<p>I have always been thinking about engineering my whole life and finally decided to narrow it down to these two. I am from Ohio and looking at schools in-state because of money. I was wondering what the job outlook is on both, schools good in them and what to expect.</p>
<p>Isn't Ohio State the obvious choice if you want to stay in-state? Or am I overlooking something?</p>
<p>The long term job outlook for civil engineering is pretty good. Our nation's infrastructure is crumbling; it's been estimated that $1.6 trillion is needed to bring everything to a satisfactory level. At the moment, residential homebuilding is not that great because of the economy, but in the long run, things will pick back up. People will need places to live, and the population is constantly growing. Civil engineering is also probably the most flexible field in terms of job location. You can pretty much find work in every corner of the world. Other fields, such as petroleum engineering, are more limited. Chances are you'll have to relocate to get a job.</p>
<p>I'd have to agree the above poster in that civil engineering will be more flexible in where you can work. Chemical engineering may require you to relocate but you should not have a problem finding a job with either major if you're willing to move.</p>
<p>Other note, if it matters, chemical is one of the higher paying engineering major but also considered one of the hardest. But I'm hoping neither effects your decision, they are quite different fields, so chose whatever interests you more.</p>
<p>ChemE and CivE are pretty different fields, what makes you attracted to them?</p>
<p>^ But chemical engineeres make so much more money! I think it was 20k average more for the same four years :)</p>
<p>I have always liked to design stuff floor plans etc. and recently chemical engineering has grown on me because of recent chemistry classes.</p>
<p>I knew osu was a pretty good school for engineering but i was just wondering how it ranked compared to the rest of Ohio such as Case, Toledo, Miami or any other schools</p>
<p>Case is a solid school for engineering but, as a private school, will cost significantly more than in-state at Ohio State.</p>
<p>The other publics, in all honesty, don't come close. Do some research on department rankings, endowment resources, indicators of faculty quality (23 National Academy members at Ohio State; 1 at all the other Ohio publics combined) and quality of the undergraduate student body. The other publics like to pretend that there's little difference between themselves and Ohio State, but that's all self-serving p.r. There is a difference, and it's quite large.</p>
<p>Case is very solid and the University of Cincinnati's engineering programs are pretty good. Nice co-op program also. That being said my D (we're in OH as well) opted to go to an out of state private school to study ChemE. It turns out it was cheaper than in state after the need-based aid was dished out.</p>
<p>Do Chemical Engineering, it's more in demand than Civil, also like someone said above, they make a lot more money.</p>
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[quote]
I have always liked to design stuff floor plans etc. and recently chemical engineering has grown on me because of recent chemistry classes.
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Be very careful. Civil engineers do not really design floor plans; that's the architect's responsibility. And there's not as much chemistry in chemical engineering as you would think. Take a look at the following links:</p>
<p>Civil Engineering - The</a> Sloan Career Cornerstone Center
Chemical Engineering - The</a> Sloan Career Cornerstone Center</p>
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Do Chemical Engineering, it's more in demand than Civil, also like someone said above, they make a lot more money.
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Exactly.
I believe CivE field is too saturated as of today, but some may argue otherwise.</p>
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[quote]
Our nation's infrastructure is crumbling; it's been estimated that $1.6 trillion is needed to bring everything to a satisfactory level.
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It's too bad that our politicians don't really care about our infrastructure and we're always under funded.</p>
<p>There are about 256,000 jobs in civil engineering and 30,000 jobs in chemical engineering (BLS). What I can't seem to find right now is the number of graduates in each field. I know there are definitely more civE grads than chemE grads, but I wonder if it's actually 8.5 times as many.</p>
<p>It's about a $10k difference between civil engineering and chemical engineering entry-level positions with a bachelor's (BLS).</p>
<p>According to BLS, civil engineering is expected to grow by 18% in the next decade, while chemical engineering is expected to grow by 8%.</p>
<p>Regardless of the statistics, OP has to research the two fields more in-depth. As RacinReaver said, these are two very different engineering fields. I don't think I ever knew anybody who had even a little interest in both chemE and civE. There's not really much overlap.</p>
<p>Actually a Civil Engineer gets paid much more from what I understand , but it takes them years to be certified</p>
<p>^ Who told you that? All the statistics I found including those from the government (BSL) says chemical engineers make more. Here's the link: </p>
<p>[url=<a href="http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#earnings%5DEngineers%5B/url">http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm#earnings]Engineers[/url</a>]</p>
<p>Choose the major you think you would like better. Chemical and civil are completely different fields, even in industry. Most civils get their PE, chemicals do not. </p>
<p>A mix of both chemical and civil is environmental engineering for consideration.</p>
<ul>
<li>TB54</li>
</ul>
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Actually a Civil Engineer gets paid much more from what I understand , but it takes them years to be certified
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</p>
<p>First time I've heard of that about the salary. What's your source?</p>
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Actually a Civil Engineer gets paid much more from what I understand , but it takes them years to be certified
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</p>
<p>Crawling out from under a hurricane and no power to say "no" from my iPhone. I'll be back after my apartment stops leaking...</p>
<p>Most statistics that I've seen do show that civil engineers have lower average salaries. But there are two factors that tend to "depress" that number:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>CEs, relative to other engineers, are much more likely to work for government agencies. Salaries are typically lower in the public sector -- but benefits are typically better. This is a tradeoff that many CEs are willing to make.</p></li>
<li><p>CEs, relative to other engineers, are much more likely to work outside major urban areas; CEs can always find work in smaller cities, towns, and rural areas, while other engineers are more concentrated near the big cities. Salaries are typically lower outside the big cities -- but the cost of living, especially housing, is typically lower as well. Again, this is a tradeoff that many CEs are happy to make.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Most ChEs work in the private sector in major urban areas. I suspect that CEs who work in the private sector in major urban areas may actually earn comparable salaries. However, the total CE population contains a much higher percentage of engineers working in the public sector, and/or outside the major cities, and they bring the average CE salary down.</p>
<p>I'm from Ohio, too. I'm applying to OOS schools but my safety is The Ohio State University. it is definitely the top engineering school in the state. Next would be Miami and Case, but def OSU in the top.</p>
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Be very careful. Civil engineers do not really design floor plans; that's the architect's responsibility.
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</p>
<p>It might even be the work of an industrial engineer. Both of my parents are IEs. My dad used to do management of the design of large production facilities across the world, and since we settled down my mom's been at a local company in charge of layouts for production of each of their products. That includes determining how many people are needed to run a machine, how to lay out the factory, how to lay out storage, safety, inventory management, and all those wonderful sorts of things.</p>