<p>What is the difference between going to an accredited four year college for a Bachelor's in Engineering (specifically Mechanical Engineering) </p>
<p>VS</p>
<p>a 2 year trade school for Mechanical Engineering/HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Cooling)</p>
<p>I ask this because my brother is in Cornell University for Mechanical Engineering and my friend is in Turner Trade School in Manhattan for the same thing.</p>
<p>My friend always puts down my brother telling him that hes wasting time at a 4 year institution because, "All you need is 2 years to learn the trade and get the certificates and then you can make 6 figures, all without wasting time in school and being hundreds of thousands of dollars is debt."</p>
<p>How true is this? My friend wants to be in an "Operating Engineer" union like his father, who makes $100,000 without a college degree.</p>
<p>Is there a difference? Is my brother "wasting his time"?</p>
<p>i dont know much, your brother may have more options too. my dad was an engineer, and he went to a 4 year school, and he ended up owning and running a contruction company too and he was an engineer for the company. maybe gonig to the four year school, and having a wider range of classes, might help your brother to have more options</p>
<p>Your brother is getting a traditional bs in engineering at Cornell. Your friend is getting an associates degree in likely some kind of engineering technology. There is a huge difference here and trust me, your brother is not wasting his time. Your friend is just terribly misinformed.</p>
<p>A 2 year technology degree will not qualify you for any engineering positions. It will qualify you for technician positions. If your friend is telling you he is doing mechanical engineering, he is either lying or just clueless. Mechanical engineering is a 4 year professional degree, not a trade school degree. Don’t be fooled by your friend’s comments. If he doesn’t realize it yet, he will soon realize that he is not getting an engineering degree and he will not be even remotely qualified for a mechanical engineering position. He can become a technician with his degree but not an engineer.</p>
<p>so can u actually make “6 figures easier and faster” by going the trade school/union route?</p>
<p>EDIT:
Wow, I see what you all are saying now. Well honestly he isn’t my friend, he’s is one of those know it all bragging type of people and it was really annoying me the way he kept saying my brother’s 4 year education is a waste of time.</p>
<p>But that is exactly it, I heard the kid say a few times he is training to be an HVAC TECHNICIAN, which I did not realize before, and that he is studying mechanical engineering at a Trade/Technology school. He say’s that by saving 2 years of his life, he will make more money and while “everyone’s still in school he’ll be making 6 figures, probably owning his own business.”</p>
<p>It really killed me to hear him put down my brothers career path like that thanks to you guys I see the difference</p>
<p>No, this simply is not the case. A BS in engineering will provide a much higher earning potential than an associates degree and likely, many more career opportunities. Your friend really does not know what he is talking about.</p>
<p>No. You can not make six figures easily by going the trade school route. It will take a lot of hard work and some luck and you may never reach that. Maybe if you open your own business you will.</p>
<p>It is simply not worth it to save a couple years of school just to get into the job
market earlier. Just work hard for 2 more years in college and you will be rewarded for the rest of your life. Engineers are well respected and can find excellent jobs usually. Engineers are almost always garunteed six figures with experience. Some engineering disciplines can make six figures within approximately 5 years such as petroleum and aerospace engineering.</p>
<p>It’s not uncommon for operating engineers to make 6 figures with overtime and everything included. I’ve heard of someone who made $250k a year (in NYC). The catch is you have to get into the union and you’re heavily dependent on the economy.</p>
<p>Notice that the median salary for MechE’s are nearly 100% higher than the median salary for HVAC technicians.</p>
<p>So yes, your acquaintance is lying to you, and probably himself.</p>
<p>That being said, a lot of technicians used to be able to join unions, get good pensions, and retire very comfortably. I suspect that this is not going to be the case from this point forward. Unions are having to concede more and more as they realize their demands can be crippling to doing competitive, fiscally responsible business, and I would expect a very small fraction of people in my generation to have pensions.</p>
<p>Bases on that link, the mean salary for an HVAC technician is around 43,000 annually. To play devil’s advocate, why not just learn that trade instead of going to college for something other than Engineering, Doctor, or Lawyer (e.g. Accounting, Education, etc)</p>
<p>They seem to have the same salaries, without all the schooling</p>
<p>I think that is also what the Trade school person is trying to say</p>
<p>My brother and I will just stick to the traditional education path, but I just like to hear various opinions and answers.</p>
<p>Accountants can make alot of money. Those working in Education usually have a passion for teaching. People do thongs because they like doing them. Most people do not do things for the money, those who do are unhappy and quickly drip that career path.</p>
<p>“What is the difference between going to an accredited four year college for a Bachelor’s in Engineering (specifically Mechanical Engineering)?”</p>
<p>lol…exactly what I was thinking…and one is a technologist*</p>
<p>Like someone else said, ME is a 4 yr program. This 2 yr guy will not have an engineering degree and will not qualify for an engineering position at any company. In fact, he won’t even be learning the same stuff as the guy at Cornell. Anything that has overlap (math or something) won’t be taught at the same level. Your friend will be learning a trade. Does he think people who go to automotive school are also considered mechanical engineers?</p>
<p>This “friend” of yours is seeing dollar signs. How long did it take his dad to make that kind of money (if he’s really making that)? What are his hours like? Benefits? All the engineers I know already make $85k+ within 6 yrs of graduating. They work 9-5 M-F and have great benefits.</p>
<p>I knew a guy who was taking EE classes at ITT Tech and gave me the same story. “It’s cheaper” and he doesn’t have to waste his time taking “humanities.” He actually thought my EE studies at Georgia Tech were on the same level as his. It was laughable. This was his perspective because that was his situation. This guy had a 700 on his SAT under the old scoring system.</p>
<p>I see what you guys are saying about being a real engineer vs tradesman.</p>
<p>That is exactly what my brother said too. They aren’t even learning the same stuff and that the “tradesman way is not engineering, just like a train engineer isn’t really an engineer, he just drives the train.”</p>
<p>My brothers friend just got his master’s in engineering at 21 years old and is already working for 65,000 a year from his previous internship.</p>
<p>The trademan guy’s dad is 48 years old and recently started to make 100,000-120,000, but he has his own business and works from 5am to 7pm everyday, including saturday and sunday. With those hours I think anyone can make 6 figures.</p>
<p>But anyway, my brother says he loves what he is doing and I dont think the trademan guy’s nonsense will bother him (at least that is what he says)</p>
<p>A 2-years program is a technician. As high as it can be, an A.S degree.
The idea of making more money from a trade school is just that you can start working earlier. However, if everyone can make 6 figure right away nobody would go to MIT anymore.</p>
<p>The idea is that when the market is good, everyone demands technicians to fix their electronics and whatever it is. So they have more customers. Many technicians are self-employed, just like engineers that start their own consultants. Since they are self-employment, when the market is good they do earn about $150,000 - $300,000per year.</p>
<p>jwxie, saying that technicians make 150,000 to 300,000 per year even in a good economy is laughable. Seriously, do people just make stuff up for the heck of it on here? jwxie, do not just post made up information like it is fact. Most technicians don’t make anywhere near that much. I mean not even close. Go look up salary statistics for technicians and you will see just how far off you are.</p>
<p>Engineers or even engineering managers will not make salaries towards the upper end of that range. Please stop posting such baseless claims.</p>