I am going to Iowa in the fall and will be studying engineering, just not sure which type. I am interested in industrial engineering and was wondering if it was easier than than the others (mechanical, chemical, etc.) in general or specifically at Iowa.
Thanks
PCoff23, I can answer that question in the general as I have an IE degree (from UW Madison, 1983). By most people’s standards it IS easier. IE deals with systems rather than physical devices. Systems of manufacture, of distribution etc, with the goal of making them more efficient and productive. You would take a lot of the courses that MEs or EEs or computer engineers take, but whereas they’d take a 3 course sequence you would take one - herein lies the “easiness.”.The resulting gap would be filled with courses in (for me, anyway) human factors, labor relations, accounting etc. In my day IE was ridiculed as Imaginary Engineering and sadly we did not get the job offers that MEs and EEs and ChemEs got. But that’s changed completely now and IEs are near the top in average salaries.
I would advise anyone choosing a major not to choose on the basis of what’s easy or pays the most (woe to the petroleum engineers who expected six figures and now face the prospect of no offers at all). Look at the curriculum and look at yourself and see if there’s a fit. In all likelihood the first year courses have tons of overlap between the various disciplines so you could perhaps choose going into sophomore year.
beastman, what are the “weed out” classes for industrial engineers or just engineering in general?
@pcoff23, I don’t have any real familiarity with Iowa’s curriculum but I can tell you that weeding out is not part of the college’s mentality. To the contrary, it’s pretty supportive. You see that it’s direct-admit - you enter the college of engineering as a freshman and there’s no application for further acceptance into your program as a sophomore. Makes it less competitive.
Thank you beastman!