Engineering for the money - a mistake ?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Hi !
I am thinking on what to study ...
Now as you all may know already , Engineering jobs are consistently ranked as the highest paying jobs . now I don't really know what Engineering is all about but I know it's very math intensive . I hate math . I really hate math .
now the question is should I study some sort of engineering and try to suffer the math in college hoping that in the real - life profession it will not involve math ? After you finish studying do engineers sit around and solve equations all day or is it just a matter of surviving college and then it's a " no - brainer ?</p>

2

<p>If you’re intimidated by the math in finance and accounting, you are not going to survive four years of engineering.</p>

3

<p>how much harder is the math there compared to accounting / finance ?</p>

4

<p>You will not succeed if that’s your attitude toward math. You should look elsewhere.</p>

5

<p>Multivariable calculus:</p>

<p><a href=“http://people.math.carleton.ca/~amingare/fcoeffgif2.gif[/url]”>http://people.math.carleton.ca/~amingare/fcoeffgif2.gif&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Linear algebra:</p>

<p><a href=“http://jeffreygalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/linear_algebra.jpg[/url]”>http://jeffreygalt.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/linear_algebra.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>I rarely tell posters to go another path (on this board)…and this may even be my first time to do this, but like the above postings said, if the math in accounting or finance gives you fits…then you need to leave engineering alone.</p>

7

<p>One way to describe engineering is that you study physical systems and then develop a math model to describe that physical system. You test the validity of that math model with known sets of inputs and outputs. Once validated, you can then apply new sets of inputs to predict outputs.</p>

<p>The math involved in describing these physical systems are typically differential equations (ie. the next step in the math progression that uses what you learn in calculus).</p>

<p>While it is true that some engineers do not use a lot of math beyond their college years. You do need to use it to understand the formulas and equations that you will use. You won’t do well in engineering without the math background. The money is only good (but not always great) for those that do well in engineering. </p>

<p>OP, sounds to me that starting down the path to engineering will be a disaster for you.</p>

8

<p>Ok thanks everybody for the feedback ( even the harsh ones ) , I got the message .
I guess the next Golden Gate Bridge , or the next iPhone will not be engineered by me :wink:
I’ll leave that pleasure to you math whizzes .</p>

9

<p>Math is a great predictor of engineering success. If you were to walk into my average engineering class (I was MechE) and look at the board, you’ll probably see 10 different Greek symbols scattered around various mathematical functions (such as polynomials, derivatives, integrals, summations, cross products, dot products, trigonometric functions, step functions, logarithms, and more). </p>

<p>It was rare that the math was particularly advanced–most of my professors knew what functions we had seen before–but you definitely will benefit from being very comfortable with what you have seen before. Take a look at the chalkboard (link to picture below). It may look intimidating, but none of the math there looks that complex, and you’ll probably see a lot of similar chalkboards in your engineering theory classes. So if you see that and freak, engineering might not be for you. </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/623287main_GPN-2000-001777.jpg[/url]”>http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/623287main_GPN-2000-001777.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>You could look around at the required courses for engineering degrees at your school, and if you find a degree that doesn’t have a significant math requirement (engineering design, perhaps) you could probably get by without being strong in math.</p>

10

<p>I was in your same situation just a few years back, however, I realized I was talented for math and physics along the way. Math courses are easy, the physics and mechanics classes have been the toughest yet.</p>

<p>Money was a big factor for me, not ashamed to say it, why should you settle for less money than others if you’re obviously smarter than them? That question helped me a lot in choosing engineering, but if you actually hate math so much, I can’t advise you to follow this path</p>

11

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<p>Absolutely. What else would we do?</p>

12

<p>Lookbehindyou - I do hate math THAT much , it’s probably not worth the effort …</p>

<p>And chucknorris - you know , sit around behind a computer all day and let IT do the math . That’s how I figured it is …</p>

13

<p>You figured wrong …</p>

14

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<p>If you are doing engineering JUST for the money, i think you would be very miserable. The reason is that engineering is a field that requires you to be very up to date with the rapidly changing technologies. Engineering can also be a very hard job that requires insane hours. It would surely suck the life out of you if you are just doing it for the money.</p>

<p>Also, even though engineering may not be for you, reevaluate your statement of “I really hate math”. I used to think the same way. As soon as I was learning to count with my fingers at age 5, my parents told me that I wasn’t good at math, perhaps to convince me to put more work into it, but it had the opposite effect. So, at age 7 or 8, i decided that i just wasn’t gifted in math and would focus more on the fluffy stuff. Now i’m 20 and realized this: You can’t say you hate math. It doesn’t make sense. When you say you hate math, you are essentially telling me that you hate logic (that, or you’re lazy). Math is reality. At most, you can only say you hate DOING math, but you can’t hate math. You can’t the fact that 1+1= 2, or that 2*2=4. </p>

<p>So bottom line is: don’t avoid engineering just because of the math, and don’t get into engineering just for the money.</p>

15

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<p>Impress the interns with our engineering prowess :D</p>

16

<p>Yes I think it is a mistake. There are alot of other careers that earn more money and some even take less time than an engineering degree (such as trades).</p>

<p>If you dont go to management or start your own business, the salary would reach the roof fast.</p>

17

<p>It is a mistake to go after any profession solely for the money. If you don’t love what you do, you are going to be miserable. That being said, if you hate math, then it is a definite mistake to choose engineering. Math is the language of engineering, so if you don’t have a solid understanding of it, you are not going to survive very long. If you are good at math and just hate it, I still don’t think you would find engineering very fulfilling. I use math regularly in each of my engineering courses. If I hated math, I would be completely miserable.</p>

18

<p>No, you won’t survive if you hate math. I used to hate math because my high school teacher sucked, but now I find it isn’t that bad.</p>