<p>Before I begin, I know that all engineers take the same classes freshman year, you don't need to inform me of that. I'll be attending TAMU in fall of 2014 but I can't decide between Civil Engineering and Chemical Engineering. I really like Chemistry, but I don't want to work at a refinery in Houston for my whole life. I'd rather live in a small city (~200,000 people). I also don't want to work directly in a lab that much. I wouldn't mind, but I'd prefer desk work. Are there any opportunities like this? I like structural engineering a bit, but I prefer chemistry. The pay is highest with ChemE but that isn't all that important to me. What would be your suggestion for me? Thanks!</p>
<p>First of all, no matter what engineering degree you get you can find a lot of different jobs. Chemical engineers don’t have to necessarily work in refineries. My parents were chemical engineers who did happen to work at a refinery in Houston (lol), but they had a lot of other job offers, and today there are even more options for a chemical engineer. Chemical engineers can do more biomedical-focused work, pursue an environmental engineering track, work with nanotechnology, and work in a wide variety of fields that don’t restrict you geographically. A ChemE degree actually gives you a lot of flexibility.</p>
<p>However, it sounds like you don’t necessarily want to do a lot of hands-on engineering work and would prefer a desk job, which makes me curious as to why you’ve settled on engineering. But if you like structural engineering, then civil engineering definitely sounds better for you, even if its pay isn’t as high. Another thing you should know is that chemical engineering will be substantially more difficult than civil engineering (ChemE is one of the hardest types of engineering and civil engineering is one of the easier). Unless you actually are passionate about become a chemical engineer, it might not be worth it to pursue this more rigorous track.</p>
<p>I’d recommend you do a bit more research into the sort of jobs you could find within each discipline of engineering to help you make your decision. Although to me it seems like civil engineering is a more natural choice for you, if you’re still interested in chemical, then make sure you start on a ChemE track because the difference between ChemE majors and other engineering majors is that they have to take not just engineering/math/physics courses but chemistry classes. It would be easy to start majoring in ChemE but then switch to civil engineering and not be behind in your studies, but if you don’t take chemistry courses early on, you’d have a harder time switching into chemical engineering and getting caught up.</p>
<p>michellel - Thanks so much! I’m thinking ChemE because I really like chemistry. I think I might like the coursework more in ChemE but not the work as much. This may sound like a stupid question but I assume Civil Engineers can get decent jobs in small cities?</p>