineering. Do you encourage me on pursuing such a career? I am a very big lover of chemistry, math and physics but especially in chemistry so I think that chemical engineering would be a good choice for me. I am also thinking about minoring in business, would that significantly increase my salary or will it not be very important?</p>
<p>what are you talking about? chemE is one of the highest paid engineering majors!!! go for it!! and i doubt minoring in business will put you in a management position in engineering. But if you want to do business related work in the firms like IBM then its great!</p>
<p>I know its one of the best engineering but I've heard that petroleum engineering is slowing down and I was afraid it would extend to chemical engineering as well. I personally want to work in research and development. I am intrigued by the idea of using hydrogen as a fuel source and so far (its waaay too early for anything conclusive) I think I might want to work on such a project. ChemE would be the right major to pursue such a goal right?</p>
<p>correct ...</p>
<p>thank you:)</p>
<p>I would advise against chemical engineering and instead recommend Honours Maths/Computing or Maths/Physics or if you are interested in securities brokerage/financial trading, Maths with Economics.</p>
<p>I'm doubling in chem E and math. But i question if its even worth majoring in math if i'm not majoring in econ/cmpsc. What are job prospects for someone with a math degree(i'm talking jobs that pay more than chem E jobs)?</p>
<p>You see toronto_guy even though I like both math and physics a lot my true passion is chemistry and I'm a strong believer about the study what you're passionate about thing. My dad always tells me this and unlike other doctors I know he's never pushed me into becoming one. Indeed he told me not to become one a year back because I obviously disliked biology. I doubt that a ChemE graduate from Stanford can't go on to live a very good life financially...</p>
<p>Superwizard, Stanford is great for everything you expressed interest in. There are a lot of directions you can go. You might want to wait until you get to school then explore the possibilities. How about a chem major rather than chemE (specifically p-chem)? Since you like interdisciplinary with an emphasis on chem but not bio particularly, you could also investigate materials science. The research is exploding, and you can choose to go either toward theoretical or applied. If you're interested in hydrogen fuel research, there's plenty of that out there, too. </p>
<p>As for the business minor... you also said you're interested in R&D. If you go on for a PhD, you could head into industry rather than academia. A solid knowledge of business and econ won't hurt you. Or you could specialize in science-sector market analysis for a financial firm (maybe with additional grad-level business/econ coursework) or market analysis for chemical companies. There's no shortage of lucrative career choices for your interests. Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Mudder's_Mudder thank you for your valuable insight. I have not really decided on what to major in and Stanford is great in that I get to explore a ton of different things before I have to decide (by sophomore year). I really haven't finalized anything but as you probably know if you are planning to study engineering you need to plan pretty early on in order to graduate in 4 years. I definitely plan to pursue a masters degree after my bachelors (I don't know if I will do it right after my bachelors or maybe a few years later) and a Phd after that. I appreciate your advice and I'll keep my options open. After all that's why I decided to apply to Stanford whatever I decide to major in they'll have an amazing program in it! </p>
<p>As for minoring in business I like the idea especially seeing as I really like economics (alas I never had the chance to actually take a course in business itself). Indeed you should have seen my economics teacher's face when he found out his star pupil was going into engineering! :)</p>
<p>If your interest is truly chemistry, then major in chemistry! </p>
<p>As a former chemE at Cal-tech (who switched into chemE from biochem), I can tell you chemE is NOT like chemistry. There is very little resemblance. Infact, chemical engineering is closer to mechE then it is chemistry because of the all the fluids / thermo / heat transfer classes you'll be taking.</p>
<p>You see, engineering pharmaceutical drugs is different from engineering the machines that mass produce the drugs. The former is much more concerned with organic chemistry while the latter is strictly focused on thermodynamics, energy and material balances.</p>
<p>Many chemistry lovers jump into chemE because they think you "engineer" chemical compounds not realizing what chemE really is. Most find out their junior year it's not what they expected.</p>
<p>If you love chemistry so much, you're far better off going to grad school and getting a p.h.d. You'll be involved in some of the hottest pharmaceutical research activities. </p>
<p>If money is a top priority, then go work for at wall-street. As a stanford student with a strong quantitative background, you'll be well received.</p>
<p>If I was you, I would double major in or Chemistry / C.S. or Chemistry / Math. It would be an excellent track to becoming a quant or working for a trading post - OR - if you choose to, go to graduate school to persue a P.H.D in chem.</p>
<p>Don't do chemE unless you want to be a chemical engineer.</p>
<p>+1.</p>
<p>the fields are really quite different on the traditional level. top-bottom processes are all concerned with thermo/fluids and is what you learn in undergrad, which has fewer connections to chemistry than you'd think.</p>
<p>in grad school, however, most of the research you'll be doing will involve bottom-up processes where a good deal of chemistry knowledge will be used (ie. nano, polymers, colloids, etc).</p>
<p>but again, chemE's are more engineers than chemists</p>
<p>I'm doubling in chem E and math. But i question if its even worth majoring in math if i'm not majoring in econ/cmpsc. What are job prospects for someone with a math degree(i'm talking jobs that pay more than chem E jobs)?</p>
<p>as long as there are chemicals and stuff, you will have a job :)</p>
<p>If you are good, 100K+ within 3 years.</p>
<p>is it useful to double major in chemistry and computer science if u want to do chemE in grad school?</p>
<p>epoch_dreams Thank you for your advice. I personally am hesitant to major in chemistry because I simply do not really know what chemists so when they graduate. I am currently living overseas and where I live pretty much everyone mojors in engineering or medicine. In my class (which consists of about 25 students) 24 are majoring in engineering and 1 in medicine! Double majoring in both chemisry and math sounds very intriguing. May I ask what would someone work after majoring in that? </p>
<p>I have heard before that ChemE doesn't consist of much chemistry and answering your phrase :
Don't do chemE unless you want to be a chemical engineer.
I know what chemE do but not really what tools they use. In other words I know that they devise economical ways of producing certain chemicals and other things but I do not really know what they do to find and create these processes. What processes do they use? Also what is the advantage of double majoring in math?</p>
<p>Also one final thing: 'how hard would it be for someone to change from ChemE to Chemistry or Material Science?</p>
<p>Mr. Payne- 100K within three years with just a math degree? what kind of careers do these math majors pursue?</p>
<p>I was talking about Chem E.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Also one final thing: 'how hard would it be for someone to change from ChemE to Chemistry or Material Science?
[/quote]
Superwizard, when you get to Stanford, sit down with an advisor and plan out your schedule. I don't know Stanford's requirements for switching majors, but someone there will give you the best info. If you decide you like MatSci, you'll definitely use chemistry, physics, and engineering (thus higher-level math). If you want to go engineering, you can major in MS&E at Stanford; check out this website:
<a href="http://mse.stanford.edu/centers.html%5B/url%5D">http://mse.stanford.edu/centers.html</a> </p>
<p>Scroll down for the link to CPIMA. As a future chemist, you might also like the SPRC. Check the link at the bottom of the page for "other departments conducting materials research" and go to "chemistry" and "chemE." You'll be at one of the best places in the world for pursuing the kinds of interests you have. Congratulations! :)</p>