engineering is depressing

College Majors Engineering Majors
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Or consider the premed or prelaw tracks that you mentioned. What if you screw up and get low grades? Then you're not going to get into med school or a good law school... But even if you're an engineering student who gets low grades at a mediocre school, you will still probably get a decently-paying job.

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<p>Sakky, this is exactly why I picked engineering. My HS stats were 3.4GPA, 23ACT, which is very mediocre. I went engineering/pre-med because I knew that if I did not make the grades required for med school I could get a decent job as an engineer.</p>

<p>Correct me if I am wrong but, an engineering student with a 2.5GPA is going to have better salary than a non-engineering student with a 3.0.</p>

<p>Despite the workload, I love my major.</p>

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<p>yeh but chances are u are no longer a pre med student anymore because its very hard to get the grades necessary for medical school with engineering. even if u were ud be missing out on college life. college is supposed to be fun as well.</p>

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sakky, I'd bet the Wharton guys got, on average, much bigger bonuses than those engineers. .

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<p>Yeah, bigger bonuses, probably. But on the other hand, to get those bonuses, they have to work * far longer hours *. </p>

<p>In other words, there are plenty of engineering jobs out there that let you work 40-50 hours a week and still have a life. You won't get paid great, but at least you'll have a life. (And then of course there are lots of startup companies out there where you will work like a dog, but for a chance to become a millionaire). On the other hand, to make a lot of money in finance almost invariably means working deadly hours. It's not easy to find a finance job that pays you well that doesn't require long hours.</p>

<p>The point is, again, the MIT engineer has an extra option. If he wants to take a finance job, and work crazy hours for a lot of pay, he can do it (or can work crazy hours at a tech startup in return for a chance at a mountain of money). Of if he decides he just wants to have an easy-going life while still being relatively well paid, he can just take one of those easier engineering jobs. The Wharton guy doesn't really have that option. If he wants to have an easy life, he's going to make less than the engineer would. </p>

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Maybe nitpicking, but I think the average Wharton grad probably will make more money in his/her lifetime than an engineer from the vast majority of schools. Correct me if I'm wrong

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<p>I agree, but this is endogenous to me. Let's face it. A lot of people who choose Wharton do so because they have no problem in dedicating their life in working very long hours in return for lots of money. They've made that mental trade. Engineering programs obviously tend to attract plenty of people who just don't want to work that hard for their whole life - i.e. they'll work very very hard to get the engineering degree, but then they plan to coast in a relatively laid-back (compared to investment banking) job for the rest of their life. </p>

<p>So it's not really a fair comparison because it has to do with personal motivations. You can't fairly take an MIT engineer and just say that he would have been better off going to Wharton, because maybe that guy doesn't want to be working 90 hours a week after he graduates. Maybe he just wants a nice, laid-back career that still pays relatively well. Hence, this guy would probably be WORSE off if he were to go to Wharton, because Wharton wouldn't get him what he wants. </p>

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Correct me if I am wrong but, an engineering student with a 2.5GPA is going to have better salary than a non-engineering student with a 3.0.

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<p>On average, this is absolutely true. </p>

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yeh but chances are u are no longer a pre med student anymore because its very hard to get the grades necessary for medical school with engineering. even if u were ud be missing out on college life. college is supposed to be fun as well.

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<p>Also true. That's the tradeoff you make. I agree that the tradeoff is not for everybody, and in my previous posts, I have deeply questioned why this tradeoff has to exist (i.e. why exactly do engineering courses have to be graded lower than other courses?). </p>

<p>But be that as it may, at the end of the day, engineering offers career insurance, but for a price. The price being that it does lower your chances of entering some of the other careers, i.e. medicine or law.</p>

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<p>sakky,
Sorry to digress, but could you briefly explain WHY investment bankers have to work 90 hours per week? What exactly do they do all day long? Can't they do their jobs in a normal 8-10 hours? (This is not meant to be sarcastic... I really would like to know what the heck they do 16 hours a day for all of this great compensation.)
Thanks!</p>

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<p>sakky, is what u say true for all engineering majors or are only talking about traditional engineering majors like electrical, computer and mechanical engineering? it seems as though an undergraduate biomedical engineering does not carry the same career insurance as other engineering majors. i also agree with sakky that mit engineers have the option to go into finance and engineering. the problem is most people arent blessed with the luxury like sakky of getting into mit.</p>

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sakky, is what u say true for all engineering majors or are only talking about traditional engineering majors like electrical, computer and mechanical engineering? it seems as though an undergraduate biomedical engineering does not carry the same career insurance as other engineering majors. i also agree with sakky that mit engineers have the option to go into finance and engineering. the problem is most people arent blessed with the luxury like sakky of getting into mit.

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<p>"The harder I work, the luckier I get." - Samuel Goldwyn</p>

<p>Mech E, ECE, Chem E, or Civil E have great job security from any ABET certified curriculum. I assume that MIT graduates will have better salaries than state school graduates, mostly because they work harder, not because they are lucky.</p>

<p>Bio Engineering pays significantly less! I started at a state school in Chem E because it has the highest paying average salary ($55k according to that CNN website). I really really hated Chem E, really really did not want to take P. Chem, so I transferred to Cornell. The average starting salary for a Cornell Bio E is 35k!</p>

<p>If you are pre-med you should be interested in Bio Engineering, as the material is related to medicine. Being a Mech E premed would be more difficult because the med school pre-reqs are not part of the curriculum.</p>

<p>Those are my opinions. Here are the facts:
Bachelor Engineering Degree | average salary</p>

<p>Aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical $50,993
Agricultural 46,172
Bioengineering and biomedical 48,503
Chemical 53,813
Civil 43,679
Computer 52,464
Electrical/electronics and communications 51,888
Environmental/environmental health 47,384
Industrial/manufacturing 49,567
Materials 50,982
Mechanical 50,236
Mining & mineral 48,643
Nuclear 51,182
Petroleum 61,516</p>

<p>src-<a href="http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm"&gt;http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos027.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>My daughter has been given mixed reviews of perceptions of her intended major. She has chosen biomedical engineering. She wants to be an engineer- a biomedical engineer. She does not desire a career as a doctor. </p>

<p>What is the best major to choose?
Does the school really matter? What happens after 10 years? Or 15?
What are the best schools, [in order, if possible] where she can learn what she must without ridiculous amounts of stress?</p>

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<p>What does she think a Biomedical engineer does? Is that something which can be more encompassed in a traditional engineering skillset? ME?</p>

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What are the best schools, [in order, if possible] where she can learn what she must without ridiculous amounts of stress?

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The biggest "stress" schools are those with large engineering bodies and have low proclivity to keep people in the program. Cal/Mich/GT/Purdue. Those schools will fail you.</p>

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<p>wow really? </p>

<p>"The biggest "stress" schools are those with large engineering bodies and have low proclivity to keep people in the program. Cal/Mich/GT/Purdue. Those schools will fail you."</p>

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<p>glad stanford is not on that list</p>

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<p>Petroleum seems to be the most rewarding field.But I'm not sure whether it's stable or not.I've considered double major in Petroleum and EE....</p>

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<p>PetE I don't see many colleges offering that major.</p>

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<p>you are right,Annubes.
Only a few colleges offer PetroE.
Stanford,UT austin,Texas A&M,U of Kansas,LSU..and a few others.</p>

<p>there aren't many petroE graduates while the demand is huge,which made PetroE a rewarding engineering major.Unfortunately,it is predicated that the demand for PetroE graduates will decline after 2014.</p>

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<p>Oklahoma also offers PetroE.</p>

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<p>yes,Oklahoma is also a great school for PetroE</p>

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why put up with all the stuff in engineering when u could easily do the pre med, pre law or finance track?

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Some of us find it fun :)</p>

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<p>One of my doctors is on the admissions committee for a major southeastern medical school, and he said that they are looking for more humanities majors. He told me about one young lady who got admitted to their medical school and who had to defer starting for one year because she was going off to Europe with her dance troupe. She had her degree in performing arts. So take something you like -- even dance.</p>

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<p>Maybe I'm in the minority here but I don't think that engineering is as hard as people are making it out to be. I'm going into my senior year with a 3.4 and I don't work nearly as hard in college as what I was expecting. I work steadily all the time. I don't cram and I have most of my assignments done a few days early. It's ALL about time management. I know that if I worked harder and gave up some of my social life(I'm president of my sorority... so I have a social life) I could do much better in my classes. I don't go to an amazing school but it's certainly not crap. Some of their engineering programs are ranked in the top 10 and so it can't be that bad. This past semester I took a full engineering load and then two writing intensive graduate level courses... I got a 3.67 and felt like I could have done better. I'm not super smart... anyone can do it. You just have to decide what you want in your life. If partying Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night is something you can't live without in college then possibly you should choose a different major. But if you can live with going out one or two nights a week you can survive. I've heard from many that the rigour of engineering prepares a student well for graduate school(be it med or law or whatever). If it's something you're interested in, you'll enjoy your college years more than if you take some dull major just because you want a 4.0. Being an engineering major isn't going to help you get in or make you a better applicant but I don't think it'll hurt you if you get decent grades. </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>+1.
it's really not that hard. Most people don't know what a real day of work feels like. Simply being in a college puts you at the top 1% of the human population in terms of lifestyle and opportunity. I can't stand when people complain about having too much work and not being able to go out or that work is "depressing". Seriously, 90% of the world would dream to have the "problems" that we have. Stop complaining! :)</p>