<p>I see people asking a lot about BME, mechanical is pretty popular as well, but what is the most common engineering major?</p>
<p>Electrical Engineering.</p>
<p>EE, ME depends on school but these two departments usually have the majority of the students</p>
<p>social engineering ;-)</p>
<p>civil is the oldest, but EE definnitely is the most popular and at the same time(in my opinioin) the most theoretical and most boring field</p>
<p>yea because as we all know boring = popular</p>
<p>At my school, It's MechE, then EE.</p>
<p>EE/CE/CS</p>
<p>Though, a lot of kids will later drop out of these majors because they tend to be the most difficult.</p>
<p>BME engineering is quite new, iif you notice how many people were employed in BME compared to other engineering professions, it's small.
<a href="http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172031.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes172031.htm</a></p>
<p>chemical engineering if popular too if your like working hard.</p>
<p>Its true that BME is a new field, but its one of the fastest growing fields in engineering. I've heard that the number of students interested in this major has more than tripled this year, and its estimated that this trend will continue.</p>
<p>
[quote]
civil is the oldest, but EE definnitely is the most popular and at the same time(in my opinioin) the most theoretical and most boring field
[/quote]
but many of the jobs you get with a civil engineering degree don't seem nearly as interesting...maybe it's just my experience, but i've been to work with my dad, an Army Corps engineer, and i always hear about his other projects...working with concrete and building levees and walls doesn't interest me.</p>
<p>"but many of the jobs you get with a civil engineering degree don't seem nearly as interesting...maybe it's just my experience, but i've been to work with my dad, an Army Corps engineer, and i always hear about his other projects...working with concrete and building levees and walls doesn't interest me."</p>
<p>some people find that interesting, while others find programming electrical circuits boring. its all a matter of taste.</p>
<p>Yea there seems to be a boom in BME, especially in my program. Everyone thinks they will save the world and invent some new device that will make them millions or billions. That the main draw for people, everyone thinks that since its relatively new, they will be the next "it" person and design something that everyone will know and want. The reality is, very very few people will ever do this. If more people realized you won't necessarily be making millions with it, and its hard work they would quit. Lots of times these people don't realize this until its too late and they have to finish it, even though they realize they don't like it.</p>
<p>From what I've seen personally, EE/ECE is the most popular, with ME coming in at a close second most of the time.</p>
<p>At my school MEs out number EEs by nearly a 2-to-1 margin. Nationally ME and EE are the most popular engineering majors. They are the most broad engineering majors and lead to the most job opportunities.</p>
<p>ME easily. However, my school seperates Computer & EEs.</p>
<p>Traditionally, the most popular engineering majors have been electical, mechanical, civil, and chemical. You can see the historical degree numbers in this</a> table.</p>
<p>In recent years, EE and ME have been nearly tied in terms of BS degrees (though EE is way ahead in terms of graduate degrees). CE is third and ChemE fourth. </p>
<p>For all of these disciplines, the number of BS degrees peaked in the 1980s and has generally been stable or falling ever since, with a particularly pronounced decline in EE. In contrast, the numbers for advanced degrees have been generally stable or climbing. </p>
<p>So two long-term trends are evident. In general, fewer students are majoring in traditional engineering disciplines, but those that do are more likely to pursue advanced degrees.</p>
<p>Great link Corbett!</p>
<p>I would add that I think a major reason why EE is declining is that a lot of people who would have studied EE in the past are now studying computer science or information sciences. CS has strong ties to EE, to the point that many schools such as MIT and Berkeley have actually merged the 2 departments into an EECS department. Within the MIT EECS department, the most popular of the 3 undergraduate program options is "6-3", which is the Computer Science & Engineering option, which is basically a CS degree. Similarly, at Berkeley, the most popular of the 5 EECS options is option 4, which is the Computer Science option. </p>
<p>As you can see, the number of CS/IS degrees conferred has increased dramatically in the last few years. I have to imagine that this explains much of the recent dropoff in EE.</p>