<p>Hello everyone, I'm currently trying to decide what major to choose. I've done a good amount of research and still can't decide. I attended CU Boulder last year as an undecided engineer, and this year I took a year off to ski bum in Breckenridge and figure out what I want to do with my life. My ultimate goal is to return to the mountains and be able to live a comfortable life where I could ski as much as possible. Money isn't a huge concern for me, at least not for a while. I would love to be able to work outside, not necessarily all the time, but enough that I don't feel like I'm cooped up in an office 24/7.</p>
<p>CU offers environmental engineering with several concentrations, the ones I'm most interested are in bold.
WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND TREATMENT
AIR QUALITY
ECOLOGY
REMEDIATION
CHEMICAL PROCESSING
ENERGY</p>
<p>CU also offers civil engineering with an environmental concentration, in addition to these with my interests once again in bold:
Construction engineering and management
Environmental engineering
Geotechnical engineering
Structural engineering
Water resource engineering</p>
<p>Which of these degrees/concentrations will allow me to work in the mountains? Which will provide the most job security? Which has the most earning potential? Which would provide the skills required to build myself an energy efficient home? How does water treatment differ on the civil side from the environmental side? These are just a few of the questions I have, any help is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I am a junior in civil engineering focusing on geotech and interning in water resources. I spent allot of time trying to decide between environmental and civil. I switched between the two several times.</p>
<p>First thing to check is are they both ABET accredited or if they are in the process of becoming accredited. If environmental is not I would definitely choose civil. </p>
<p>Another thing I was often told is civil can take environmental jobs but the opposite is much harder. Environmental engineering started out as a branch of civil and has recently been moving into its own major. Because of this I think civil leaves you with more options but you may lose some environmental depth. </p>
<p>Water: They can be almost identical. It depends on the classes you choose to take and how your school works. Find a curriculum and see how the classes vary. Civil may focus more on distribution while environmental focuses on treatment. At my school you can do an environmental emphasis within civil and you end up taking environmental classes. </p>
<p>I am not really sure about your other questions. I understand how you feel about being stuck in an office 24/7. I quickly found I do not enjoy this. One of the reasons i’m doing geotech is it can involve allot of field investigations and travel. Once you get into project management you will most likely be in an office. Most civil/environmental engineers are. Being a field engineer in construction management usually requires you to be on site so you could consider that.</p>
<p>The most useful thing I have found in choosing my emphasis area is doing job searches for various positions and reading job descriptions. This will give you an idea of what each specialty does. Google enr top 500 design firms and just pick some companies and do job searches.</p>