<p>Right now I am having a hard time deciding what engineering field to go into. I am only in my first year so I have some time to decide. I go to Penn State. The four that most interest me are Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Civil Engineering. I do not think difficulty will be an issue. </p>
<p>Here are my opinions on the different disciplines. </p>
<p>Industrial engineering is probably the broadest and has a business oriented background which I like. Although I do like science and engineering, I like the practicality of business. Job opportunities appeal most to me with this degree as I eventually would like to manage. The only downside is that the salary is a little lower and job opportunists are more scarce than the other disciplines. Penn State does rank in the top 10 for this degree and was the first school to have a B.S. in industrial engineering. </p>
<p>Mechanical engineering is also rather broad and leaves me with lots of options after college. Although physics is not as interesting to me as chemistry, I do enjoy it. I liked high school physics much more. Getting promoted to a management position would probably take a little longer with this degree, but getting a secure job out of college would probably be easier than industrial engineering. </p>
<p>Chemical engineering. I like the theories behind chemistry a lot, and love the mathematical work, but I hate the lab. I am not a big fan of lab in general, but really do not like chem lab. This seems to be a growing field and job security and pay is great. I really want to take organic chemistry, but I don't see myself working in a lab all day. I would feel very restricted.</p>
<p>Civil engineering seems pretty cool and seems to be the closest thing to industrial engineering. Job security seems to fluctuate with the economy, so I feel like they will be in demand soon.</p>
<p>Obviously I want a job that I enjoy, but salary and job growth are important to me. I would also like a job where I get to travel a little bit. I hate getting into a routine and love to take on new task and experience foreign things.</p>
<p>Anyone with some information or guidance is welcome to post.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>how is civil engineering closely related to industrial engineering? imo industrial is related to mechanical because its a derived from it (thats about all they have in common)</p>
<p>I would suggest speaking with professors, upperclassmen, and alumni who are in the different majors. Choosing a major can be challenging, and I’m glad you have done some introspection. However, the majors are all very different and don’t have much in common other than being engineering majors. I studied industrial engineering as an undergraduate, but am not crazy about the degree. Many MechE’s or ChemE’s go on to do more IE-type work or move into management as their careers progress, but one who studied IE is not likely to do the engineering work that a Mech or Chem E would do.</p>
<p>I don’t know where you get this idea that IE opportunities are scarce. Also, the thing about IE salaries being lower, I think you failing to understand that starting salaries in IE may be lower than in other disciplines but if you look up the average salary for Industrial Engineers, it is something like 78K.</p>
<p>Everything I read says that industrial engineering is in less demand than all other engineering disciplines. This comes from the web, career service counselors, and pamphlets given to me by my college. To me it sounds more interesting, but if I can score the same job with a mechanical engineering degree, I would want to pursue that, because it would leave me with other options that industrial engineering can not. </p>
<p>Mining Engineering - Big trucks, explosives, and high salaries with plenty of opportunities for advancement.</p>
<p>Just rule out Civil right now. There are some schools where they have some OR stuff in Civil Engineering I believe, but at most schools (and likely Penn State) at the undergrad level there’s no overlap in material between Civil and Industrial. Salaries are substantially lower for Civil than anything else (even when the economy is good, it’s still on the low-end) and it’s heavily economy dependent. </p>
<p>It’s my understanding that ChemEs don’t have a whole lot of lab stuff, but perhaps someone else can confirm.</p>
<p>Any of Industrial, Mechanical, and Chemical seem like viable options, just forget about Civil. </p>
<p>Salaries for Industrial Engineering and Mechanical Engineering are roughly equivalent, though both a bit lower than Chemical Engineering. </p>
<p>In terms of demand, neither Mechanical or Industrial have huge demand but neither are bad either. It seems to me that they’re roughly equivalent in job opportunities. I don’t know about ChemE but I imagine it’s a slightly better job market than either. </p>
<p>Thanks for the reply vladenschlutte. I was heavily leaning towards industrial engineering and you seemed to solidify this perspective. Anyone with experience in industrial engineering is welcome to respond, I would love to hear the job opportunists available for such major.</p>
<p>If travel and experience in foreign countries is important to you, consider doing ChemE or MechE–especially ChemE–and working for an oil company. It seems that oil companies love recruiting ChemEs and PetroEs (and also MechEs) to work overseas.</p>