<p>I'm currently a junior in high school, and i'm currently considering to go to college for civil engineering. The school I was looking at (Cal Poly SLO) had a construction engineer major and a civil engineer major; I looked up the difference, and I basically get the gist of the difference. So my main question is: if I major in civil engineering, do I automatically become a construction engineer as well?
I really enjoy the aspect of construction (for my project in my construction tech. class, we were given the task of building a shed for the school; nothing big or fancy, but I thoroughly enjoyed the process). So this is why i'm more interested in construction engineering, seeing as I will be doing more projects like the one's in my construction tech. class. So if anyone has extensive knowledge on this subject, I would appreciate the answer to the question. Also, I want to know this mainly because if I become a construction engineer, and don't like the job, i'm stuck with it; but if I majored in civil engineering, I can still switch jobs and go somewhere else. </p>
<p>Note: If you have any insight to other aspects of both of the majors like, job availability (I live in Cali.), or starting and average pay, that would also be appreciated.</p>
<p>Do you mean a construction management major? I don’t see a construction engineering major listed for Cal Poly SLO. They are slightly different.</p>
<p>
A major does not automatically make you anything. It just makes you more qualified for jobs within that field. That being said, firms looking to hire construction engineers will consider civil engineering graduates as well. Personally, I would recommend civil engineering over construction engineering for the breadth (as you’ve already noted) as well. Not only do you not corner yourself into a certain niche, but it will give you a slightly better understanding of the overall picture of construction.</p>
<p>If you’re comparing civil engineering against construction management, I would still go with civil engineering. While construction management programs will teach you a bit more of the management side of the field, it’s not something you can’t learn on the job and with a few construction management courses in a civil engineering major. </p>
<p>Starting salaries are comparable among these 3 majors. When I graduated, those going into construction tended to have slightly higher salaries than those going into engineering, but it was a small sample size.</p>
<p>@ken285: Huh that is odd; the website my school provides “naviance” lists all of Cal poly’s majors and it even shows construction engineering under the majors tab. But I just looked at Cal poly’s website and I didn’t see it listed there, so I guess it is outdated or something. </p>
<p>“Starting salaries are comparable among these 3 majors. When I graduated, those going into construction tended to have slightly higher salaries than those going into engineering, but it was a small sample size.”</p>
<p>Do civil engineering salaries ever catch up with construction major salaries?</p>
<p>Also, if I become a civil engineer for a construction firm, will they expect me to sit at a desk all day and design layouts and stuff like that, or do I get to do much more? To me doing the jobs of a construction engineer sound a bit more interesting. But I could be wrong, or uninformed.</p>
I’m hesitant to answer that because I’ve only been working for 6 years, so I might not be fully informed. However, I will say that construction management salaries do top out higher than that of civil engineers from what I’ve seen and heard, especially after bonuses are added on.</p>
<p>Before we get any further, to avoid any confusion, what is your impression of what a construction engineer does?</p>
<p>Go with whichever major requires soil mechanics + lab. Most entertaining lab ever :)</p>
<p>A Civil Engineer is a bit more flexible or a better path for grad school… Also some programs have construction related alongside architecture (i.e. Pratt, Auburn)… may want to take a look and see what requirements they have for the degree; civil eng. has the usual classes pretty much across schools, not sure if this is the case for construction engineering.</p>
<p>Construction engineering would typically require soil mechanics. Construction management may not.</p>
<p>By the way, there’s only 12 ABET accredited construction engineering programs in the U.S. (does not include civil engineering programs with construction engineering concentrations):</p>
<ul>
<li>Iowa State</li>
<li>NC State</li>
<li>North Dakota State </li>
<li>Purdue</li>
<li>San Diego State</li>
<li>Southern Polytechnic State</li>
<li>Alabama</li>
<li>University of Central Florida</li>
<li>Nebraska</li>
<li>University of New Mexico</li>
<li>Virginia Tech</li>
<li>Western Michigan</li>
</ul>
<p>@ken285: “Before we get any further, to avoid any confusion, what is your impression of what a construction engineer does?”</p>
<p>Well from doing some research, it seems like the construction engineers are usually reading and building (or figuring out how to build) the plans that a civil engineer drew. If i’m right on this, the construction engineers job sounds a lot more interesting to me. I don’t mind sitting behind a desk all day drawing plans, but I would prefer to be outside helping to coordinate the building process. </p>
<p>Now reverting back to my original question: If I become a civil engineer, am I qualified to be a construction engineer? Is there a vast difference in the classes they take? Or do they take similar classes? Because if I do become a civil engineer, I would like to get into the construction business.</p>
<p>construction engineering is a branch of civil engineering. Civil engineering is a so huge field, including Materials science and engineering, Coastal engineering, Construction engineering, Earthquake engineering, Environmental engineering, Geotechnical engineering, Water resources engineering, Structural engineering, Transportation engineering, Municipal or urban engineering and so on. To be a construction engineer is a choice when you graduate. Good luck!</p>
<p>It sounds like you want to be a construction manager and not so much a construction engineer. A construction engineer, for the most part, designs the temporary structures that allow for construction to take place. It could be for large excavations, concrete formwork, rigging, etc. A construction manager, or rather more specific to your interest, a construction superintendent, takes the designs created by architects and engineers and coordinates the construction process.</p>
<p>If you major in civil engineering, you are most certainly qualified to enter the construction management field. The courses between the two majors are similar. Actually, some civil engineering programs will have a construction management track within the major.</p>
<p>I read from your posts that you graduated from Columbia in construction engg mgmt.
I have admits from columbia, uiuc , tamu , purdue for the same course . And i have decided to choose columbia. I just wanted to ask how are the opportunities for international students at CU.
I have decided to go wid CU as i think its closer to the industry and i can make better contacts here.
Thanks.
Please reply.
( applicant for fall 13)</p>
<p>Congratulations on your acceptances. I only knew one or two international students in my program while I was there, so I don’t really know enough to talk about their opportunities. For what it’s worth, they did get jobs immediately after graduation.</p>
<p>I am majoring, or majored in civil engineering (graduating in less then a week, weird) and can shed some light on this.</p>
<p>Civil engineering is very broad. If you want to go into construction, it is very easy to do that. If you want to go more into design, you can also do that,</p>
<p>Construction is a cool industry to get in. Look into “Field Engineering”. </p>
<p>However, I decided to go more into the design route, which civil allows you to do. I will be working for an offshore design firm this summer and going back to graduate school to get Masters.</p>
<p>Moral of the story, civil is broad. You can do construction or go more the design route.</p>