What's the most marketable engineering major?

<p>I'm sure this question has been asked plenty of times before, but I was just wondering which type of engg major is the best one for today's society. (obviously petroleum, but not too many top schools offer this major, so anything else?)</p>

<p>I'm thinking of doing ECE (electrical and computer engineering), what does everyone else think of this?</p>

<p>here are my thoughts on others (please correct me if I'm wrong)
aero, biomed, and nuclear are too specialized
mat, mech are in the past</p>

<p>dont know about
environmental, civil and chem</p>

<p>oh and I hate computer science</p>

<p>Mechanical is perhaps the broadest of all the engineering disciplines, so I would give it a slight edge in terms of marketability. But truthfully you cant go wrong with any of the classic engineering disciplines: Civil, Chemical, Electrical, Mechanical, etc...</p>

<p>For starting salary, I think Compsci still has the lead.</p>

<p>but isnt mech rarer than it used to be now because of advances in technology</p>

<p>We're always gonna need food, shelter, water, transportation....</p>

<p>Civs design the shelter, get the water to you, and build the roads and rail and airports for transportation...</p>

<p>I'd say in terms of constancy and stability, civil engineering's a good bet.</p>

<p>It all depends. Overall, comparing all the engineering schools, job replacement rates, etc... - you'll see that civil engineering is the most marketable degree. Indeed, it is on the top 5 for jobs most in demand; I've even heard of quite a few mechE's who retrained as civE's to find decent jobs.</p>

<p>However, what college you go to has a significant impact on job placement and consequently the marketability of your specific major. Going to UT for example and majoring in EE is different from going to fresno state and getting the same degree. Going to Michigan and majoring in engineering is quite diff. from going to michigan state and majoring in engineering. One case is always more marketable than the other.</p>

<p>What you need to take into account is 1) your interest in a specific major and 2) will this major help you in pursuing future graduate study of your interest 3) look at how successful your school is at placing graduates 4) other factors</p>

<p>I would argue that EE is the most marketable engineering degree since those with this degree are normally employed for various positions from financial analyst to computer scientist, from manufacturing/construction companies to biotech and finance companies.</p>

<p>Why is that? It is because of something inherent to the subject matter, or in the personal traits of the people who go into the field?</p>

<p>I would say either ME or EE are the most marketable since they are the most broad.</p>

<p>Any opinions on engineering sciences?</p>

<p>my dad majored in electrical engineering in college and got a masters in that. then he got an mba in business administration. he has a high position in his company and makes plenty of bling-bling.</p>

<p>I would say EE b/c circuits are everywhere. Then I would say CivE b/c something will always need to be built. Third chemE b/c of that fact that everything needs a process to be made and chemEs are involved in a lot more than chemicals. And then MechE just because it's broad. Those are the four generals. ChemE & EE have the highest starting salaries of any BS/BA degrees. ME is a little later on the list and CivE is the lowest. But just think of a factory. What engineers would always be needed. You can still only usually come up with those top 4 in every situation. I'm not a fan of specialization.</p>

<p>What about Materials? Isn't that always a necessity? Also any idea on engineering sciences?</p>

<p>It really depends on how you define 'marketable'. </p>

<p>If by marketable, you mean the highest average starting salaries, then PetE and ChemE are the most marketable. </p>

<p>If by marketable, you mean the most number of current jobs and most geographic flexibility, then EECS and ME are the most marketable.</p>

<p>If by marketable you mean high growth rates of jobs (but currently rather low starting salaries), then CivilE, BioE, and Materials Science are highly marketable.</p>

<p>Take a look at the website salary.com. If you enter the geographic area you are looking for, you will find various engineering disciplines listed. Most jobs are rated by experience, usually with roman numerals: 'I' being the lowest and 'V' being the most experienced.</p>

<p>I was amazed to find that an EE level V in my region barely breaks 100K. But, Operations Research V is around 128k. Not all engineering schools offer OR, but I have found it to be broadly marketable. (That's my degree.)</p>

<p>Of course, there are also salaries for various engineering "managers". This is where engineering salaries begin to climb.</p>

<p>sakky, yes that was exactly the answer I was looking for, thanks</p>

<p>redbeard, I heard that OR sector is dying off and jobs are really hard to come by... this is what I HEARD</p>

<p>By OR, you mean Operations Research?</p>