Me vs. Eecs

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>So im torn between mechanical engineering and electrical engineering/computer science. Eecs seems to be a more difficult degree but thats not a huge deal. What kind of jobs would an eecs major get? What about.a me major? Any helpful information,would be appreciated.</p>

2

<p>You can consult the 2012-2013 Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook handbook. You should check entries for mechanical engineers, electrical and electronics engineers, computer hardware engineers, and computer software developers. If you have trouble finding these (just Google “BLS OOH”) let me know and I’ll post some links.</p>

3

<p>Since one of your target schools is Berkeley, you can check its career survey, which is organized by major:</p>

<p><a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Cal Poly and Virginia Tech also have detailed career surveys:</p>

<p>[Graduate</a> Status Report - Career Services - Cal Poly](<a href=“http://www.careerservices.calpoly.edu/content/student/gsr_report]Graduate”>http://www.careerservices.calpoly.edu/content/student/gsr_report)
[Post-Graduation</a> Survey and Report | Career Services | Virginia Tech](<a href=“http://www.career.vt.edu/PostGraduationSurveyReport/PostGrad.html]Post-Graduation”>http://www.career.vt.edu/PostGraduationSurveyReport/PostGrad.html)</p>

4

<p>Fwiw, my ds, a mechE and successfully gainfully employed, said at one time that if he had it to over again he’d probably choose EE.</p>

5

<p>Man eecs average salary is through the roof compared to every other engineer degree. It seems like it would be a little easier for employment with the dual degree so to speak.</p>

6

<p>Note, however, that the current high pay levels may be due to the “CS” in “EECS”. Note the pay levels for the CS major in Berkeley’s College of Letters and Science (L&S CS).</p>

<p>But a word of caution is that engineering pay levels and job prospects can be greatly affected by industry and economic cycles. CS majors graduating in 2001 to 2003 faced very poor job prospects during the tech bubble crash. Indeed, the crash may have significantly reduced the number of L&S CS majors, as it is no longer a capped major that current Berkeley students need a high GPA to declare (it used to be). Civil engineering had a hot job market in 2005, but a poor job market in 2009.</p>

7

<p>Well i have read before that electrical engineering is one of the safest engineering degrees. What are your thoughts on this?</p>

8

<p>

The Occupational Outlook Handbook discusses job outlook projections for electrical engineers. I suggest you go there for the full report. From the handbook:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Job growth projections:</p>

<p>Profession: Jobs in 2010; Jobs in 2020; Percent Growth; Jobs Growth.
Electrical and Electronics Engineers: 294,000; 311,600; 6; 17,600.
Electrical Engineers: 154,000; 164,700; 7; 10,700.
Electronics Engineers: 140,000; 146,900; 5; 6,800.</p>

9

<p>Employment prospects four years in the future may not be that predictable, even if long term growth is likely.</p>

<p>Students entering their senior years with good academic records should consider applying to funded graduate school programs in their majors as well as post graduation jobs. Riding out an industry recession in graduate school is likely to be better for future job prospects than being in the unemployment line for the same few years, after which one acquires the stigma of long term unemployment and may become unemployable.</p>

10

<p>Berkeley offers a 5 year masters program in eecs do you think there would be any chance of a community college transfer such as myself to get accepted into something like that?</p>