<p>This may sound silly, but when I was younger (probably around 7 or 8 ), I was really really good at building K’Nex. Whenever I played with it and made the intricate products, my dad would always joke that one day I’d grow up to be an engineer–even at that time, I had a very logic-based, curious mind, and that still continues now. I’m a conceptual learner who did consistently well in high school across the board, but strongly prefer integrating to papers. And yes, the money is a nice factor too.</p>
<p>Oh, and I’m doing mechE, because it’s the broadest, so I have a plethora of options of where to work/what kind of job I have when I graduate.</p>
<p>I’m probably the only one here who flipped a coin. It was only for cosmic confirmation, I swear!</p>
<p>It was between PoliSci and BME. I have always been pretty great when it came to my English and History courses. Back in HS, math was my least favorite subject because I wasn’t “good” at it right off the bat. That’s the reason why I decided to just jump in. I’ve always loved science, but I had never thought of pursuing a career in it. I was pre-law for crying out loud! I’m doing ChemE @ my CC and eventually I want to get into BioMed. </p>
<p>I used to work for a pair of local surgeons and they’re always doing cases using the DaVinci surgical system. Probably what sparked my initial interest in both BME and Medicine.</p>
<p>thanks, all for teh input. each person <em>must</em> have some motivation to undergo this regimen, so it is interesting to hear. My son says he never tried or was exposed to engineering; alos, he likes and does well in other subjects, too, such as English and history.</p>
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<p>Integrating as in calculus or as in hands-on Knex kindof work (but on a bigger scale)?</p>
<p>c, you spake some truth and shed some light - thanks. It is obviously the gorilla in this thread’s room , the probability of getting a reasonably good job.</p>
<p>I wonder, however , if the job criterion is at all reduced as a motivator since there is increasing tendency for US firms to outsource to other countries. Here is a q and a (post #'s 31 and 35) on this question. Note that there is also a link there to more discussion on this subject in a physics-engineering site; see also the related threads , there is a whopper of a discussion on the subject of outsourcing.</p>
<p>I literally just learned that my kid’s friend’s mother, an engineer, was just let go from her job due to an outsourcing initiative. admittedly, this is anecdotal vs your jesus, and your sinusoidal rhthyms of life, but… maybe something to think about and discuss?</p>
<p>Engineers are likely to write a lot, too. They have to communicate their designs or analyses to laypeople, so they need to know how to write clearly.</p>
<p>Im currently a chemE major and the reasons I decided to are very similar to the ones stated prior. Basically
High interest in Chemistry, Math and Physics
I hate English classes, ( its not that I can’t write, I just prefer not too)
The money is good
The thing about the job market for engineers is that it all depends on the certain industry your in. If your going to go into engineering now is actually a good time because in the next couple of years a lot of baby boomers are going to be retiring( so I’ve been told), so a lot of jobs should be opening up, so the best thing right now is to go to school and get a good education, and if you are passionate towards your career you will be just fine and easily be able to get a job when you graduate.</p>
<p>My son decided on Chem E because it’s a practical/versatile degree that aligned well with his abilities/interests. He career shadowed with his dad, a chemical engineer, before making his decision. He knows that his uncle got his chemical engineering degree before going to medical school.</p>
<p>Well my story isnt one of those typical “Ive wanted to do it since I was a kid or in high school.” But it did start in my senior year. Since I was really strong in chemistry and had been one of the few people in my high school to make it to calc senior year, she said it would be a good fit for me. But I had no idea what it was at all, never even heard of engineering but i knew I wanted to do something with chemistry and/or medicine/weapons. So I chose chem e. However, I got to college and found out (rather quickly) that I wasnt prepared for it. I had done well in all of my writing and elective classes like econ and my writing and my spanish/portugues and did horribly in my science/math/computer classes. so the next semester, I changed my major in my mind to psychology (even though i had never even taken a class) and hated every minute of it. I saw none of it as useful at all. that same semester i took classes in biology, anthro, and accounting and hated all of those. This gave me a realization that im not passionate in anything but i can at least see myself doing engineering more than anything else. so the next year, i came back from break and took a crap load of engineering courses and physics and nearly destroyed my gpa since it was alot for me (either that or my teachers really flat out sucked since I know im not that stupid). so when I got home for break, i took a couple days, thought to myself and realized that I can do it, I dont have to have the gpa’s that everyone else has. I dont have to compete with everyone as I used to want to do in high school. I just need to get through the engineering because I feel that if I dont, I’ll be shooting myself in the foot in the future. So i dusted myself off, started taking physics over the summer and minus the fact that my teacher is a complete jackanus, I completely understand the information (regardless of his inconsitent grading). So yea sorry this was long and a little too much in depth but I just wanted to say that. If your son does still want to do engineering, he should. Dont let any class be a deterrant (for me it was computer programming, for some reason it just doesnt click for me but everyone else can pass it with little effort)</p>
<p>^ you’re story is inspiring for people like me who didn’t have the 'born to be an engineer!!!" feel too.</p>
<p>WHat made you realise it in college? Was it that engineers need not deal (so much) with hissy-fitty people? A real job doing tangible output, instead of fluffing your way through the work day?</p>
<p>Also, must one remove contact lenses (and wear spectacles) during Engineering lab classes? Thankya</p>
<p>Umm, I’ve run across some hissy-fitty people in engineering! Some of them my supervisors, unfortunately.</p>
<p>I never had to take my contacts out during a lab, but I wasn’t in ChemE! I did work with polymer concrete and a lot of very stinky cleaning chemicals, but I never had a problem.</p>
<p>Normally contact lenses aren’t a problem if you’re wearing goggles. In chem labs, for instance, they’ll have those anyway for everyone because it’s likely that any gases that might screw with your contacts aren’t very good for people without contacts either.</p>
- thanks. It is obviously the gorilla in this thread’s room , the probability of getting a reasonably good job.</p>