<p>just curious?
out of
biomedical
chemical
civil and environmental
computer
computer science
electrical and computer
materials science and engineering
mechanical engineering</p>
<p>lucrative in terms of what? Job stability? Pure salary? But then the question would be starting, average, median, cap etc… You need to define the goals. In job stability, everything except biomedical is pretty stable. In terms of avg salary. Its around even. On Paper Chemical makes the most because of petroleum engineering salaries are included. If you take them out, its around the same. In difficultly, some say chemical, materials and electrical are the hardest, whilst civil is easiest. I disagree. Engineering, is a difficult degree and comparing difficulty is splitting hairs. Its like if you fall at 2 km vs 3km, sure one is higher than the other, but when you hit the ground, you’re likely dead in either scenario. </p>
<p>Anyway, what are you looking for exactly? </p>
<p>Petroleum Engineering typically has the highest average starting salaries.</p>
<p>^I remember seeing lots of kids flocking to the Pet E major when I was starting college. Then the market shifted and they were out of luck. A lot of them switched majors. You’ll do better picking a field you’re interested in, and then working HARD.</p>
<p>Agreed - I don’t recommend majoring in PetE unless you are fascinated with oil rigs and refineries.</p>
<p>lucrative as in being successful… how about a combination of both job availability and salary… cause in my opinion one’s completely useless without the other.</p>
<p>so what’s your opinion then? </p>
<p>Job availability is not predictable. One field could be strong one year, and another a couple of years later. Again, do what you enjoy the most.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The petr engrs I know work in downtown skyscrapers. </p>
<p>@MaineLonghorn Plenty of Petroleum engineers work in offices and marketing positions. BTw every major has its up and downs: civil, aerospace, and the like. Petroleum Engineering is doing better than any other major so it can be considered more viable than most. </p>
<p>They all have a good chance of providing a decent salary. If you pick one you enjoy, you are more likely to excel. </p>
<p>From my reading (not personal experience), it seems like biomed is more likely to require grad work. </p>
<p>Salary wise, Pet E is the way to go, but don’t do it if you don’t have the interest or ability. Most prospective engineers wash out, because they lack both. Most versatile disciplines are chem and mech E. If that’s your definition of viability, then those are the two to go for. Engineering isn’t going anywhere though, because we make scientific discoveries useful. Any field is good and if money is your goal, make a new peoduct and make millions</p>
<p>STARTING SALARY for different engineering disciplines:
<a href=“The 10 Specialized College Degrees That Pay The Most”>http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/2014/01/21/the-10-specialized-college-degrees-that-pay-the-most/</a></p>
<p>The highest: 97k petroleum
2nd highest: 70k computer
3rd highest: 67k chemical</p>
<p>Yowsa! Nearly 30 grand btwn #1 & #2. </p>
<p>2013 Avg compensation for petroleum engr: 203k– that’s more than what a lot of doctors get paid.
<a href=“http://www.spe.org/industry/salary-survey.php”>http://www.spe.org/industry/salary-survey.php</a></p>
<p>For me, whenever I decided to do something for money, I sucked at it. maybe 10 times. therefore nothing for money. However, from what I see, easily Computer Science or engineering if you can work hard. mostly because there are software and related patents that would make more money than say 5 years of work (example. beats.)</p>
<p>I’d think that Mechanical Engineering is good because the knowledge from such a major can be applied to many different fields. Basically, such a degree gives you plenty of options.</p>
<p>My old college roommate was trying to decide between several job offers when he graduated. It came down to the job he liked the best and the one that paid the most. He went for the money. </p>
<p>He liked the job; for the first month anyways. After that he started to hate the job, then he stated to hate where he was living. It was all downhill from there. He had to stay for 1 year as not to have to reimburse the company for moving him. He worked there for a year and a day. </p>
<p>He went back to the company that he liked the job offer the best. Didn’t get that job but one similar enough. 35 years later and he’s still there. Still loves his job, loves the area he lives in, etc.</p>
<p>Moral of the story. You do best doing what you like.</p>
<p>Starting salaries are just that; starting salaries. To progress in any company you need to perform. Good performance goes hand in hand with liking what you do.</p>
<p>I shake my head, too many similar threads from OP with the same theme. For money, investment banking is a sure route.</p>
<p>This link is helpful to your question.
<a href=“Highest-Paid College Majors - Graduates' Starting Salaries - WSJ”>Highest-Paid College Majors - Graduates' Starting Salaries - WSJ;
<p>@HPuck, I just started my career and took the “more interesting job and company” option at the expense of a good amount of money. I hope it works out for me like it eventually did for your buddy.</p>
<p>ThisIsMichigan, Good luck to you in your career. Hope that it does work out for you also. From my experience, an engineer who is very interested and enjoys his / her job will go much, much further than someone without the same passion. </p>
<p>As prospective as petroleum is for the money, there are still many schools (such as Texas Tech) that are putting way too many kids through and even admit to this. I have also heard through several places that the number of people hired by the top few companies (obviously the ones that pay the most) is going down and getting that job becoming more and more competitive. Then again, that’s how everything is headed. However, I have also heard things on the complete opposite side. Unless you know someone working in the field, and lots of them, you’ll never really know for sure.
Petroleum is challenging and getting into a top school is extremely competitive.
Chemical also pays a lot, but has the reputation of being the hardest “mainstream” engineering discipline. And trust me, you don’t know hard in high school.
Everyone is going into computer related jobs.</p>
<p>Major in something you’re already interested in, or you’re just going to be another freshman engineer washout.</p>