<p>I hear UIUC is ranked #1 for civil engineering…</p>
<p>boneh3ad- since you are our resident expert (and we apprecitate it) do you have any insight into civil engineering? I know it is ranked # 1 in the country. Does that mean it is a really hard major? Harder than any others? Or would you say you should pursue it if you have an interest in the building aspect of engineering? Do you know anyone in the major? Any input would be great!</p>
<p>I have a couple friends in the major, but not a ton.</p>
<p>Just because it is ranked number 1 in the country doesn’t make it the hardest in the school, though. This may be a controversial thing to say, but most people around here tend to think of civil engineering as one of the easier majors to pursue in the CoE in most cases. It is still by no means easy, but in general it is viewed as an easier major by a lot of campus. On the opposite spectrum, electrical engineering is widely viewed as one of if not the hardest of the engineering majors. I know it would destroy me (though I am really bad at circuits to begin with).</p>
<p>Civil is ranked #1 at Illinois because of its quality as compared to the rest of the nation, not because of the difficulty compared to the rest of UIUC, or even compared to the rest of the country.</p>
<p>I want to add to this that I have the utmost respect for civil engineers and the work that they do. I am merely stating the general feeling among most engineers that I know.</p>
<p>I totally get what you are saying. Thank you for your honesty. Sorry to bug you but one more question…the General Engineering major intrigued me because it is a mix of business and engineering. Is it a new major that you know of? It sounds like a good major for those who might not want to go into the engineering field but maybe use their engineering backround to go into some sort of business. Would you say that is right?</p>
<p>Hi Roxy, </p>
<p>I’m a sophomore in General Engineering, and I love it, but I’ve also learned from upperclassmen that although GE is sold as “engineering with a business focus,” much of this comes from the possible opportunity to gain a business focus but not a requirement. </p>
<p>GE follows a basic engineering curriculum for the first 2 years and then offers several hours of free elective space for the last two years to gain a “secondary field” or specialty. It is at this point that students often opt to take business classes by partaking in “secondary fields” like Engineering Management, Business, or Technology & Management (Hoeft T&M Program.) The base GE curriculum features more business courses than most majors but these courses are far from a majority of the curriculum. </p>
<p>Many GEs do take a business-related secondary field and go on to work in engineering management, consulting, business, or manufacturing. For instance, I am pursuing the T&M minor, and despite my business/management focus, I have an Engineering & Operations internship this summer with General Mills. Sources claim that GE’s have the highest job placement rate as well as among the highest starting salaries since the curriculum mixes traditional engineering with important business skills. I can’t be sure how accurate these claims are though since many departments equally claim this.</p>
<p>Oh and GE is far from new. I believe it was started back in the 1920’s.</p>
<p>Feel free to shoot more questions my way. :)</p>
<p>That is great info…thank you cooljay. I do have another question. Were you a general engineering major as a freshman? I will be civil engineering. Do you know if it is dificult to change majors after freshman year if I want to switch to General Engineering?</p>
<p>I started in it as a freshman, but you if you have the intention to switch, civil is perfect. For the first 2 years, civils and GE’s take exactly the same classes, more than any other major I would say. Switching should be a breeze!</p>
<p>great … you have been very helpful. Thanks!</p>
<p>In general, CIvE, MechE, GE, and AE all take the same basic level classes. The Aeros branch off first in their own direction, then MechE, then the other two split. It would be extremely easy to switch from of of those to the other early on, though, without losing any time.</p>
<p>how about studying abroad? it seems like the classes are pretty set and it would be hard to fit in a semester abroad but in the orientation they said they were trying to increase the study abroad program. They also sent out “scholarship” applications from the college of engineering for students to participate in the future. So they definitely are promoting it in engineering. It does seem like it would be difficult to graduate in 4 years with studying abroad. Do guys know anyone from engineering that studied abroad or do you see a push to study abroad from the engineering college?</p>
<p>There is definitely a push to get people to study abroad. I know several people that did it and loved it. Some of them are graduating on time, some are taking an extra semester or two. It all depends on where you go and what classes you take.</p>
<p>If I want to double major in engineering, does the cost go up?</p>
<p>I don’t think so, but that is a really risky thing to do unless you are coming in with extreme amounts of credits.</p>
<p>I really don’t see the point of double majoring. One should instead take a lot more classes in one major, and try to get better.</p>