Is industrial engineering easier than other engineering majors?
I’ve seen people on here make fun of IE’s and in real life as well. They make it sound like it’s almost a pseudo engineering field. I don’t understand why that is?
I think it depends on the school but for some schools it’s more business like.
As @Drgoogle stated, it has more business classes than it’s siblings. Some also look down on Enviro.E’s from the stories I have read here and on the nets.
IE is more about designing processes, logistics, and services, rather than designing products that are more tangible or visible. The mechanical engineer designs your cell phones case, screen, etc., the electrical engineer designs its electronics and signal processing, and the computer engineer writes its software. All of these aspects or their effects are visible to you as the user. The industrial engineer coordinates the logistics and processes of getting the cell phones (and accessories like extra batteries) produced and delivered to retailers for you to purchase; this is much less visible to you as the user, who probably does not think about how the cell phone gets to the store, or how it gets to the on-line retailer and then gets delivered after making an on-line order.
IE tends to be heavier in math and statistics rather than physics.
Industrial engineering is the path I’ve taken in life so far. I graduated with a BS in it last year at 22 and have been working as an IE since then (with an annual salary over $60k). My experience was that the degree was very hard. It’s probably closest / most comparable in difficulty to mechanical engineering since there is a decent amount of overlap between the two. IE is probably slightly less math intensive than the other engineering disciplines, but still no joke, especially if you get into optimization and stochastic modeling.
@ucbalumnus Thank you so much for explaining it so well!
@DarkFamiliarity Thanks a ton for taking the time to explain it to me! I’m actually thinking of either mechanical or industrial. If I may ask, what made you decide to do IE? So ME and IE are pretty comparable in difficulty?
You have plenty of time to figure this out. In many engineering schools, you will be taking the same courses initially regardless of what your interest or eventual concentration is. You will still have to take all the initial math, physics, etc. , whether you end up in industrial or mechanical. You may even find you prefer something totally different once you get to college. Industrial may be easier for some, mechanical may seem easier for others. I would focus more on your interests . Any engineering is not going to be easy. Here is an example (from Virginia Tech) in terms of what you can expect. If you have schools you are particularly interested in, you could look at their websites, take an engineering tour if you can. At Virginia Tech, Industrial and Systems Engineering currently requires 133 credits, Mechanical requires 130 credits.
http://www.ise.vt.edu/academics/undergrad/bsise/docs/2017-bsise-checksheet.pdf
http://www.registrar.vt.edu/documents/coe/COE_me_17_revised.pdf
@sevmom Thank you for your input! And you’re right. Thanks a ton!
Less math in IE? depends on the specialty. I took a semester where all we studied was simulation theory, things like beat Markov chains / queues / etc to submission, study random number generators, and so on. If one selects some of the more esoteric specialties one would be seeing math galore (esp process optimization). Now one could focus in Human Factors as I did and not see much math, but in general the math requirements are there.
A lot of the classes are easier, I’ll grant you that. Thermodynamics vs Safety Engineering? easy pick :)). I remember taking Safety Engineering and we spent time developing models of how a ladder slips and comes down crashing. The class that came after us was some EE Signals class and they used to shake their collective heads with our topics on the board. (but not all classes are like that - in IE there are classes where there’s a lot of material to be digested really quickly from multiple disciplines, try Work Design or Product Liability…)
Mechanical is more hands-on, more specific, or more focused. If you choose a similarly laid out IE sub-area it’ll likely be the same level give or take. But across the board I think IE was easier than my other two engineering / science degrees (computer science and civil engineering).
Just don’t focus on IE because you think it will easier. It still will require all the usual math and science courses that are required for an engineering degree, so will still not be easy. Pursue it if you find it interesting . It is a flexible major and you can go in lots of different directions with it. Good luck.
IEOR at Columbia University has math galore. I took a few into to investment and finance classes. Let’s say lots of proofs too. So again it depends on the school and how the subject is taught.
I got my Masters in IE from USC in the late 80’s. The program was a lot easier (and more interesting) than my CS undergrad degree. The math was applied, which I like a lot more than the theoretical, proof-heavy math you get in typical engineering classes.
Can you really compare an undergraduate degree with a Master’s? The Master’s in IE already assumes an undergrad degree in IE (or something related) with all the required multivariable calculus, differential equations, theoretical statistics, physics, etc. out of the way already. By the time you get to a Master’s in any of the disciplines, you are probably focusing more on the interesting stuff.
out of four college degrees (2 undergrad and 2 grad) my graduate IE degree was the easiest but also the most time consuming in terms of projects, even more so than graduate CompSci with tons of programming assignments… But at the undergraduate level if you start taking courses from different sub areas it could get ugly in a hurry because a lot of courses build on each other and if you’re not focusing on one or two areas your courses will be all over the map in terms of body of knowledge. Other engineering disciplines kind of build up too but you don’t generally jump this ‘wildly’ from one area to another.
Regardless, Bode plots versus pallet stacking problem… I think Dr. Bode wins :).
Yes, probably the average EE course is going to be harder for most than the average IE course. In terms of the OP , he is not going to be able to avoid the math and science that any engineer has to take, even in IE. IE is still an engineering major and will not be “easy” in terms of being able to breeze through it. It would be unfortunate to see kids avoiding IE because they are concerned about what other people think and that it is a “joke.” It really is a great choice for the right person. https://www.isye.gatech.edu/about/school
IE is full of useful tidbits one can use in real life. Or not.
I was taking Safety Engineering and was working on a home improvement project involving a table saw. So, I removed the blade guard and what do you know, I disregarded everything my class taught me. I ended up with an inch long skin cut and a trip to the ER. I did get an A in the class so it probably was easy 
You can do the job an IE does with any engineering degree. The reverse is not true; you can’t be a chemical engineer with an IE degree.
The licensing exam for engineers includes economics and financial questions, so every engineering major needs to learn those areas.
IE degree is for someone who wants to become a project manager or plant manager.
All IMHO/IME.
Or a CEO. Or for starters, a supply chain manager, operations manager, logistics manager, strategic planner, production manager, etc, etc, etc. Or a management consultant. Consulting firms love IE grads, with their smarts and versatility and engineering-plus-business acumen.
@turbo93 , I’m pretty sure my kid who did IE didn’t take a “Safety Engineering” course but maybe it was called something else or part of something else, like part of Human Factors and Ergonomics. or another course. Or maybe it was an elective he just didn’t take. Never hurts to learn about safety. Sorry about your trip to the ER.
I learned that stuff in high school shop class. There’s a reason table saws have blade guards. Sorry about your injury.