Do NOT major in engineering!

College Majors Engineering Majors
41

<p>This sounds like a re-post of an earlier thread, from several years ago. In any case, I’ll reply point by point.</p>

<p>

This depends on the person and the school. I generally found my tech courses easier than my humanities courses, particularly courses related to CS and IE. At more selective colleges, C’s are often quite rare, regardless of major. For example, some sample grade distributions at Stanford are below, as listed in CourseRank. I am choosing the first 100+ level course (typically taken by upperclassmen who have declared that major) in each major with a large sample submitting non P/F grades, rather than choosing the easiest or harshest grading course:</p>

<p>Engineering Courses
EE 133: Analog Design Lab – 75% As, 24% B, 0% B- or lower
ME 101: Visual Thinking – 66% A-, 30% B, 0% B- or lower (some took Pass Fail)
CE 100: Sustainable Building Projects – 60% As, 34% B, 0% B- or lower</p>

<p>Humanities Courses
Comm 106: Communication Research Methods – 54% As, 40% Bs, 2% Cs
English 121: Masterpieces of American Literature – 76% As, 16% Bs, 3% Fs
Music 150: Musical Acoustics – 38% As, 43% Bs, 15% Cs, 2% Ds</p>

<p>Most students received A’s in all courses except for the music one. Many would say this indicates a severe grade inflation problem. I think it more relates to the Stanford student body being composed of exceptional students, the vast majority of whom do A quality work and are not “slacking off” in all majors. In general, I found it more difficult to achieve A’s at Stanford than at SUNYA and RPI, even though far fewer receive A’s at SUNYA and RPI.</p>

<p>

Every salary survey I’ve ever seen suggests a very different distribution by major. For example, the most frequently quoted survey is probably Payscale’s, such as the one at <a href=“http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2013/majors-that-pay-you-back”>http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2013/majors-that-pay-you-back&lt;/a&gt; . Note that 6 of 7 highest mid career salaries occurred with engineering majors.</p>

<p>

It’s true that below a B has a very much reduced shot a med school, but there are many law and business schools who accepted low GPA students. I had a friend in HS who failed a grade during HS, failed out of college, then started again at a second non-selective college, and now is a very successful attorney.</p>

<p>

Again this varies by person. I had enough free time in college to be on the crew and cycling teams (at different times), work multiple part time jobs (sometimes two at once), while completing a BS + MS in EE in slightly under 4 years.</p>

<p>

This varies quite a bit by position. I find my engineering work quite interesting, with lots of creative designing, and extreme flexibility in being able to look into whatever I happen to find interesting that day. I expect I enjoy my work more than I would in nearly all non-tech positions. I also created a successful Internet company, which permitted even more flexibility when I was running it as my primary position. However, I would find certain lab verification type jobs mind numbingly boring. </p>

42

<p>I agree with Data’s counters, however I would suggest using another school besides Stanford. Now granted I’m going off two CS grad students (one did EE at CMU and the other CS at GaTech), but both told me Stanford has laughably high grade inflation compared to their previous schools.</p>

43

<p>The information on GradeInflation.com, suggests Stanford is in the ballpark of most other extremely selective private colleges. The average GPA in the latest available year for all students is below for some extremely selective colleges, with admit rates below 10%, like Stanford. Note that GradeInflation numbers are often several years old, so the average is probably a bit higher today. I did not list MIT since there is no data past 1999.</p>

<p>Brown - 3.61
Stanford - 3.55
Yale - 3.51
Harvard - 3.45
Columbia 3.42</p>

<hr>

<p>Princeton 3.28</p>

<p>As selectivity decreases, average GPA gradually decreases at most colleges. Some examples with highly selective colleges with admit rates above 10% are below. SHYCB had an average GPA of 3.5, while these slightly less selective colleges had an average GPA between 3.4 and 3.5, again suggesting few Cs. The obvious anomaly in this average GPA-selectivity correlation is Princeton, not Stanford, which relates to Princeton’s unique grade deflation policies. GeorgiaTech is also a bit of anomaly, being lower than most other selective public colleges. For example, Berkeley and UVA were 3.27 and 3.21, while GT was 3.07. </p>

<p>Pomona - 3.51
Amherst - 3.48
Duke - 3.44
Dartmouth - 3.42
Georgetown - 3.42
Haverford - 3.42
WUSTL - 3.41
Northwestern - 3.41
Cornell 3.36</p>

44

<p>“Not all of the jobs are glamorous, but most of them are essential enough for the company in question that they aren’t typically the first on the chopping block when it comes time to make layoffs.”</p>

<p>I agree with this. My husband has worked for a number of large corporations and when ever there are cuts they usually cut the marketing and finance people and keep the engineers.</p>

45

<p>When you say engineering, do you only mean the “typical” types? (mechanical, electrical, civil, etc.) Meaning, do you think it would be just as hard/not worth it for biological or chemical type engineering?</p>

46

<p>I wouldn’t recommend an engineering major for someone who didn’t want to become an engineer. Though to each their own.
But if you want to be an engineer it’s kind of a good idea.</p>

<p>There are pros and cons to being an engineer, for sure. As with everything else. And people can evaluate them. But there are people who just are engineers, it is their destiny.
Sometimes you just have to go where your talents and passions direct you. Whether or not people with different passions and talents make more money, or work less. They are not you, and you are not them.</p>

47

<p>There is potential for Engineers to make ridiculous amounts of money if they get into management. </p>

<p>We had a VP of Supply Chain Management speak at our campus last year, background in Industrial Engineering, he makes 250 K/year.</p>

<p>Honestly, I could live like a king with 1/3 of that but if money is your thing, there are unlimited opportunities for engineers with good management/people skills to make ridiculous amounts of money.</p>

48

<p>Being at the right company at the right time helps. An engineering classmate of mine was an early hire of [famous startup] and made a nice pile of money from the stock options. Of course the place could also have gone belly up, so he took a risk.</p>

49

<p>You have to LIKE engineering to do well in engineering so that means you have to know what engineering involves before you choose the major. </p>

<p>Hubbie has always had a natural gift for math, physics, and chemistry. He thrived in those EE classes and continued into grad school at Stanford. He then taught daughter what engineering involved. She also majored in E engineering with software engineering because she liked it. Her grades in the major weren’t spectacular but she performed well in the labs. She’s making decent money since September and has almost completely paid off her loans. </p>

<p>Husband also agrees that there are a number of new engineering grads, employed at his facility, who don’t understand what engineering is and who don’t like it. He says he can tell right away. </p>

<p>Don’t get into the major unless you know what it is and you like calculus and physics.</p>

50

<p>

</p>

<p>This, applied to every major. I usually post in the CS forum, but this caught my eye. You see it in every major, people working for money not to be happy WHILE making money/sustaining themselves. I love CS/Math/STEM, I guess I am lucky. But if I was an artist or say into (insert current low earning major here), I would still be majoring in that, and maybe put in place a backup plan that I could stand and would be much safer.</p>

<p>A +1 from me for every post about this. So many kids don’t get this.</p>

51

<p>A few posts really capture why engineering is worthwhile. One in particular jumped out at me - </p>

<p>MaineLonghorn - “…design a community building in the Dominican Republic …” and “…inspections after Hurricane Sandy to help people…”</p>

<p>Nothing in those two statements has anything to do with how hard engineering school is, or how much they get paid. It’s all about using engineering to make the world a better place. A little cheesy, but it’s true. As for me, actions I take on a daily basis make sure that there is electricity in people’s houses. Makes me smile when I stop and think about it. </p>

52

<p>There is something that cities call the “Creative Class”. Most think of musicians, performers, artists and actors when they hear that term, however, it applies to engineers. They are the designers of the new products that are created and the processes we use to create those products. Not surprisingly, many engineers also love or participate in music or the arts. </p>

53

<p>Famous old quote goes something like; " do what you like, and like what you do". Certainly true in any profession. </p>

<p>I wanted to be involved in the space program since I was a little kid. I went into engineering and did indeed work within the space program, not for NASA directly, but for a major aerospace company. I was involved in the design and analysis of hardware that took people to space, other hardware that is orbiting the earth right now and maybe what makes me most proud, hardware that is roving around Mars right now. And I made a good amount of money doing it. </p>

<p>It can be quite a creative field. Maybe not in the beginning for everyone as you have to prove yourself before any company will risk spending the large amounts of time and money it takes to design and develop very complex hardware. But you can get there.</p>

<p>If you don’t like doing it, get out and find something you like doing. Engineering isn’t for everybody, but for those that enjoy doing it, it is a great field. If you don’t enjoy it, it can make the days go by very slowly and very painfully. And not very financially rewarding either. You won’t perform very well if you don’t like it and most companies practice a “pay for performance” type of salary system.</p>

54

<p>Engineering is definitely the easiest way to get and stay in the middle class with a decent lifestyle. Sure, you could make more as a banker, a lawyer, or a doctor, but it’s a hell of a lot easier to just be an engineer.</p>

55

<p>“You have to LIKE engineering to do well in engineering so that means you have to know what engineering involves before you choose the major.”</p>

<p>It is not as clear-cut as you think though. I really like Industrial Engineering, I knew exactly what it was before I started and still do not like some of my classes. My performance is below average but I still like this area and I will never give up until I graduate. </p>

<p>My buddy has a much higher GPA, he does not like Industrial Engineering and he tells me that he is doing it strictly because he wants to become a manager and make as much money as possible.</p>

<p>I am much more involved in IE than he is though. I am member of several associations, clubs and have attended several events related to IE, not because I want to put it on my resume but because I really like this area.</p>

<p>On paper, with a 3.x GPA, he looks like a pretty good prospect for any IE job but he can be very arrogant, and lacks tact and social skills. </p>

<p>Still, he is very smart and very capable of doing anything related to Engineering.</p>

<p>Then, I see someone like my Calculus III professor, a book smart person with no common sense whatsoever. A person who obviously loves Calculus and Physics but totally socially inept. Her handwriting is unintelligible, her accent is impossible to understand. </p>

<p>A person like her has a bright future in academia but in corporate America, she would be seen as a total oddity.</p>

<p>I think it is much more complicated than just liking it and doing it for the “right reasons”</p>

56

<p>Given that my hubbie has been enjoying his electrical engineering experiences since 1985, and has been working in the field. It’s about liking it and doing it for the right reasons.</p>

57

<p>Good for him! Unfortunately, he does not represent me and several other Engineering students, since experiences vary greatly.</p>

58

<p>Let’s face it… life as an engineering student is often A LOT different than life as an engineer. In school, you must complete many courses whether you like them or not. An engineer in the real world is a problem solver, but usually in areas of interest… sometimes w/o much deep analysis calculations. </p>

<p>In other words, most undergrad engineers have similar coursework. Once graduated, there is a lot of variety of jobs. </p>

59

<p>This advice of “doing what you love” and following your passion is why the vast majority of college graduates are unemployable today. There is no shortage of mathematicians, physicists, biologists, chemists, etc. who followed their passions and did what they love and are now living on the poverty line after a near decade of post-secondary education. A lot of these qualified people could have led much better and productive careers and lives if they stuck with engineering rather than listening to harmful advice such as “do what you love”. </p>

<p>In engineering, the average engineer is practically guaranteed a job in their field of study and a middle-class lifestyle. In just about every other field (physical sciences, mathematics, social sciences, liberal arts), the average bachelors degree holder is rewarded with either graduate school (if they were among the top of their class) or a minimum wage job. Those who do go to graduate school are just delaying the inevitable, and once the fun is over and the post-doc funding runs out without any offer of a permanent academic position (<10% get such offers), will end up in the same position as the BS/BA grads and work a minimum wage job or retrain in another, employable career. </p>

<p>Studying what you “love” and are passionate about has been responsible for ruining the lives of millions who cannot ever hope to pay back their student loans and are completely unemployable. </p>

60

<p>FWIW, I said <em>sometimes</em> you have to do what you are passionate about and are good at.
And the case at hand is when those times indicate someone should be an engineer, which you just indicated does not obviously lead to destitution or a terrible standard of living. I would agree that a path that would likely lead to destitution or a poor standard of living might be one where the <em>sometimes</em> might be less likely to apply. Though that would be up to the individual, with eyes wide open.</p>

<p>Many people are not “done” simply because they chose a less immediately employable major or took a chance on something they wanted that didn’t work out for them. As you said they can retrain.
For example, practically everyone in my MBA program was trying to change careers. Including the engineers in it, such as myself. </p>

<p>Of course that is a costly and longer route to lucrative employment. But if the people are willing to take that risk, that’s up to them. And in the long run it can actually pay off better than sticking it out at a bachelor’s entry job.(But if you like your bachelor’s entry job…)</p>