Engineering questions

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Seeing as how my interests and strengths lie definitely more in the math and sciences, I'm really considering engineering as a prospective major - but I was just wondering a couple things.</p>

<p>if you major in engineering, exactly what kind of career might the major lead to? For example, if one were to ask an electrical engineer or mechanical engineer what their career goal is/might be, what would a typical answer be?</p>

<p>How is the future outlook and opportunities for employment? What might the work environment be like? Are job openings typically found only in specific cities?</p>

<p>And lastly, are there maybe specific engineering disciplines that might be more dominant than others, in terms of availability, future, prestige, and even pay?</p>

<p>Thank you so much for your time =)</p>

2

<p>Most Engineers I know did not end up working as engineers. The career opportunities availlable to engineers are actually amazing, primarily because of the quantitative and analytical strengths such a discipline requires. My Engineering friends went on to work with management consulting firms and ivestment banks upon graduation. Others joined extenssive "development" programs at companies like Ford, GM, Proctor and Gamble and Pfizer. There really is no rhyme or reason. I have a few of my Engineering friends who went on to do their MBA at reasonable programs such as Kellogg, Carnegie Mellon etc... </p>

<p>As far as Engineering fields that are popular these days? Again, it depends on what you want to do. Electrical, Bioengineering, Materials and Chemical are always popular. Mechanical is also is high demand. Industrial, Enviromental and Civil are not quite as popular, but they also have a following.</p>

<p>This PDF gives you an idea of the details. It is limited purely to Michigan, but schools like MIT, Stanford, Cal-Berkeley, CalTech, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, Princeton, Illinois, Texas etc... are all equally diversified and far-reaching.</p>

<p><a href="http://career.engin.umich.edu/Annual_Report03-04.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://career.engin.umich.edu/Annual_Report03-04.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Everything from McKinsey to Goldman Sachs to the DOD to Pfizer etc....</p>

3

<p>Perhaps things have changed, but "in my day" at least 50% of engineering majors at my school became, well, engineers. A good number branched off and did other things afterwards. A lot went directly to grad school in related fields.</p>

<p>The quantitative skills learned in engineering are very valuable in business, but so are other skills that engineers don't typically focus on, like reading and writing. Not to mention public speaking, interpersonal skills, leadership, well-roundedness, life experiences,etc. Additionally there are other disciplines where someone with a quantitative bent can exercise their innate quantitative capabilities.</p>

<p>As an engineering student you will take most electives in various branches of engineering. You will come out of school knowing relatively more than other people about subjects such as: bridge design/stress and strain, heating system thermodynamics, principles behind jet propulsion, circuit design, antenna theory, motors, etc. If these subjects interest you a lot that is a good thing.</p>

<p>On the other hand, if you major in the physical sciences in an arts & sciences college, you will learn very little about some of the above topics, unless you make an effort. Instead your electives will focus rather more on liberal arts subjects such as: philosophy, politics, music, economics, history, languages, etc. You will still develop your quantitative skills via physical science and math courses, and if you're in a school that has engineering you can take some engineering courses too if you have the prerequisites. That's what I did.</p>

<p>There is nothing wrong with being an engineer. I suggest make a good effort to find out what engineers do. Talk to parent types in your neighborhood. Even visit their offices if you can swing it. If you decide that you likely want to be an engineer, it is comforting to know that you can do other things if you change your mind, either in college or subsequently. Changing is particularly feasible if you attend a college that also has a good liberal arts school.</p>

<p>However if you decide you are really not that interested in what engineers do, I would suggest you consider whether you want your college experience dominated by learning the intracacies of disciplines you don't really care about. </p>

<p>I have degrees in both liberal arts and engineering, and at this particular point in my life I view the broadening I received via the liberal arts to be the more valuable education to me personally. I practiced engineering but only for a short while; it was not my calling.</p>

<p>But that is a personal decision each person must make for themselves; there is no global "right" answer for everyone.</p>

<p>Both paths can lead to rewarding and lucrative careers, even outside of your chosen field. If you study the physical sciences you can diversify into engineering later, with some planning and additional studies. I know several people who have done this. And if you study engineering you can do other things besides being an engineer. My focus is more on how you will actually be spending your time in college.</p>

4

<p>~Monydad~</p>

<p>That was wonderful advice for a potential engineering major. My son was a very talented math/science kid a year ago. He went through this same decision process about a year ago -- continue with theoretical science in a liberal arts environment (physics, bio, chem, math?) or segue towards the more regimented applied science route (engineering in its myriad forms)? For him, he wound up in biomedical engineering which is something of a hybrid, requiring more "straight" science courses than most engineering disciplines -- if BME wasn't offered by the "Engineering School" my son would NOT have been an engineering major at all, preferring instead to address his long-term interests in biomedical related research through undergraduate physics, biochem, biology, etc. </p>

<p>I was NOT an engineering major, but can offer a couple of other observations to the OP based on the experiences of my son,some other relatives and friends, and living with a bunch of engineers in college:</p>

<p>1 -- From a quantitative standpoint -- raw numbers of hours spent in class and doing homework, problem sets, studying outside of class -- engineering students are always among the hardest working people on ANY campus. Pure leisure time is much harder to come by for engineering students.</p>

<p>2 -- Because of the regimented nature of an engineering curriculum (and accreditation requirements), engineers traditionally have MUCH MORE required courses and consequently MUCH LESS opportunity for electives. I was an English major and had much more academic "freedom" than my engineering major roommates ("karma" did balance the equation for me when I followed undergraduate work with law school).</p>

<p>3 -- Because of points #1 and #2 above, as well as the traditional philosophies underlying an engineering education, the GPA's of the cream of the crop engineering students tend to be substantially LOWER than that of the cream of the crop liberal arts (including liberal arts science) students. At many campuses, the very top engineers are in that 3.5 to 3.7 range, not the 3.7 to 3.9 range you'd find for the top liberal arts students. This can SOMETIMES be an issue for an engineer if his ultimate goal is to attend medical, law, or business school. This particular issue is often hotly contested, but suffice it to say that MANY believe that medical, law, and business schools do NOT look at course of study (or even the institution), simply the raw GPA. HOWEVER, MANY BELIEVE OTHERWISE. I have relatives and friends who have had different levels of experience -- some right at the very top -- in making admissions decisions for medical, law, and business schools. I have been told -- and personally strongly believe -- that while SOME med, law, and b schools just look at the raw GPA and standardized tests, MOST of the BETTER med, law, and b schools DEFINITELY factor into admissions equations the undisputed facts that engineering students almost always have lower GPA's. I'm told -- and believe -- that med, law, and b schools VALUE engineering undergraduates because they know these students have challenged themselves with a rigorous undergraduate education which provides them an outstanding foundation for success in their post-graduate studies. One last comment on this point: I've already mentioned that it's often hotly debated ... there will be some who say they absolutely KNOW otherwise ... that they or someone they know closely says ONLY raw GPA matters (or that the quality of the school, a program, the known grade inflation/deflation of a school also doesn't matter) ... I'm sure these people honestly believe what they say (or have been told) ... in the same way that I believe what career, high-placed people in the med, law, and b school admissions world have told me.</p>

<p>Best of luck to the OP.</p>

5

<p>For any graduate-level program that emphasizes problem-solving, team work, logic and reasoning...and that's a pretty broad list....you cannot go wrong with an undergraduate degree in engineering.</p>

6

<p>For more information about what engineers do, contact the professional organizations: ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers), ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), IEEE (for electrical engineers), IIE (Institute of Industrial Engineers), AIChE (American Institute of Chemical Engineers), National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE), etc. You can find contact information for all through a google search. They all have excellent free information about what engineers do. Each professional society also publishes a monthly magazine which includes the latest information about the profession, but is not too technical for lay people. (The societies also publish more technical journals.) Although the magazines are generally not available in local public libraries, most universities have copies.</p>

<p>The professional organizations also should be able to put you in contact with a local chapter. Through those local chapters, you could contact engineers near you. Despite their geeky reputation, most engineers are glad to show prospective engineers what they do in their jobs.</p>