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All I am saying is this "Don't major in engineering" or "Don't work as an engineer" line applies to grads of top schools, where they have other options. Engineering is great if you happen to end up in a lower tier school.
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<p>I think the difference between the people you'll find at "lower tier" engineering schools and engineers in top schools is the passion they hold for the field. People in top schools understand they could take another career that would make a lot more money; I'm sure most people going to MIT or Caltech could have gone somewhere with an easier program, done exceptionally well, then gone on to med school to earn their MD, but they don't want to, because they love engineering.</p>
<p>I'm going for a PhD in Materials Science right now, and as a result, I will probably earn less money than my girlfriend going for her MS in EE. But you know what? I don't care! I'm going to be making enough money to support the kind of life style I want to live, and I love the work that I do. To me, one of the worst things that could have happened to me is college is failing out of engineering and having to go into business, even though I would have made a lot more money in the long run!</p>
<p>For some people careers aren't just about earning money, they're about satisfying an inner passion for doing work.</p>
<p>cellardweller, I think a lot of the reason for elite schools having an inflated median salary is that many will switch into business or banking related careers, where they get offered much more money. All of my friends at CMU that took ECE jobs upon leaving had roughly the same offers. My friends from ECE that went into finance did considerably better. Also, my old roommate from CMU in ECE (one of the top 3 programs in the country) was offered the same starting salary at Raytheon as my girlfriend from UCI was. She's actually making more at the company she's interning at when her benefits are included in than if she had taken a full-time job at Raytheon!</p>
<p>With hiring manager duties in my spare time, I can say with authority that Lockheed, Boeing, and Raytheon do not offer engineers from MIT or Stanford more money than those from any other school. There are variances, but it comes down to specific program needs, criticality of skill, and location in the country rather than school. Our recruitment programs target certain schools, but salary offers are not keyed to the school itself.</p>
<p>The average STARTING salaries of EECS undergrads at MIT taking jobs with technology companies was higher than those taking jobs outside of engineering in finance or consulting. Grad students in management or economics make substantially more than engineering grad students. </p>
<p>The fact remains the plum technology positions will often not be available to the second tier engineering grads. In the survey, half of MIT students report getting their jobs from networking with their professors or former alumni. Oracle, Intel and many other companies simply won't recruit at UCI or second tier schools for top entry positions.</p>
<p>DITTO
Yes definitely, It doesn’t matter for undergrads What school you go too as long as you have fun learning.
You could do all the prerequisites at a community collage to save mega amounts of money and spend the last 2 years at the university.
Though it is important to go to a top tier grad school? I think?</p>
<p>If you look up median career salaries for engineers, it’s frightening to see some humanities majors up there. Yes, engineering undergrad degrees help with post-grad opportunities and a steady income increase. My sibling saw these results, and I expect to see the same ones by following his lead, but the stats suggest – at least a little bit – that long-term aspirations matter more.</p>
<p>My classmates are mostly in it for the money. A mostly bright, dedicated bunch, but I’ve only met a handful who really love the material. I don’t think it makes sense to study something just for the money, but if you’re going to go down that road, then engineering is a safe bet.</p>
<p>Just throwing around some statistics I read on Forbes, but average starting salary for a chemical engineer is almost 70k, and by mid career, can reach over 110k on average.</p>
<p>Anyway…anyone who has the TALENT for engineering and ENJOYS that sort of thing, should consider eng’g.</p>
<p>My son just graduated in May in Chemical Engineering. Altho he went to med school, his ChemE friends were immediately hired into jobs paying over $80k per year. That’s pretty good for new hires.</p>
<p>Engineering is a young person’s game - the average engineering grad is no longer a practicing engineer by the age of 35. They might manage engineers, but their primary job is no longer doing what engineers do. Of course there are people who spend their whole career as a practicing engineer, my dad did, but that’s becoming more and more rare.</p>
<p>The old joke is anyone smart enough to become an engineer is smart enough to know they should do something else.</p>
<p>Well, engineering has been a good career for my husband and me. We started our own consulting firm in 1999. We work out of our house. We built an office that looks over the woods. Our commute is a walk across the first floor. We’re here when the kids get home from school. This past year has been tough economically, but the other years were excellent and now work is picking up again. I wouldn’t do anything different.</p>
<p>Oh, yeah, and it is nice to drive across town and see the buildings we’ve designed. I enjoy not having a job where I just push papers around all day.</p>
<p>You took the one route in engineering I would highly encourage - own the business. If you do that, it’s worth it - working for 30 years as an engineer for a large corporation or government, not so much.</p>
<p>I live in a fairly affluent suburb and one of the best school districts in the country. I know a lot of parents, and not one is a practicing engineer for a large corporation. They are primarily doctors, lawyers, dentists, accountants, financial advisors, business owners, and professors. The one thing they have in common is they almost always own a piece of the business by being a primary or a partner in the business. (Professors are the exception, but they get compensated in ways I don’t quite understand.)</p>
<p>If you want to get compensated at a level commensurate with your ability, own the business. Have employees, don’t be one.</p>
<p>The thing is, engineering majors acquire analytical skills that no other majors receives. These skills can be applied to almost any job that you can imagine as many engineers go on to work on wall street and as successful entrepreneurs. Engineering gives you a technical skill that can put you far ahead of any other competitors in the workforce.</p>
<p>Again, correct. I have an engineering degree and am proud of it, and the skills have proved useful. Getting an MBA (have one of those too) is fairly simply after getting an engineering degree. Having an engineering degree also allows one to be a patent lawyer, one of the most lucrative law fields.</p>
<p>So perhaps “One should major in engineering, but one shouldn’t be an engineer,” is the more correct statement, at least not for more than a few years or so.</p>
<p>engineering majors acquire analytical skills that no other majors receives. These skills can be applied to almost any job that you can imagine</p>
<p>This is very true. My son, who was a bad boy and didn’t study for the MCAT (too busy with ChemE projects) still did quite well on it, well enough to get into med school (completed only 6 applications, but accepted to 3). Since the MCAT is not a typical “knowledge test,” but it’s an exam where you apply knowledge, I think that the skills that he learned as an eng’g undergrad really paid off.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, I’m thrilled that your engineering major son is going to medical school. </p>
<p>Our nation really needs doctors who can also think analytically rather than strictly by protocol. Heck, I need a doctor who can also think analytically. Kudos to your son!</p>
<p>This quote implies that being an engineer is a dead end job or some type of horrible/boring experience. If you’re a “working” engineer after age 35, it’s because you enjoy your job and like the compensation. For some (many in CS) this is the career they wanted. </p>
<p>For others, being engineers gave us options. Many move on into management, then senior management. Many get recruited out of college to do “none-engineering” jobs in finance, sales or business and have moved on from there. Many have started their owned business/small engineering firms/consulting. Many went to grad school, and then into research. Many went on to get other professional degrees (law, med school, business school…).</p>
<p>Being an engineer gives you many options; if you’re not a “working” one at 35, it’s because you’ve decided to go in another direction. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but if you’re capable, the awards are irrefutable.</p>