Chemical Engineering vs Computer Science

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Hey guys, </p>

<p>I am a junior Chemical Engineering major at the University of Florida, and this semester I've taken intro to Programming (basically Java) and also Materials and Energy Balances (basically chemical engineering in a nutshell), and also Orgo I.</p>

<p>I enjoy java very much, and to an extent orgo, but I hate the chemical engineering class. I eventually want to start my own company (not sure what kind yet, but most likely tech related) and venture into the business world. I believe computer science would serve this purpose faster, but I believe chem e would eventually get me there as well. Here is my issue: I am relatively new at programming (I am 27) and the kids in my class are better than me. Having said that, I'm an extremely hard studier and a fast learner. On the other hand, I am pretty much at the top of my class in my chemical engineering class. But.... I dont enjoy it.</p>

<p>In addition to these points, I have a herniated disc and it sucks to sit and study. I want to get out of school as soon as possible, get money and good insurance, and get this back issue figured out. I am constantly in pain, and I want to just give up (but I wont). Chemical engineering may take me a semester and maybe even a year longer to attain my degree in, so thats another point against it. Here is my pros and cons list:</p>

<pre><code> Chemical Engineering
</code></pre>

<p>Pros</p>

<p>Will be guaranteed tons of $
Will have a better all-around grasp of physical world
Sustainable energy is a hot topic right now
More respect?</p>

<p>Cons
Longer degree program (3 yrs to 3 1/2 yrs left)
Harder courses
Not as many job openings
Not sure what kind of company I'd start with this skillset
Jobs located in very few states</p>

<pre><code> Computer Science
</code></pre>

<p>Pros</p>

<p>Shorter time to get degree (2 1/2 years left)
Almost same $ as chemical engineering
More job openings
more creativity involved
Can be a hobby as well
Can live almost anywhere
More relevant to todays society
I have more ideas for a company</p>

<p>Cons</p>

<p>Not labeled as "engineer"
More math
Less respected???</p>

<p>Another thing. Is the intro to programming (java) indicative of what I'll be doing as a comp science major? BTW. Ive taken all my calcs, physics, and chems, so I realize I will be doing quite a lot of math in comp science as well. Sorry for the error riddled grammar and rambling, but my back is in pain and Im freaking out trying to decide my major change by tomorrow. Any advice is welcome!</p>

2

<p>Anyone? Please.</p>

3

<p>Looking at your level as a junior, you are almost there. all you need to do is work hard as nothing good comes easy. You don’t have to change your major if you do well and you are at the top of your class. You can minor in business to get an incentive of a business world. as for job openings, chem E has a wide variety of job opening.</p>

<p>Hope this help</p>

4

<p>Stick with ChemE. There are thousands of programmers out there. You would have something that stands out when you are running your business, the engineering knowledge. You can always hire programmers in the future. The extra time is nothing when you are looking at a 40 year career.</p>

5

<p>Get the computer science degree. You are not getting any younger and it’s about time you stepped into the real world. Also statistics have shown that Chem E jobs are on the decline</p>

6

<p>Don’t even bother thinking about a CompSci degree. I have a couple if anyone wants to buy’em… Outsourcing is no fun.</p>

7

<p>Turbo, </p>

<p>Can you expound upon the meaning of your post?</p>

8

<p>You have your answer in pros for Computer Science. If you think it might be a hobby as well, that’s the perfect thing for you, believe it! If your job can also serve as a hobby, that’s awesome! For example my mom is a bank accountant and she doesn’t have any hobbies at all. The only time when she feels good is when she works, all the left time she’s bored in front of a TV. You always have to do what you like. Less respect for computer science is just because it gets popular, but it still wins the pros competition. You decide. Good Luck!</p>

9

<p>

</p>

<p>Sounds to me like you are some chemE trying to feel good about his major. First, Can you elaborate what you mean by “engineering knowledge”? Doing ChemE does not help at all for running a business. Why some many successful CS companies such as google, facebook, amazon and the list is infinite. How many multi-billion successful chemE companies? Secondly, There are thousands of chemical engineers out there as well. A ChemE will have a much harder time to find a job than a CS major although the average pay is slightly bigger but the job will almost always be boring, harder and less satisfactory than a CS job.</p>

<p>Just knowing how to program does not mean you will go well in CS at all. Some courses that will give a better perception of CS are Data Structure, Discrete Math, Algorithm, Computer Architecture and Operation Systems. </p>

<p>In order to recommend, we need more info such as what school do you attend? If you go to a college with a top 100 CS program. I recommend switching. However, if the CS program is not good then the better choice would be staying with chemE.</p>

10

<p>I am a medical doctor and former electrical engineer. I ask all of my patients what they do for a living and base my advice from personal knowledge and the thousands of patients I have cared for through the years.</p>

<p>I completely agree with you that being an engineer or even a computer scientist will not give you the skills to run a business. I believe that the best way to be a great business-person is to learn as an apprentice or through working experience. </p>

<p>I have had patients who own and operate engineering firms who were engineers and those who were not (truly an eye opener). Each of them had to hire engineers at some point for the engineering knowledge they lacked. Plenty of computer science patients who worked for engineering firm, specifically petroleum. They lacked the engineering side. I would say a good 50% if not more were foreigners not due to a lack of US graduates, but because of the working conditions. These foreigners worked outrageous hours.</p>

<p>IMHO, if all of these individuals lacked the engineering side, why not make sure you had it.</p>

<p>You named a lot of great companies but the reality is that the overwhelming majority of computer scientists will own or work in much smaller firms. They will never grow a business to the size of Google and Facebook. So, IMHO it is best to give the advice that applies to the most probably situation.</p>

11

<p>I’m at the University of Florida and I believe that both programs (computer science and chemical engineering) are ranked in the top 40 nationally.</p>

12

<p>Switching majors is a bad idea if you’re already far along.</p>

<p>But it seems like you’re not actually all that far along in Chem E, if that will take you 3 or more years to complete as a current junior.</p>

<p>The best thing to do is whatever will allow you to graduate on time.</p>

13

<p>I’ve only taken 3 chemical engineering classes, but they can be counted as technical electives towards my computer science degree. It would take me 1 or 2 semesters less to graduate with a computer science degree. Since these majors so closely tie as far as “average” salary goes, thats almost not an issue. I am purely most worried that I will get bored with my job. If I am doing the same thing routinely, I become very bored.</p>

<p>I’m especially concerned with the creativity involved. I need a creative job.</p>

14

<p>Do you feel that Chem E is a much more creative field than software development? That doesn’t seem immediately obvious to me.</p>

15

<p>Err no…the hunt for talented ChemE candidates is only going to get worse, hardly what I would call a decline.</p>

16

<p>OK… Take your recommended daily allowance of anti-depressants and gather around. </p>

<p>In engineering, it’s not difficult to get a job. The catch is what you do 10, 20, or 30 years later. I assume you go to engineering because you like it and not because of the money. So, you’ll be doing real engineering, and pretty soon you’ll hit six figures. An economic downturn later, things may get dicey. Engineering is very labor intensive so what gets cut? you got it.</p>

<p>Outsourcing hit engineering back in my days earlier than it did IT, if that is possible. I used to work in Detroit and in the 80’s there were TONS of engineering services companies that would bring bodies from overseas, pay them overseas wages + cost of living adjustment, and be done. These guys were pioneers. My company has shrunk by a significant amount in the US and lots of engineering is done overseas. This is real engineering, mind you, not IT or support or what not.</p>

<p>Then you have to keep skills current. I am in a relatively easy pair of fields. CS and Human Factors Engineering, with graduate degrees in both. Were it not for my experience in both I’d be unemployment line fodder a decade ago I suspect. Keeping skills current is not too difficult in my field, but go to harder engineering disciplines and it’s not quite the same. </p>

<p>Then it’s career time. If you want to be an engineer forget about technical ladder, forget about leadership, do your job and that’s it. Get the cool projects as they bring even MORE cool projects. Develop a persona and promote it shamelessly - but make sure you deliver. At 54, I’m in very good shape. Money is OK, my skills rock, and I get weekly emails from headhunters from desirable companies (I’m in consumer electronics). But it is not easy. I had to pick up PHP in a couple weeks for a project nobody else wanted to do. Then I had to learn Qt in a weekend or two. Anything from playing amateur DBA to writing real time code to designing user interfaces to running usability clinics. With those skills you’ll probably survive simply because the single person bozo overseas that has all those skills hasn’t been born yet. </p>

<p>My wife is the same way - in IT. Multiple grad degrees and deep specialization. Hers is manufacturing information systems. 28 years worth. It’s a game to stay employed and so far we’re doing pretty well, but it ain’t easy. The sweet song of lower costs can’t be overcome… not easily at least.</p>

<p>BTW: I was born overseas as well so it’s not like I don’t know what the other side looks like… In my days when the visa limits were a tenth of what they are now only the VERY good would come here. Indeed, from my former buddies from Elbonia, I can count several engineering school deans, couple of department heads, and a university president. We’re not talking about them. Today outsourcing means some dude in a college that is pretty much C-grade at best, with memorized answers to tons of questions. My wife deals with them daily…</p>

17

<p>Well said turbo93.</p>

18

<p>you re right, turbo93, in a time like this, there are so many computer scientist hunting for jobs, to start a company, one need a large capital and compete with big companies like Microsoft,Google.</p>

19

<p>The BLS seems to think that software-related occupations will grow by 30% over this decade (“much faster than average”). <a href=“http://chronicle.com/blogs/letters/students-of-all-majors-should-study-computer-science/[/url]”>http://chronicle.com/blogs/letters/students-of-all-majors-should-study-computer-science/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Anecdotally, talented CS students are definitely in high demand. I doubt compensation packages given to other engineering majors can compare with some of the figures I have heard about from friends (even taking cost-of-living into account).</p>

20

<p>I have met many ‘talented’ people in my 3 decades, but very few that actually made a difference in a project getting done on time and on budget. The super ‘talented’ people I work with are more concerned with getting unit tests written and whether your C++ code is absolutely perfect in eternal code reviews, rather than testing the actual code on the actual hardware.</p>

<p>Heavens help us if we move from the model of a team of people making about the same money each working to finish a project rather than (a) a team of expensive primadonas busily preaching off their high horse (?) and (b) the NFL model where a couple superstars make more than the rest of the team combined.</p>

<p>Software is all about teamwork and different skills complementing each other, not some guy who wrote his own math library in 2nd grade. </p>

<p>Engineering does not see this as much because different disciplines and skill sets are involved. Management lumps software as ‘software’ and it just ain’t so.</p>