<p>Most engineers would say Chem E is harder than ME but in all honesty that may be somewhat biased since most engineers are much more into physics than chemistry anyway.</p>
<p>I personally think ChemE would be harder, but then again I personally can't imagine having to do all that chemistry (organic and inorganic chem I a II, pchem..etc) in addition to engineering classes. But that is just me. I am sure that more chemistry-minded people would argue the contrary. </p>
<p>As for salaries, I think Chem E is supposed to be the best paying field upon getting a bachelor's. ME is not far behind though.</p>
<p>I agree with lancer. Most engineers are definitely driven by math and physics, and not so much chemistry since there's so much less math. I am generalizing, but many engineers are only capable of dealing with numbers, and outside of that, they're very weak. </p>
<p>I love chemistry myself, and I hope to work in the nanotech and biotech industry. They just fascinate me much more than gears, wires, and codes.</p>
<p>How is biomedical engineering viewed? I am surprised that so many at my son's school have chosen BME, unless it is the new place for med school hopefuls.</p>
<p>As far as I know, CompE and EE take many of the same courses with CompE specializing a bit more into computer hardware. As I understand it, however, they are also similar in difficulty.</p>
<p>I get the feeling that they are more like one another than ME is to AE.</p>
<p>I can tell you that chemE is MUCH harder than ME. Simple fact. Just look at ChemE vs ME thermo classes. Also all of the chemistry (don't just think about just the classes but the ridiculous labs that come with them, what a nightmare) on top of engineering is harder (even for a chem buff like myself). From orgo 1 to orgo 2 most of the chemEs decided to take the easier biochemistry option because orgo was just not good at all. No equations all visualizations and puzzle-logic-type problem solving (different from engineering type problem solving) that they all just hated (I loved it).</p>
<p>ME is mainly all structural like machinery, whereas chemistry is process on top of machinery. We don't go into the depth of detail that they do on machines but we have to know enough about them as far as processes and what they're good for.</p>
<p>Mechanical engineering isn't all about machinery; it's about mechanics (obviously). Many of the courses are about fluids, not structures.</p>
<p>I've heard that Chemical is harder than MechE. Honestly, I don't find Chemistry very difficult. General Chem 1 and 2 were my two easiest first year engineering courses. I have a friend that says that organic is even easier if you are a logical thinker. I don't know where the difference in difficulty comes from; but i suppose it stems from the increased about of memorization, in that ChemE's have to worry about so many different materials and chemicals.</p>
<p>I think the "difference in difficulty" comes from the fact that all other engineering disciplines are physics-based as opposed to chemistry-based. I'd be willing to gander that engineers in these other disciplines for the most part can't stand chemistry. As a result, these chemistry-hating engineers would perceive ChemE to be ridiculously difficult. The bad rep that Organic Chem has also further enhances that image. </p>
<p>ChemE would probably be more difficult for me personally, not because it is a tougher major than ME or AE, but rather, chemistry is not my cup of tea. For me, math and physics is much more fun.</p>
<p>On the contrary, If I were a chemistry buff that couldn't stand physics, I would probably find the more mathemtical-physics-based engineering disciplines (AE, EE, ME..etc) to be harder than ChemE.</p>
<p>Russell which gen chem did you take? See us chemE's have to take special accelerated gen and orgo chem courses that are much harder than the normal ones. And that's just the class. The labs aren't even close to being comparable. So saying that chem is easy makes sense if you didn't take any accelerated chem where not only is the material harder everyone is much more serious. I probably wouldn't even be close to saying chemE was harder if I took the normal chem sequence.</p>
<p>All engineers take the same general chemistry courses. At my University, all engineers have the same first year curriculum. No offense or anything, but chemistry is simple. Not a lot of abstract thinking compared to a lot of other courses. That's why I find Chemistry boring.</p>
<p>The organic Chem is taken in second year, and only ChemE's take that. However, I have a friend that said Orgo's easier than general Chem, despite popular belief (it depends on what type of thinker you are).</p>
<p>I agree that Chemistry is relatively easy (made A's in both Chem I and II in college), although I find physics even easier.
In my case, I can't stand chemistry not because its hard but because it is just not as clear-cut and logical as physics. There is too much rote memorization and there are too many exceptions to every "general rule" in Chemistry for me to find it enjoyable. I couldn't ever major in anything that would require extensive usage of it.</p>
<p>Isn't gravity as we know it under attack? What about string theory? haha no science is concrete but I understand what you mean about chem. I love it though. I think it's the perfect mix of math and facts (bio is too much about facts and trends and physics is too mathy for me but I have gained an increasing amount of respect for it). Once you get to higher levels of the sciences it becomes a bit obscene seeing how much they combine (quantum physics somewhat like p-chem, diff eq & calc in many areas of physics and chem, bio and orgo).</p>