Hi, I’m a high school senior actively applying to schools and don’t know what major I should list as my first choice between the ones listed above. I’m not much of a tinker, or a hands on person, but I love problem solving. I’m especially interested in biology and chemistry, however, I don’t mind physics, and I do well in math. I really want to do something with the environment (reduce waste, air pollution, find ways to clean water…). What seems like the best fit? Do all three majors give me good job opportunities for after?
Also, I’m having trouble finding differences between environmental engineering and bio-systems (or agricultural) engineering. Anyone have more info on the difference between these two majors?
Please help! Any info will do! Thanks
just say engineering.
colleges KNOW that MANY students often change their focus/ major once they are in college.
so relax…
Which schools are you applying? For most schools, you declare major after freshmen year. Indeed, more than half of the students graduated with a major different from their originally intended one. Nevertheless, some schools (e.g. UIUC) admit students directly into specific major.
I’m in your boat. I’m not a tinkerer or a builder, and I absolutely suck at stuff that’s hands-on (not practical stuff, just stuff that requires working with your hands). I’m also interested in the environment, specifically the chemistry of the environment. What I ultimately want to do is contribute to solving climate change, although I’d be interested in clean water and waste management too. I think the best pick is chemical engineering. Environmental engineering sounds like the best choice, but really it’s more in line with civil. Building dams and dikes, sustainable development, passive solar energy, stuff like that. I’d imagine it’s pretty hands-on stuff and most importantly it doesn’t seem to have the aspect of solving large-scale problems that you’re looking for. Bioengineering is basically you’ll either work on medicine or agriculture. If you’re really into agriculture and the issues surrounding it, that has a pretty strong environmental connection too, but it is something of a niche. With ChemE you’ll be getting the basics for all of these. Really it’s not so much the study of chemistry as it relates to engineering, what it is is the study of processes. So while you’re learning about processes to manufacture food or drill for oil, you can still apply the same skills to processes for purifying water, using novel sources of energy, or dealing with waste.