<p>well, if you get into testing or manufacturing jobs, it will be very hands-on and you will get your hands dirty....</p>
<p>if you don't like cars and machines, i assume you will also don't like working on turbines and what-not. do you like engines? if not, then working on airplane engines will not also appeal to you.</p>
<p>then it gets pretty limited in ME field on what you can actually work on. you will either want to design airplanes or possibly structural analysis...</p>
<p>you see, i had tons of interviews for ME positions, and more than couple of interviewers asked me, "do you like fixing your car?" (none of them were automobile companies... they were all aerospace)</p>
<p>think it like this. what kind of companies do you want to work for after you graduate? </p>
<p>... to tell you the truth, EE graduates can also work in all the companies listed in ME listing. But if a company is computer/electrical-focused like Microsoft, they won't hire MEs... they do hire other majors for Program Manager positions though...</p>
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... to tell you the truth, EE graduates can also work in all the companies listed in ME listing but hardly vice versa.
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<p>But they wouldn't be working on the same parts!</p>
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you see, i had tons of interviews for ME positions, and more than couple of interviewers asked me, "do you like fixing your car?" (none of them were automobile companies... they were all aerospace)
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<p>The question has nothing to do with cars and everything to do with the idea of fixing and tinkering with things. They can't exactly ask you "do you like fixing your airplane?" It's just a common thing for people around the country to have their own cars, and its just natural for engineers (especially mechEs) to be hands-on. I remember somebody here a while back saying that on a car enthusiasts forum, it seemed like half the people had engineering degrees.</p>
<p>Like others have said, mechEs aren't mechanics, but many like to be their own mechanic for their own cars. Oh and some even build their own! Formula 1 and SAE mini-baja school competitions!</p>
<p>The automotive industry is still only one of many industries mechEs can go into. It's one of the most flexible engineering degrees.</p>
<p>ken285/ you are totally missing my point. i agree w/ your statement, "The question has nothing to do with cars and everything to do with the idea of fixing and tinkering with things."</p>
<p>However, i mentioned that question specifically because the TC stated he doesn't like such stuff. He is missing that quality you just mentioned. the interviewer asks that question to see if he loves doing hands-on engineering stuff on machines because these traits are essential if you wish to do test/manufacturing engineering for ME companies.</p>
<p>saving the trouble for you, i haven't been asked such questions for in-office design/analysis positions.</p>
<p>Many ME focused companies will still need EE's. Boeing, Lockheed, Toyota, GE, etc, need EE's to do design circuitry, computers, and control systems.</p>
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ken285/ you are totally missing my point. i agree w/ your statement, "The question has nothing to do with cars and everything to do with the idea of fixing and tinkering with things."
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But the working condition is the major issue that I am concerned.
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<p>Each engineering field has working conditions of all kind. You can work in an office or in the field in EE, ME, ChE, or CE. Just don't take a job that'll have significant field work.</p>
<p>Actually, I think it is wrong for me to rule out Aerospace Engineering. It is to design airplanes and aircraft, right?
What is the difference between ME and AE?
Does UCSD have a good program on AE? I heard it is ranked highly in ME.</p>
<p>I have one more question.
I heard UCSD has a better undergraduate engineering program than UCLA.
Why do people still always use "not-far-behind-from-UCLA" to describe it?
I also got into Berkeley, but I chose not to go there since I do not like the city.
Some threads are saying UCLA is better than UCSD when UCB is better than UCLA.</p>
<p>Do you guys know if you can make a generalization about the job salaries for a mechanical engineer/AE and an EE/CE. Which engineer is paid more? (considering that both has come out a well-respected university with a great GPA etc. ) basically all other factors constant...</p>
<p>xjis, can you get gatech's and cmu's. for ME, AE and ECE, CS I didn't get too much luck finding them...thanks. so can you say a ME is paid less, why are CS guys paid very high? I read somewhere else that their pay is quite high
I am interested in ME/AE and my question might benefit KaRin-A. Is ME/AE a dying field, I mean with dying prospects because ME, especially, was in the boom like a decade ago..is it still now?</p>
<p>i know you were choosing between CMU and GATech.... i dunno about specific rankings, but i do know CMU is harder to get into. </p>
<p>i vaguely remember that although Princeton had much lower engineering ranking than Cornell, they had higher median salaries for those majors... so i guess at least in BS level, the median salary quite depends on overall prestige of the university (by prestige, i mean how hard it is to get into the university overall, not just its engineering ranking...for instance, GATech has much higher engineering ranking than Cornell...)</p>
<p>Why not just look at BLS's statistics? Much bigger sample size.</p>
<p>ME is not dying unless you're talking specifically about manufacturing. AE... might have some troubles in the next few years, but it seems to be cyclical.</p>