<p>It sure seems to me that a significant fraction of engineers (say about the top 10-15%) make 100k. Furthermore, the top 10% basically means the most experienced engineers. Hence, if you just work as an engineer for your whole career, you have a very good shot at eventually becoming part of the top 10% (just from the experience alone), and thus making over 100k.</p>
<p>Furthermore, there aren't that many engineers who work for long anyway. Many experienced engineers become managers and are thus no longer classified as engineers by the BLS. Hence, what that means is that the top 10% of the engineers are always being cleared out, making way for new people to enter the top 10%. </p>
<p>Look, nobody is saying that engineering is the greatest thing in the world. I have always stated that there are other careers out there that might be better. But the point is, engineers are doing pretty well for themselves, relative to most other people. I know plenty of people who have worked for decades, and STILL don't make the money that even a starting engineer makes.</p>
<p>10 years out, the most lucrative career opportunities are provided to those who have learned the ways of business.... Finance/Economics/Accounting degree holders have a head start at this....Business Admin and Liberal Arts majors also do pretty well once they find their niche.</p>
<p>honestly, i havent read through all of this arguing and bs, but i do have a question. </p>
<p>if you are soworried about outsourcing, why would you want americans to STOP majoring in engineering? that would just make the foreigners you fear taking the jobs to have the opportunity to more, wouldnt it?</p>
<p>idk, i think if you love it, you should do it. i know many many engineering majors (i live next to carnegie mellon) and they love what they do and have a fun time too. i understand you have a background in this, but im not sure you should just spout off such powerful language about such a popular major without expecting major backlash, not to mention a bunch of enemies.</p>
<p>marleys_ghost,
What exactly is your background? Your (re)post reminds me of the various excuses people made sophmore year.. about the time they realized they just couldn't handle engineering classes and had to switch majors. Yea, you can't party on weeknights and expect to keep your engineering grades up. Regarding having no life.. I never studied for engineering after 4-5PM during the week (unless I had a late class), or on weekends, and still ended up with a 3.6 gpa.</p>
<p>Your post does contain valid points, but I'm afraid you spent several hours searching the internet for excuses to not put in the study time required to major in engineering. It's perfectly OK to major in something else that better fits your background and interests.</p>
<p>
[quote]
10 years out, the most lucrative career opportunities are provided to those who have learned the ways of business.... Finance/Economics/Accounting degree holders have a head start at this....Business Admin and Liberal Arts majors also do pretty well once they find their niche.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Plenty of liberal arts majors never find their niche. Trust me. I know liberal arts guys who have been out in the workforce for decades and STILL can't make as much as even a starting engineer. </p>
<p>I would also dispute the contention that finance/accounting/econ guys have a headstart in knowing business over the engineers. Look at any of the top B-schools and you will note that the percentage of former engineers at those schools is highly comparable to the percentage of former people who majored in finance/accounting/econ/busad, despite the fact that far fewer people major in engineering than in finance/accounting/econ/busad. Only 5% of US bachelor's degrees are granted in engineering, whereas far more than that are granted in finance/accounting/econ/busad. Heck, bachelor's degrees in business administration alone account for more than 20% of all US bachelor's degrees given out. </p>
<p>The point is, engineers are greatly overrepresented at the top MBA programs. Statistically speaking, you are probably likely to get into a top MBA school by majoring in engineering than by majoring in anything else. </p>
<p>Now, you might say that some of those bus-ad/finance/econ/accounting guys don't NEED to get their MBA. Sure, for the vanishingly small number of them who entered consulting or banking and got directly promoted to associate level, sure. But that's only a handful of people. Plenty of those guys do not have highly successful careers, and so they would want to get into a top MBA program to accelerate their career. Furthermore, there are engineers who also get into consulting and banking and also get directly promoted to the associate level. Hence, this is really a wash.</p>
<p>sesshomaru-
you can't post a copyrighted article here. Its a no-no. The mods will probably remove it. Hence, I put the link to it only. There is also a second page to this article. You posted some, but not all of it.</p>
<p>
[quote]
bsme writes: marleys_ghost, What exactly is your background? Your (re)post reminds me of the various excuses people made sophmore year.. about the time they realized they just couldn't handle engineering classes and had to switch majors.
[/quote]
In another post bsme asks about leaving the field of engineering to become a patent attorney (click on his name to find it). Tells you something about the glory of sticking it out in the engineering field, doesn't it? Oh wait, it's do as I say and not as I do, right?</p>
<p>And BTW, bmse, if you do go to law school you better brush up on those reading skills. From what I hear, digesting large amounts of material is important to getting thru law school. Yet you ask about my background, something answered on the 4th paragraph of my 1st post.</p>
<p>I should add I love it when my critics make my points for me. The other post bsme (and we already know bmse is almost certain to be a "he" given the male/female ratio of the profession) bsme underscores some of the pitfalls of an engineering career, just like I've written. I mean here's a guy writing in to dispute what I'm saying about engineering, but just look what he tells you about himself.</p>
<p>He makes 75K a year at 35 years old, and now wants to do something else. Since a new ME grad starts at 50K, it looks like a dozen years experience as an ME are worth about 2K/year. Just like I said in point 7 of the first post, your salary will top out early and the liberal-arts majors will pass you.</p>
<p>And <em>why</em> does bsme want to leave engineering? In point 9 I said there's limited room for advancement as an engineer; if the career and future prospects are so great why does this guy want to leave?</p>
<p>Marleys_ghost, the only posts you seem to be paying attention to are ones with things to pick apart. What about the people that made pretty decent arguments/counterexamples to your generalizations?</p>
<p>Top research and engineering as well as computer science schools are on the rise at the moment. For example, Carnegie Mellon has more than doubled its application numbers over the years and has one of the strongest job networks with engineering students getting the top tier of highest avg/median salaries and going to top companies INCLUDING Investment Banks/Consulting on Wall Street.</p>
<p>Therefore I disagree with the original thread (I didn't read all the replies) but Marley's Ghost is very wrong indeed. In the two years since he made his original post, the OPPOSITE of what he has said has happened as tech/engineering is booming while the financial world has taken some heavy beatings (Bear Stearns, Citigroup, Lehman, etc.).</p>
<p>
[quote]
workforce is 1/3 chinese, 1/3 indian, 1/3 white. If you've ever wanted to feel like a minority in your own country, engineering is the job for you. And BTW many don't bother with soap or deodorant because that's the way things are back home
[/quote]
</p>
<p>am I the only one who finds this highly offensive? Not sure if op was trying (but failed) to be funny or not.</p>
<p>djvu, I'm incredibly offended by that part, too, and by the entire premise of the OP's arguments. I disagree with pretty much everything they've said, just as I disagreed when the thread was posted two years ago.</p>
<p>As has been pointed out numerous times, engineering as a bachelor's degree has far more potential for advancement than any undergrad liberal arts degree by enormous margins. Starting salary is much much higher, and if we're talking about getting professional degrees, note that engineers are vastly overrepresented at top MBA programs.</p>
<p>While an engineering degree is far from perfect, it certainly is more useful than about 99% of liberal arts degrees. You keep saying liberal arts majors will eventually surpass engineering majors salary wise, but you have yet to give any examples of how this is possible without the liberal arts major continuing to graduate school (where the engineer can do the exacty same thing with better results).</p>
<p>Stop giving your skewed examples and focus on facts. An engineering degree is arguably the most valuable undergraduate degree you can possess.</p>