What are job prospects like at the University for engineering, specifically in the energy industry or for chemical engineering graduates? Do engineering majors have lots of options when it comes to internships, co ops and/or job fairs?
Well US News ranks Minnesota 3rd in the U.S. (behind only M.I.T.) and Cal Berkeley for Chemical Engineering. From what I’ve read, the near-term job outlook for Chem Engineers is not as great as some of the sexy Engineering fields, but a Minnesota Chem Engineering grad should always be able to find a job after college unless he or she has pretty poor grades. And with 3M, General Mills, and Cargill nearby, there should be good internships available. Dow hires a lot of Minnesota Chem Engineers.
A friend of mine who graduated Chem E. has told me she was able to write her ticket w/r/t a career when she got out of college. She works in tech. right now but said the number of industries that will hire someone in that major are many. This makes sense - Chem E. majors, assuming decent grades, have shown they can survive a pretty rigorous course load and are exposed to a bunch of challenging stuff that builds up their practical and critical thinking skills. Plus, they were pretty smart to be selected for the major in the first place and employers understand that fact well. All else equal there may be some advantage to her being female (and working in a “male dominated” techie-math-oriented profession); however, that doesn’t alter the advantages I listed above. It seems to be a great major if you can handle the rigor and are open to exploring all interesting opportunities that may come your way.
Edited: My friend graduated from UMTC.
Wow, these are really insightful answers. I think I’m leaning toward UMTC now after hearing this, but I’ll still have to go on visits. Thanks!