I’m a sophomore. I’ve taken all of my calculus and chemistry, and have taken Physics 1 (A’s in all of them). I originally wanted to do ME but I hated my engineering graphics class and I wasn’t sure I liked what I saw and heard from people who had jobs in ME. But I go back and forth. IE was my runner up… But I’m honestly not entirely sure about that one either. I haven’t taken any IE classes, but I will this fall. Does anyone have any advice? How did you pick which engineering major you wanted to do?
Do you like designing and optimizing processes and systems? Do you prefer math and statistics over physics?
In all honesty, in the real world, in my experience, IEs are looked down upon by MEs and other engineers in general
@baseliner lol…in the real world, no one cares what the ME’s or “other” engineers think, other than “other” engineers. 
Your school likely has a branch of the **Institute of Industrial and System Engineers/b, try to attend some meetings this fall. They also coordinate corporate speakers, information sessions and plant visits. Their members have likely already worked internships within the field. You’ll find they will a great source of info.
By the way, this advise works for any engineering field. If you’re a ME, join the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), if you’re a would be nuclear engineer, join ANS. You’ll gain a lot from networking with other students and folks working in the field.
@ucbalumnus I like math and I liked my physics 1 class. So is that a major difference between IE and ME? IE’s use more math while ME’s use more physics? To be terribly honest, I’m not sure what the process of optimizing systems is. So I honestly can’t say. I do think that making things work better sounds interesting and cool.
@baseliner Why is that? IE’s make more money than ME’s or civil. Not that that matters. I don’t understand why they’d look down on them…
@Gator88NE That’s a great idea. I hadn’t thought of that. Thanks!
http://www.iienet2.org/details.aspx?id=716 describes what industrial engineers do.
You can also use Google to find several videos that do a decent job of describing ISE.
it goes both ways. Many of my coworkers trained as EE’s. Someone in the office once said the old joke about it taking “two EEs to spell gEEK.” and the guy in the next cube said “but I’m an ME.”
“Oh,” said the geek, who then held up two fingers and said in a very slow and clear voice, like you’d use for a toddler, “IT TAKES TWO EEs TO SPELL GEEK.”
Really, every discipline is demanding, just in different ways. I wouldn’t waste any time worrying that someone else thought my major was too easy…
ref: xkcd comic 435 “purity”