<p>My son is a junior in high school who has been talking about an engineering major for 2 years now. We were recently at a large party and people were asking him what college majors he was considering. Upon answering engineering, several people told him that there was no future in engineering and he'd be unemployed. A few said engineering jobs were being sent oversees and a few other adults told him they know a number of engineers on unemployment currently. This really upset DS and now he is considering pharmacy. </p>
<p>I know kids often go to school and change their majors, but knowing what he is interested in will help us narrow down our college search since not all schools have a pharmacy program. In terms of engineering, he is considering civil engineering, environmental engineering, or perhaps biomedical.</p>
<p>Do you think that the engineering field is still viable? Do you think pharmacy is a better choice? I was thinking if we picked a school with both programs that might be a good idea.
I'd appreciate any input since I also have a daughter who is a high school sophomore and considering the same majors.</p>
<p>*Upon answering engineering, several people told him that there was no future in engineering and he’d be unemployed. A few said engineering jobs were being sent oversees and a few other adults told him they know a number of engineers on unemployment currently. This really upset DS and now he is considering pharmacy.
*</p>
<p>While pharmacy is certainly a good choice, too, those people are wrong! Engineering is still a very viable field and will continue to be so.</p>
<p>Yes, some are unemployed, but that’s true of all professions in this economy - and can be a regional thing. My H is still hiring engineers. However, in Southern Cal and Mich (and other depressed economies), there are some that unemployed.</p>
<p>Your son should look at schools that offer both pharm and engineering, so he doesn’t have to decide now which is best for him.</p>
<p>What are his stats? (GPA and test scores)</p>
<p>How much can you afford for his education. If money is no object, then he’ll have a super wide availability of choices. :)</p>
<p>Ha, ha- money is a major object since we have 4 kids in grades 6-11 and one in 3rd grade. He hasn’t taken the ACT or SAT yet- will in next few weeks. His gpa is a 4.2 but that is on a weighted scale. He doesn’t play any sports so no scholarship money there. He does play trombone but not sure if any schools give scholarships for that. We are just starting the college search.</p>
<p>Your EFC can be a bit misleading. Some think that is all they have to pay. That’s not typically the case - most schools cannot meet need and give big gaps or big loans. So, looking for merit scholarships is a good idea.</p>
<p>Once your son has his SAT and ACT scores, we’ll have a better idea of where to suggest for schools with good aid/mert.</p>
<p>How did he do on his PSAT?</p>
<p>Private schools have COAs (cost of attendance) of about $50k per year. In-state publics have COAs that range from about $26k-25k (depending on the state). Out-of-state publics have COAs that range from $25k-50k. </p>
<p>But, some give great merit or FA to help bring down those costs.</p>
<p>Well in terms of colleges I would recommend Purdue since they have a great Engineering and Pharmacy program. Isn’t too far from Ohio too. Purdue also beat OSU in football this year too! Boiler Up!</p>
<p>Engineers are going to be needed in the future no matter what. The only problem is that many Engineering students in the US are Internationals so they all go back to their countries instead of staying in the US. I find that to be true since I was a student at Purdue and noticed theres a very high percentage of International students in the Engineering fields</p>
<p>Purdue is an OOS public that doesn’t give financial aid to OOS students.</p>
<p>While small merit might be given, it won’t make much of a dent in its $37k cost of attendance. The most merit it gives is like $9k. So, that leaves about $30k per year…probably NOT affordable.</p>
<p>So… **if he scores high on the SAT and ACT <a href=“have%20him%20take%20both%20since%20some%20do%20better%20on%20one%20than%20the%20other”>/B</a>, then I suggest a strategy like this…</p>
<p>Reach schools - Apply to some top schools that give great aid (if your EFC is lowish).</p>
<p>Match schools - Apply to some that give assured scholarships for stats, & apply to some that have competitive scholarships that he might win.</p>
<p>Safety schools - Apply to some that give assured BIG scholarships for his stats.</p>
<p>What is your EFC and how much can you afford to spend each year on his education? :)</p>
<p>The demand for engineers is expected to continue to grow, but it varies by engineering specialty. Some projections say there will be weaker growth in electrical and computer engineering because these jobs are easily moved offshore. Specialties like civil engineering and environmental engineering, on the other hand, are much more difficult to outsource and are expected to show robust growth. Here’s one thoughtful discussion in a professional publication, but I’d urge you to do your own careful and thorough investigation before basing anyone’s career plans on idle cocktail party chatter.</p>
<p>It is not easy to change majors in regards to eng’g or pharmacy. I think some of us were talking about the fact that the student is only a junior in HS now, and may change his major before going to college. </p>
<p>It might not be too hard to change majors during the first semester, if those first semester classes were needed for either major - such a calculus, physics, chemistry, Freshman Comp, etc. However, if one must apply to the Engineering school, then it could be an issue then, too.</p>
<p>An engineering education helps open the doors to non-engineering related fields (e.g. business consulting), if one so chooses…</p>
<p>Professional schools respect the rigors of an engineering education. Engineering majors typically have among the highest acceptance rates to medical, law and business schools.</p>
<p>Very true…my younger son is double-majoring in Chemical Engineering and Biology as a pre-med student. He’s hoping that his majors (along with a strong MCAT) will get him accepted to the med schools of his choice. :)</p>
<p>Both are very viable careers in the future. Pharmacists tend to make quite a bit more money and have more job opportunities and security. I would advise against environmental engineering though- its not a “booming” field of engineering from what i hear.</p>
<p>Agree…and biomedical engineering can be limiting. If your child has an interest in biomed eng’g, it may be better to major in Mechanical engineering, and do bio-med in grad school.</p>
<p>I don’t want to bring you down, but my brother had a near perfect GPA at a top 20 engineering school (top 2 public university), and he can’t get a job anywhere despite past work experience and everything.</p>
<p>But he is getting a masters now, and if anything I’d say the job prospective is getting better.</p>
<p>Yeah, you live in a rich 'burb of the CLE. Very nice place, actually, with the mall and all that. Quite livable.</p>
<hr>
<p>Anyways, to answer your question, I would assume that Pharmacy is a way less viable career than engineering. Once we stop medicating the Boomers to no end and they die out, there goes not only a significant portion of our population but also our the only hope of an “industry revolution” to help bring us out of this recession. </p>
<p>Thus, in another 20-25 years, we will plunge into another “great recession” once we’re done tearing up the cemetery dirt that rebuilt our economy. The medical industry, as a whole, will be shed in many ways as providers try to figure out how to use robots (that engineers designed :)) to do many routine procedures, and as doctoring is condensed into an efficient computer program yes/no chart with pictures much like what an auto mechanic or McDonald’s cashier deals with today.</p>
<p>In short, I highly doubt the healthcare and pharmaceutical bubble will be filling up long enough to sustain a career, and that is one bubble that will crash with an exceptionally hard fall…</p>
<p>Pharmacist - Every time I get in the CVS store in my area to buy medicine for my family I see a different pharmacist. I visist the store at least 4 times a year. I don’t know what’s going on.</p>
<p>Engineering is a very viable major. OSU has a very good program, but so do some of the other state schools. Locally Wright-State has an excellent engineering program and the proximity of Wright-Patterson AFB gives access to a ton of jobs and internships. And it’s less expensive than OSU.</p>
Chemical engineering is arguably the toughest type of engineering to study…</p>