<p>hello, im currently a california community college and i am debating whether transfering and majoring in aerosapce or structural engineering. i know they are two different fields but there is also similarities. anybody know of how different they are as far as employment, advancement possibilities, salary. </p>
<p>my decision will also change the schools i will apply as UCSD is the only school that offers a BS in structural engineering. they are both cool careers. firstly i wanted to major in electrical engineering when i was a HS freshman but then i found that to be sooo theoretical and boring and i realized that it would be better to major in a more narrowed engineering field.</p>
<p>Structural engineering is narrow enough a field that it's not particularly divided into various disciplines. It's more or less one particular science that's very versatile, and you can therefore apply it to a lot of different real-world scenarios.</p>
<p>Prospects for structural engineers are pretty darned good right now. I know folks working in construction, failure analysis, building and bridge design, designing rovers for NASA, studying crack propagation at Sandia National Labs, writing structural analysis software, and pursuing more advanced research as to what makes structures tick... At a graduate level, structural engineering is more or less the study of materials, the forces you can put on those materials, and how you can use various calculational engines to determine the effects of stress and strain on those materials, on both a microscopic and a macroscopic level.</p>
<p>So basically, it's about the forces you put on stuff, and how to figure out what the stuff does when you put forces on it. Obviously pretty applicable, which is why those of us who focus on the more microscopic level are able to get jobs in so many places... we have the tools to evaluate a lot of different things.</p>
<p>Aerospace engineering is a rather focused discipline of mechanical engineering. There are some good prospects in the private sector, but working for NASA is no longer as shiny as it used to seem, due to budgetary cuts and bureaucratic nonsense, according to a few friends who work there (a perk of going to college in Houston: NASA buddies!). And since aerospace engineering tends to focus on just aerospace applications, I'm not sure it'd be as versatile a career as structural is. </p>
<p>Time for another aibarr metaphor: Structural engineering is sort of the flathead screwdriver to aerospace engineering's belt sander... A belt sander's really good if you need to smooth out wood, and it's a lot jazzier than a flathead screwdriver... nobody really goes around bragging about their brand-new screwdrivers... But when you need to pry open a can of paint, or fend off an attacker, or clean gunk out of a crevace, a belt sander's just not the right tool for the job. Lots more applications. Less specificity. More flexibility in terms of what it can do.</p>
<p>ohh wow, thanks this is information i really needed it to read. it definitely helps more to meditate and think about what i really like and what i really wanna do later on. ive thought about getting a BS in one and then a MS in the other. it just depends on the situation as i wont know what the environment in those fields is like until i transfer or even until i enter the job industry.</p>
<p>whats ur knowledge as far as schools with good programs in aerospace and structural enginerring. especially the UCs and some of the privates</p>