Industrial Engineering, Civil Engineering, or Mechanical Engineering?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I am not sure which of these majors to pick for undergrad. The most important factors to me are: how interesting the major is, salary, and the difficulty of the major. Eventually I want to get an MBA because I want to be a manager (of something related to engineering). </p>

<p>Industrial:
Pros: Good Job opportunities, sounds like an extremely versatile career, probably easier then the other engineering fields, and seems like a good choice for the management route.</p>

<p>Cons: Some engineers look negatively on it (for example: the IE= imaginary engineering and ISE= its so easy jokes) and I feel that could be a potential problem in the workplace (because the potential lack of respect). I am not sure how interesting it is, because it seems very integrated with business and I am not sure how much I will like that. Also, there is a lot of statistics, and I am not sure how much I would like that either (i have never done it before).</p>

<p>Civil:
Pros: Seems pretty interesting, easier compared to Mechanical, and sounds pretty versatile.</p>

<p>Cons: Lower average salary compared to Industrial and Mechanical. Not sure how well the management route would work for this major.</p>

<p>Mechanical:</p>

<p>Pros: Sounds interesting, would probably work well with the management route, and would probably work very well when supplemented to another engineering field (example: BS in mechanical and MS in ISE).</p>

<p>Cons: lots of competition, so getting a job might be difficult. Probably harder than Industrial and Civil.</p>

<p>If anyone can tell me which one would be the best for me, in terms of how interesting it is, the job market, and how difficult it is that would be great. Don't simply say "Do what you like", because I really don't know which one I would like since I do not have experience with any of the three. Thanks</p>

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<p>Pick a university that you like that requires its undergraduates to start off in general engineering. By the time you get to apply for a specific major you probably will have learned enough from the basic courses to determine whether you would be a better fit for merchanical, industrial or civil engineering. </p>

<p>But, I don’t see anything in your post that describes anything you like about engineering in general. In fact, you don’t appear to want to do engineering at all but rather manage those that do. For someone starting out it’s easy to fall into a trap of deciding a career based upon income potential or what the general public thinks is a respectible career.<br>
Your goal should be to try to find out first which classes are really enjoyable. Then focus on using that subject for a career.</p>

<p>Hope that helps.</p>

3

<p>At least you realize Industrial Engineering is heavily based in statistics. It’s not really an engineering degree, in the sense you build/create things.</p>

<p>IE covers a large spectrum of applications. IMO, civil and mechanical engineers build and create things, industrial engineers help the things that are created work better, and also make sure they don’t break (quality control).</p>

<p>There are countless other applications of IE, though. It’s a much broader degree than the other engineering fields, imo.</p>

<p>IE is closer to Applied Mathematics and Statistics than it is to true engineering.</p>

4

<p>@ChrisTKD</p>

<p>Im already at a university that has GE as its first year, so I am having trouble deciding. As for liking engineering, I forgot to mention that I do like math and science, and how it is applied in situations (therefore I am interested in engineering).</p>

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<p>@OminousRun</p>

<p>Yea I do agree with you that Industrial is more broader. Does this mean greater job prospects then the two? Also, I am not really sure I would like stat since I have never been in a stat class. Is it possible to still like IE even though one might dislike stat?</p>

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<p>I’m neither a civil nor mechanical engineer, but I knew several in college and afterward, and I’d say the two are fairly close in difficulty. You will have all the same math, statics and dynamics classes, which seem to be some of the most challenging.</p>

<p>As far as being a “manager”, depending on what you mean by that, a civil engineer could have more opportunities to lead large-scale infrastructure projects. If you mean more of a “people manger”, then I think there are opportunities in both fields.</p>

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<p>I don’t think IE would be for you if you don’t like stats. </p>

<p>I’m not an IE major, I’m a stats major. So I don’t know the full rigor of the IE curriculum.</p>

<p>One of my stats professors has a PhD in IE - most of the work he does (outside of class) is heavily based in Statistics. I believe a large amount of IE work has to do with taking observations (or experiments) and determining changes/optimization based upon the statistical analysis of those results.</p>

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<p>@OminousRun</p>

<p>I am not saying I dont like statistics, I am just saying I don’t know if I would like it because I have never done it before. I might like it, but I am not sure because I dont know what kind of statistics IE’s would do.</p>

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<p>Also can someone tell me how much harder ME would be then ISE? I know ISE is easier, but it is still a difficult major. Is ME much harder than ISE or, just moderately harder? I believe both have to take statics, dynamics, and the same math classes.</p>

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<p>I guess I could say I feel slightly intimidated by the classes ME’s have to take (such as thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfers). I am pretty good at math, but am not sure how I would do in these classes (are these classes more physics based?). However, the BS in ME + Masters in ISE + MBA seems like a perfect combination of technical and managerial skills.</p>

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<p>Yes thermodynamics and fluid is physics based and also calculus based. From what I’ve seen these can be pretty hard but if you ultimately choose ME this shouldn’t matter because it’s all part of reaching your goal of getting that bachelor’s degree. If you really want to do ME you’ll just do it no matter how hard the classes are if that’s what you really want. Investigate and get advice from professors once you’re in college. If you’re more of a people person then IE would be a better fit and can help you get the management experience you want. IE is more of an administrative job than creating tangible things. So it’s basically management right off the bat than the other majors you’re considering.</p>

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<p>ME encompasses pretty much everything you need to know about a piece of equipment/machine/system/whatever (static or dynamic) as I’m sure you’ve heard they are the “jack of all trades.” I’m a junior ME currently in the fluid mechanics semester (I assume your curriculum is close to that of mine/other colleges) and the course (like previous ones) really isn’t bad pending on how hard you try. For example: I got a C in statics and dynamics and an A in thermo, ask me which one was harder? The one I studied less in and got the C. All upper level courses depend on your level of commitment regardless if you choose ME, IE, or CE; so go with U2maniac’s advice and don’t let previous people’s opinions of work load or courses affect your final decision. If you plan on succeeding though, you will be studying/working some weekend nights while your friends are out getting hammered. It does make the world of difference in your GPA A.K.A probability of finding a job upon graduation (connections are far superior though).</p>

<p>So ask yourself now, even without experience in any of these fields, if you would confidently drive over a bridge you designed (after receiving all the know-how from school and job). If so, I’d say go with CE or ME, if not then hey maybe you’ll gain the confidence later or maybe IE is a better fit. IE is for people that want to limit waste of systems/processes (in forms of people, machines, whatever) in order to save the big bucks; which I’m all for, who isn’t? Really, in my mind, all engineers become industrial engineers, industrial engineers just become them faster. The people that make the imaginary engineering jokes are arrogant and closed minded. Any person with an open mind will surpass these people in the workplace and become the upper management, leaving the arrogant behind.</p>

<p>So base your decision on what you can actually see yourself doing in the long run. Becoming a manager will probably happen in whatever field you begin to specialize in. But you will need experience, and preferably experience in the field you are going to be a manager for. Good luck with your decision.</p>

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<p>@U2maniac and morningglory28. Thanks, I guess I just need to think this through about which one I am more “interested” in, and should not really let the difficulty affect my decision. Would a BS in ME + and MS in IE be a good combination for a managerial type job? I realize you might say if I want a managerial job, then I should just do IE completely. However, I still kind of want to learn more of the technical stuff in engineering, even though I would like to manage, just so I could have more options.</p>

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<p>Also, for anyone in IE, how similar is IE to business and accounting? I took accounting and did not find it interesting, so I hope IE is much different. Also, what kind of stats do IE’s do?</p>