<p>My D says she is interested in engineering. She has a couple of friends who are already in engineering programs and when she asks them why engineering she gets vague answers
She is totally undecided where to apply at this time but looking at schools that give her total options. </p>
<p>She says she might really like bio medical engineering. Anyone out there with real life experience who can give helpful hints and suggestions. Who is the best person to talk to if she calls schools to ask questions about programs.</p>
<p>She wants an active career, not one stuck inside a building and desk.</p>
<p>She is very strong in math, sciences such as chemistry and physics.
Dad is an accountant. No help there.</p>
<p>Advisers and Admissions personnel, generally student or teachers, are good people to talk to.</p>
<p>Why does she want to be an engineer if she gets vague answers? What is she basing the desire off of? What kind of hints and suggests do you want?</p>
<p>It isn’t as fun as treasure hunting though… =( That feeling when you finally dig up the chest full of Aztec gold… it just can’t be beat.</p>
<p>In seriousness though, I did engineering because I would have the opportunity to have a highly challenging and rewarding job that resulted in real products and advancement of technology. In addition, you have plenty of opportunity as an engineer to do active, field work and get your hands dirty as well as sitting behind a desk crunching numbers if you so choose. Personally, I like to have a good mix of the two, which is why I am enjoying grad school so much.</p>
<p>As for who to talk to, it would be best to look on the department’s website and go to the staff page and find the name of the secretary for undergraduate programs. He/she would have a pretty good idea of where to direct you for specific types of questions. If you don’t feel comfortable with that, then call the undergraduate admissions office and have them suggest people to call, though they will probably not have as good of an idea as calling someone in the actual department.</p>
<p>Most schools have a “common curriculum” for at least the first year of study, so she doesn’t really have to decide right now what field of engineering she wants to go into. I would suggest that she spends more time finding the right college, because if she is in the right enviroment, the choice about what field to go into will be much easier.</p>
<p>I’m a mechanical engineering major, and the reason that I like engineering so much (apart from the math/science intensive curriculum) is the fact that the kind of jobs that you can get are very diverse. You can choose a job that requires you to work at a computer all day, out on site, or at a desk. You can work in large teams or you can work by yourself for a small company. You also have the freedom to become a technical expert or branch off into management.</p>
<p>Make sure the school your D chooses has the latitude for her to change majors if necessary. Your D should be able to explore what she is interested in and the last thing you’ll want is for her to be stuck in a major that she hates. </p>
<p>As far as why Engineering? </p>
<p>From the (or my) parent standpoint: It’s the only major that has job security/stability and can compete against other majors for other jobs. I.E, An engineer can apply for Ibanking or consulting jobs just as easily as a finance major can. </p>
<p>From the education perspective: You’ll get a broad but powerful education that will help you understand the world and the technology around it. You’ll develop strong team building and problem solving skills that I feel are important for life. </p>
<p>From the student perspective: It’s damn interesting.</p>
<p>I am a mechanical engineer and mostly troubleshoot and overhaul rotating equipment for power plants, primarily steam turbines. I work for a utility, not a contractor. I was never much of a hands-on kid who was always interested in how things work and I was never really interested in the gritty details of design work. I am most interested in running and supervising technical projects. I don’t use a lot of the formulas and analysis that I used in college but that knowledge gives me the necessary insight into me work. For example, it helps me to understand the importance of thermal stresses on turbine shells and why it is important to monitor cracks and deformation at every outage, and how various repairs will work or not work.</p>