<p>Alright fellas, everyone wants to be rich and famous, drive a nice car, live in a beautiful house, etc. My question to you geniuses is; what engineering major should I pledge my life to?</p>
<p>Currently I am enrolled as a mechanical engineer, but I feel like its not going to be as lucrative as other majors. I have interest in chemical engineering, petroleum engineering, and biomedical engineering, and it is a goal of mine to eventually start my own company later in life after I gained a few years of experience.</p>
<p>Discussing my future is difficult with others for they have no clue what the engineering business is like. Some say petroleum is going to die down as oil drains up, you know that same bull we hear time and time again. Others say biomedical and chemical are growing exponentially and I should take advantage.</p>
<p>I plan on eventually transferring to Texas A&M and I know their undergrad petroleum degree was ranked number 2 in the nation, and their grad degree is ranked 1. That's the main reason I feel like I should change, plus I admit being an oil magnate would be pretty freaking awesome. Honestly, chemical and biomedical seem to interest me more plus touch on a personal side, you know helping people by developing medications and prosthetic limbs, but I don't know how far it will take me.</p>
<p>Hopefully you guys can ease my mind on what I should decide on. The one with the higher probability of lucrative success and possibility of starting my own company if viable.</p>
<p>From what I see chemical is not growing exponentially (although all growth is exponential, it is just a matter of the size of the exponent). And I agree that petroleum will be around for a while. Having said that, I would recommend that you follow your heart. Developing medications will require chemistry knowledge, not necessarily chemical engineering. Developing prosthetics suggests biomedical, or even classical mechanical. Don;t so something because you think it will make you a lot of money (oil magnates are few and far between). Do something because it interests you.</p>
<p>Do what you are best at. If you go around chasing what you think is the “hot” field, then you will regret it later on when you realize you have no passion for what you’re doing.</p>
<p>If we want to talk about startup opportunities, I have to say that petroE doesnt seem very entrepreneurial. It’s the sort of degree you get to work for a huge multinational oil corporation and work your way up. The sort of capital and legal paperwork you need to work out can be prohibitive. Then again, if you love petroE, then you should do it. Because innovation is possible (read: fracking).</p>
<p>In comparison, there are relatively more opportunities in BioMedE and CompE.</p>
<p>CompEng is currently the hottest area and has been for a while. You can get tech crashes which hurt this degree from time-to-time. MechE/ChemE are fairly flexible and stable areas - not a lot of growth but also not a lot of students graduating in this area compared to others. PetEng is a good field but more limited - make sure you want to work for an oil/gas company and be prepared to live in remote locations - N. Dakota anyone? From what I’ve read on BioMedEnd - there are more students than jobs - Mech E or Chem E with some BioMedEnd classes may be a better route.</p>
<p>Just a comment on the “do what interest you” comments: engineering school is nothing like working in engineering. You should talk to alums if possible to try and learn more about what the jobs people are getting are like. Regardless of what people say, working in a field that is in high demand is a lot more fun than one where you will struggle to find a job. Employers will treat you better and you’ll have more opportunities to switch employers to get raises and promotions. Working for a hot silcon valley start-up will be very different than working for an A&D firm - find out what jobs people from your school are landing.</p>
<p>With respect to ‘hotness’ or demand, no degree comes close to CS. Put CpE, EE, MechE combined and then you will get an image of how in “demand” CS is.</p>
<p>I am majoring in CSE, from an Engineering school, and it’s a known fact here in NY that CS majors will end up with far more opportunities when compared to Computer Engineers or EE’s or MechE’s.</p>
<p>With that being said, follow your passion and don’t just choose a major for it’s demand. If you care about the demand, FYI CS is on the top of the list. The amount of Software Engineering openings(that’s just one aspect of CS, CS in it’s self is a huge field)dwarfs the top 4 Engineering majors combined. To further solidify, and debunk what the poster above said, take a look at career surveys. Mainly all CpE’s end up in banks, or as software Engineers. Now depending on the core curriculum for that particular CpE, he might generally be a lot weaker, and not capable of performing the work a CS guy could do, due to his versatility in various languages as a Software Engineer. Most CpE’s never write 5-10 thousands lines of code, the way CS guys do.</p>
<p>With respect to demand, a CS degree with an EE minor > CpE.</p>
<p>Before choosing a major based on how “hot” it is right now, keep in mind that you can’t predict a career’s worth into the future.
All of the major engineers and CS have a good degree of stability, but opportunities change. Oversaturation(salary expectations), technology, political movements etc can all impact things in very unpredictable ways. What’s hot now could be mediocre in the future and vice versa.
I suggest you do what you like best if it pays decently. You’ll do a better job at it anyways.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help, as for CS and CpE I have absolutely no idea if I would enjoy that kind of work. I am more of a physical type of person. I’d rather travel and work in diverse, stable, and somewhat expandable areas.</p>