<p>Recently I was chosen as a Rensselaer Medalist and I plan on going to RPI. Is engineering a good way to spend my life? Will I be making a decent salary? What type of engineering would be best to take? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>...............bump!</p>
<p>engineering a good way to spend your life... that's for you to decide. some people love engineering, my dad said he'd do it even if he wasn't paid. on the other hand, some may hate it. </p>
<p>salary... salary is decent, but not great, but i guess it depends on the field. my dad has been working with the same company for... 30 years i think, and he makes 80k. </p>
<p>type of engineering... once again, no one can tell you that. just research each thing, and pick the one that appeals to you most.</p>
<p>The average American makes 30-40k. I think 80k is a little more than decent. I don't understand why everyone is always complaining about the salary not going up after a few years. The starting salary for engineers is more than many people will ever make.</p>
<p>I think 30-40k is a little too low. Maybe 40-60k for engineering majors across teh board.</p>
<p>Engineering is a great field to pursue. Lots of people are majoring in it nowadays and there's a lot you can do with it.</p>
<p>"I think 30-40k is a little too low. Maybe 40-60k for engineering majors across teh board."</p>
<p>I was talking about the average for all jobs. Engineering salaries go from 40k to 110k according to BLS.</p>
<p>Based on the starting salaries that I have seen on various majors. Engineers usually have the highest starting salaries among that of most undergraduate majors, averaging $45K-60K ( if I remember correctly). However, unless they go into management, it does tend to level off unlike that of certain other types of majors. Also, engineers do a lot of research. Thus, if this your type of thing, you won't like it. Moreover, Engineers tend to have cyclical needs. Over the years, I seem to have met more unemployed engineers than that of most other occupations. Maybe this was just happenstance.</p>
<p>You should note that with engineering, you may also be able to invent something and make a killing.</p>
<p>marines, responding to your AIM, my dad is an electrical/computer engineer for honeywell. he has an MS in physics, not an engineering degree though. so... not sure how that happened, but it did. </p>
<p>by the way, where i live, there are lots of rich kids. johnson county kansas, for those who know it, that pretty much explains it. so though not all parts are rich, in relation to the people i know, 80k seems only decent. i think wealth is relative. in comparison to whole nation, yeah, i'm rich, but to my county, i'm not.</p>
<p>lots of threads on this a few weeks back before the board changed over; see, for example, <a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?4/92368%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?4/92368</a></p>
<p>Woah! Thanks a bunch. I didn't bother checking.</p>