What made YOU decide to go into engineering?

<p>Hi guys,</p>

<p>Currently I'm a junior in high school. Taking AP Calc AB and AP Physics B at the moment and I'm enjoying both courses (especially physics). I'm interested in choosing engineering as a college major, among other things on my mind (including architecture, graphic design, international relations, etc).
I just have a few questions for anyone who's an engineering major OR who has applied to be an engineering major. You really don't have to answer all of them - some of them may be stupid and due to my lack of research... - but a word or two would be nice.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What made YOU decide to go into engineering? What influenced your decision? Anything I could do to help me decide if engineering is the right career path for me?</p></li>
<li><p>Do I HAVE to apply as an engineering major when applying as a freshman to university, or can I choose that as a major later on after I enroll as an undeclared major?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thanks for reading!</p>

<ol>
<li>I went into engineering because it seemed like the most natural field for a geeky high school guy that liked science and math. We do have a wide variety of people in engineering, so if you are not a geeky guy/girl don’t let that dissuade you.</li>
</ol>

<p>The other thing that I liked about engineering is engineering made more money right out of college than any other major. That is not the right reason to go into engineering, but since I wanted to do engineering anyway, it was a nice benefit. For some reason, the liberal arts majors didn’t seem to enjoy sharing our excitment about that.</p>

<p>Your best bet is to find out if you have aptitude in science and math. Look at your standardized test scores, take career path tests with your guidance counseler, etc, etc. See if you are good at science and math. If you excel and enjoy them, engineering is worth looking at. If you struggle with science and math concepts, engineering may not be right.</p>

<ol>
<li>It depends on the school. In general, it is very difficult to transfer into engineering if you haven’t been taking the right courses. If you take the right set of courses as an undeclared major (identical set as the declared engineers take) you can make the switch. It requires a very specific set and sequence of classes to earn your degree.</li>
</ol>

<ol>
<li><p>I was good at math in high school, and I wanted to use it for something constructive (not just numbers on paper!). So I went into architectural engineering - specifically, the structural engineering design of buildings. It’s been a little bumpy along the way (lay-offs), but now my husband and I have our own consulting firm and we love what we do.</p></li>
<li><p>You don’t HAVE to, but there’s a good chance it would take you longer than 4 years to get your degree, because most engineering majors “hit the ground running” with engineering prep courses as freshmen. You could look at the engineering curriculum and see if you could start out with all the classes such as history or foreign language that you’d have to take, anyway.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Good luck! Feel free to ask more questions - there is a lot of good advice from people here.</p>

<p>MTA: Cross-posted with bigtrees!</p>

<p>I was an IS person and I saw the handwriting on the wall in my organization and just happened to land a job on the support side in engineering. One day, the project leader of one of the products that I supported asked me if I wanted his job and I went into engineering. Of course I went for a Masters to go along with it.</p>

<p>The advantage of declaring right away is that you may be eligible for scholarships from the department with a declared major. My son’s school has a ton of scholarships for majors in plastics engineering.</p>

<p>When I think about it, I ultimately chose engineering for one reason - money. Sure, there were many other factors involved but many of those were related to money in some way or fashion.</p>

<p>I chose engineering because I was not interested in fields like medicine, law, economics, etc. I can’t stand the thought of being a doctor, a lawyer, etc. </p>

<p>Fortunately or unfortunately, engineering and science are challenging for me since they involve the use of critical/analytical thinking skills and I happen to be mediocre in those areas. In contrast, I possess above average writing/reading skills and for that reason I do not want to work on areas that utilize said skills.</p>

<p>Finally, engineering and science occupy the top spots in my personal value table. I consider being able to work on high level math more advantageous than possessing great communication/linguistic skills. </p>

<p>My $0.02.</p>

<p>The babes. What else</p>

<p>1) Become a part of something big. Even if you’re successful as a doctor, you mostly just help one person, or quite a few people. Once those people die, that’s it for your legacy. It’s not like their grandchildren or their grandchildren’s grandchildren will always remember you. Unless you do something completely out of the ordinary and shock the world forever, your legacy dies with you. With engineering, you have a lot of changes to make yourself a part of something that lives for a very long time. If you build a bridge in San Diego or Los Angeles or New York, your name is on that bridge for a hundred years after it was built. If you’re a chemical engineer and you discover a new method of nanofabrication, your name is on that patent and thousands of new inventions from it will have your name on it. </p>

<p>2) You’ve done what others don’t have the diligence to do. A lot of people say, “Well if I tried hard, I could’ve done well in math.” Or some other variant of that. But you accepted the challenge. Everyone said engineering is a tough major, but you faced it head strong and stayed the course. To graduate in engineering tells not just employers, but professionals, coworkers, girlfriends (if they’re educated enough to understand it) and everyone you meet that you didn’t just get a bachelor’s degree, you got one of “the” prestigious bachelor’s degrees. Engineering majors may as well have the slogan for the Navy Seals, “The only easy day was yesterday.” To build this mindstate in an undergraduate degree develops within you a sense of self confidence that can’t be matched easily. </p>

<p>3) “What are you learning? Oh I learned that too.” Upper division chemistry, upper division drafting, upper division programming. An engineering major doesn’t just take math. He takes calculus, physics, organic chemistry (usually), etc. The first two years of our college years, we do as much life and physical science as chemistry majors, as much math as math majors, as much physics as physics majors and as much general education as liberal arts majors. We undergo a very vigorous and foundational general education preparation. Just having the first two years done will land you a very good job as a student worker, because employers will know that you aren’t just quantitatively strong, but analytically and logically. You know how to think and you are very good at it. </p>

<p>4) They say engineering is a one course career and that engineers are limited professionally. That’s horse crap. My friend graduated from UCSD with a Chemical Engineering degree and he worked nights at Best Buy with me as a Geek Squad agent. He was such a good prospect of employment, that one of the corporate regional managers came down and offered him a position as a regional supervisor making 55k+/- a year because he wanted to keep him with Best Buy. Engineering is a widely accepted top 5 degree for preparation of law school to be a patent attorney. </p>

<p>5) The money. Let’s face it- Times are rough and the dollar keeps getting thinner. A lot of econ majors have been boasting and rubbing it in peoples’ faces how much their field is growing. What they don’t realize is, their field is growing in contrast to years of recession that they experienced before. Engineering on the other hand has ALWAYS had a strong presence in the job demand market. You show me an unemployed engineer and I’ll show you an engineer that either didn’t pass his FE/PE or simply isn’t trying to find a job. In an economy as bad as this, engineers aren’t just not hurting for work, they’re also getting by comfortably. </p>

<p>6) Market growth. Most of the engineering majors are expected to grow significantly over the next 10 years. You won’t have to live in some rural part of Ohio to get good work in an engineering field. The sky is the limit, pretty much. You can even leave the country if you wanted. Engineering firms can be found in almost every major city and some smaller metros all across the country. Most of the growth is expected in California, New York and Florida but there’s a significant amount of growth in Massachusetts as well. </p>

<p>In the end, it’s a very solid degree, it’s a testament to dedication, you can become a part of research to create things that will live for a long time and it commands respect. It’s nice to be one of the best paid bachelor’s after graduation. </p>

<p>For your second question, most colleges prefer you to declare a major before entering. To be honest, you’ll have a much easier time leaving an engineering major for something else, than you would leaving something else to enter engineering. This is especially the case at Ivy league schools or UC or UF or UT schools, where the engineering departments receive thousands of applications out of state to enter their department. </p>

<p>If you don’t want to enter as an engineering major, I suggest you maintain a strong standing in physical science and mathematics. Take calculus sequence for engineers, general chemistry sequence and physics. If you get those done with decent grades, you should be able to enter an engineering major. Seeing as you’re in AP Physics B and AP Calc AB (Fills Calc 1 and Physics 1), you shouldn’t have too much trouble. Definitely take Calculus 2 or 3 and Physics 2 over summer to see how you like them.</p>

<p>Thank you for all the responses. I really appreciate them.</p>

<p>@MaineLonghorn: what is the big difference between architecture and architectural engineering? Do architectural engineers not have to submit a portfolio? Not that the portfolio part worries me. I’m enrolled in AP Studio Art: Drawing as of now and will be taking AP Studio Art: 2D next year.</p>

<p>@BCEagle91: I’m an international student, so will most of those scholarships still apply to me?</p>

<p>@Essenar: I especially enjoyed your post. I’m taking AP Chem, AP Physics C, and AP Calc BC next year so I’m hoping those courses will truly test my ability. But I’m wondering, for schools like Cooper Union and Olin, will I still have a strong liberal arts background if I enroll as a engineering major? I think I would be fine if I was studying engineering at Columbia, Stanford, Princeton, Rice, etc, but I’m not sure about those two schools (they sound great, especially their low/free tuition!)…</p>

<p>Scholarships are far less likely for international students.</p>

<p>Alright, so I’m gonna be a mechE at cmu soon and I never actually figured out the money till I went to cmu and they gave me the starting salaries (which is more than double my moms). At first I was like “maybe it’s just the school” but apparently it’s anywhere.</p>

<p>See, I got interest in it because I’m good at math and physics and terrible at everything else. Well, art I’m good at too, but it’s not something I’m ever excited about. I doodle when bored, I don’t pursue it, really it’s a hobby for when I would finish my math work early. So in deciding some career ideas in high school I took up different things, debate and model UN to get a feel for something in law and politics, I was good but it bored me and then I found out how much writing was involved. I took up a medical program, bored, but learned how to do stitches and if a women is giving birth I know what to do but will be disgusted. Tried pursuing art, hated artists. Don’t like writing, history is boring, not enough patience to be a teacher. In the middle of math my teacher says “Valerie, do you wanna be an engineer? Take my precal summer course and take Cal AP next year” so I was like sure. Did that, then tried this other summer engineering program, built a robot and loved that crap. It was awesome, I’m good at math and physics and creative thinking and building things so it was perfect. I was mad for never thinking to try it earlier.</p>

<p>No one really told me of the money till recently. I’m still trying to get my head around it, I’m in an area where having this computer means a lot, I have a 0 efc and it’s strange to think of myself as wealthy within the next 10 years. I figured engineers made decent wages, not over 50g as a minimum wage. And being a minority and woman they tell me I’ll make even more, so that’s odd. I just hope I don’t have to wear a suit and heals, hate those, but it seems like the kinda career where no one cares that much on appearance on a daily basis, as opposed to business. Clean jeans and shirts okay?</p>

<p>I have a lot of ideas about technology and I want to put my ideas into action.</p>

<p>Well, the main difference between a bachelor’s degree and a vocational or technical degree, is the general education. You’re expected to be cultured (art), logical (critical thinking and analytical writing), understanding of perspective (social studies and humanities) when you obtain a bachelor’s degree.</p>

<p>When you obtain a vocational or technical degree, you’re expected to know how to do your job. At least, that’s how the degrees work here in the states.</p>

<p>The first two years of college are teaching you how to think. For engineering majors, you’re not just learning how to think, you’re also taking chemistry, calculus and physics. </p>

<p>An engineer is a scientist, make no mistake about it. We’re not as local as physicists, but we can be. We’re not as observant as chemists, but we can be. We’re not as explanatory as biologists, but we can be. We’re just missing the “-ists” in our title. I’d prefer if we were called Engineerists! But yeah, I guess that sounds stupid.</p>

<p>i didn’t like science or math (because I didn’t know what they were)…so that wasn’t the reason</p>

<p>Initially I was in a band but I was smart enough to know I didn’t want to go down that road (keep as a hobby, + part time when I graduate)…So I actually wanted to do graphic design, (a realistic and great profession for the creative type). But then I decided architecture might be a little more noble/respectable… but unlike graphic design it is a very unrealistic and crap profession for the creative type </p>

<p>after realizing that architecture would be a great college experience (because you get to be creative and work on amazing projects) but that the industry would suck horribly…i gave up on my creative passions and just played it safe with engineering because everyone i know did it (family/friends). decided on engineering the day before classes started, lol, nobody thought I’d make it even though my grades were always up (never took calc or anything in high school though)</p>

<p>goes without saying midway through 1st semester in chemistry for engineers I fell in love with my studies, I flipped 180 and now I’m crazy about science and engineering (it is in my thoughts 99% of the day)… but I still play my guitar during study breaks and day dream a little about the old times when I was a teen. but I’m really happy, instead of one passion (art) I have two now (science and art) though science has become a little stronger…it’s so amazing, I never knew I could obtain so much knowledge,</p>

<p>Wow. I didn’t expect this much response for this thread! Thank you all so much.</p>

<p>Because engineering is seen as such a hardcore major, would it be feasible to minor in something as well/engage in some extracurriculars? I’m an artist, and like you, cyclone10, I’d love to continue doing it. Plus I’ve been doing Model United Nations since my freshman year, and it’s one of my top priorities when it comes to extracurriculars.</p>

<p>Second question - could I go into pharmacy after chem engineering? Or would that require a biochemistry/chemistry major?</p>

<p>Thanks once again and sorry for the constant flood of questions. I think the money thing - which keeps popping up - will be a big bonus…as an international applicant I understand financial aid is limited and don’t want to be completely in debt after school, so making cash right after graduation sounds reassuring.</p>

<p>I’m going into engineering for the money compared to work hours, nothing else. I’m one of those people with no special passion for anything, so going for the money is my best option. </p>

<p>Yes it is feasible to minor and carry on with extracurriculars. Whether that means you came in with a bunch of APs, you take a summer, or an extra semester or year, you can do it. </p>

<p>And if you wanted to go to pharmacy school I think you’d have to take a lot of extra science classes, check requirements for pharmacy school. I wouldn’t recommend ChemE or engineering at all if you want to go to pharmacy school.</p>

<p>Looks like your second question has been answered plenty of times, so i’ll give another perspective on your first one:</p>

<p>I want to be an engineer because I love physics. I love not only to know how things work, but also how to build them. I think of new ideas all the time and am an inventor at heart. It kind of annoys me that I use so many things I don’t fully understand, like television, radio, remote controls, etc. and I want to learn how they work and eventually be able to build them.</p>

<p>All that said, you’ll know if you want to be an engineering by taking a tour through a Boeing or Lockheed-Martin plant. Just seeing people casually build $80+ million aircraft for a day job puts the coolness of engineering above everything else for me.</p>