Deciding on an engineering major

[Annoying Turd]

I've decided on an engineering school that would give me a three year free ride and a bachelor's degree in an engineering discipline, yet I'm having trouble selecting the degree that would be the best to pursue.

I don't want to enroll in chemical/petrochemical engineering and end up with a boring career, or decide on electrical/mechanical engineering and end up jobless/working for Mattel.

How do I decide what choice is best for me?

 

[Fawcks]

Sentries, minoring in dispensers and teleporters.

Oh God I'm a terrible person.

I don't know anything about engineering, sorry. Do you have any interests in any?

 

[Annoying Turd]

Sentries, minoring in dispensers and teleporters.

Oh God I'm a terrible person.

I don't know anything about engineering, sorry. Do you have any interests in any?

I'm just interested in getting rich and successful someday. I don't have any real dreams or plans. I just got lucky with school/grades :-(

 

[rockingnic]

I was in mechanical engineering and I hated it to death. Not because it was hard but I hated the type of work. I don't like using a computer to draw up a plan where I can do it 1/4 of the time using my drawing skills... Your drawing skills isn't needed, it's replaced by computer, just like you will be in the foreseeable future.

 

[Annoying Turd]

I was in mechanical engineering and I hated it to death. Not because it was hard but I hated the type of work. I don't like using a computer to draw up a plan where I can do it 1/4 of the time using my drawing skills... Your drawing skills isn't needed, it's replaced by computer, just like you will be in the foreseeable future.

That's about my biggest fear: ending up useless, worthless, and redundant.

I want my degree, training, and work experience to not be useless.

 

[Fawcks]

Sentries, minoring in dispensers and teleporters.

Oh God I'm a terrible person.

I don't know anything about engineering, sorry. Do you have any interests in any?

I'm just interested in getting rich and successful someday. I don't have any real dreams or plans. I just got lucky with school/grades :-(

I'm the exact same way. In my fourth year of biological sciences. :| I hate it.

Oh well.

 

[Sieg The Bum]

I would make a list out of what interests you and how important money, job opportunities are to you, and if you want to go on to a masters.

I'm on my last semester for my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.

And the best way to find a job is by doing a Co-op/internship, as long as you impress the people you work with you'll usually get a job. The big thing to check is if your scholarship will allow for you to take time off for an internship.

It's not that hard to find a job as long as you have a good GPA and work experience. I just signed my job offer a week ago.

And I just remembered! The Nuclear industry is looking to take off in the next couple of years. Many schools are restarting their Nuclear Engineering fields. But before you go majoring in Nuclear Engineering just know that the industry hires 60% M.E. and only 10% N.E.

Before I ramble on too much just remember that M.E. is more so focused on heat transfer/fluids/thermo not just automotive.

 

[Midnight Crossroads]

Find out what they focus on in their engineering specialties. I have a friend that thought "wind turbines" when he joined my school's environmental engineering tract and found out it was more of a "sewage treatment" type of school. Take the first year to just get the basics that all engineers need out of the way and ask around.

 

[MetalMaz]

It is difficult, I have mine in Plant engineering (mechanical and electrical) but the industry is so hard hit I went for welding too. Despite my experience and qualifications I still can't find a job after being made redundant quite a while ago.

You're always better off doing what you enjoy the most because the employers can always tell.

They want to get/keep workers who want to be there and will be punctual and work hard. Make sure you really apply yourself and get those qualifications, because no matter how skilled you are the fools always want to hire someone with the best qualifications regardless of how skilled and hardworking the person is (trust me, I've seen it happen). So you need them to get to the interview stage.

Basically, do what you enjoy doing and work hard at it.

 

[Annoying Turd]

I would make a list out of what interests you and how important money, job opportunities are to you, and if you want to go on to a masters.

I'm on my last semester for my B.S. in Mechanical Engineering.

And the best way to find a job is by doing a Co-op/internship, as long as you impress the people you work with you'll usually get a job. The big thing to check is if your scholarship will allow for you to take time off for an internship.

It's not that hard to find a job as long as you have a good GPA and work experience. I just signed my job offer a week ago.

And I just remembered! The Nuclear industry is looking to take off in the next couple of years. Many schools are restarting their Nuclear Engineering fields. But before you go majoring in Nuclear Engineering just know that the industry hires 60% M.E. and only 10% N.E.

Before I ramble on too much just remember that M.E. is more so focused on heat transfer/fluids/thermo not just automotive.

Spoken to a M.E. who advised me to not be shy about enrolling in a Nuclear Engineering program. I still feel unconfident, though, and worry about being too 'specialized' to have a richer career.

Find out what they focus on in their engineering specialties. I have a friend that thought "wind turbines" when he joined my school's environmental engineering tract and found out it was more of a "sewage treatment" type of school. Take the first year to just get the basics that all engineers need out of the way and ask around.

Solid advice that I must keep in mind. I have an opportunity to meet various professors, coming from all sub-disciplines at the school, in the flesh. I'll be sure to grind them for more on their curricula.

It is difficult, I have mine in Plant engineering (mechanical and electrical) but the industry is so hard hit I went for welding too. Despite my experience and qualifications I still can't find a job after being made redundant quite a while ago.

You're always better off doing what you enjoy the most because the employers can always tell.

They want to get/keep workers who want to be there and will be punctual and work hard. Make sure you really apply yourself and get those qualifications, because no matter how skilled you are the fools always want to hire someone with the best qualifications regardless of how skilled and hardworking the person is (trust me, I've seen it happen). So you need them to get to the interview stage.

Basically, do what you enjoy doing and work hard at it.

If only I knew what I actually wanted out of an engineering education and internship/work experience, I'd probably dive right in.

 

[velcrokidneyz]

lets see you got civil, electrical, computer, mechanical, network, and many more, just find something that you like to do and there is an engineering associated with it, im at an engineering school, turns out it wasnt for me, switched out of computer engineering into comuter network systems admin (read IT guy) i still want to work with comps, just not in engie sense. prepare to be challenged with it.

 

[matt_newgrove]

Have you considered studying software development? The university I'm applying to is offering a Master of Science in Engineering in higly effective computer calculations and software development. It seems like a field of work that is relevant in this day and age.

This degree as a major plus a math minor seems like agood choice for me at least.
Now there's only those pesky A-levels to deal with *grumble* *grumble*

 

[Sieg The Bum]

I was in mechanical engineering and I hated it to death. Not because it was hard but I hated the type of work. I don't like using a computer to draw up a plan where I can do it 1/4 of the time using my drawing skills... Your drawing skills isn't needed, it's replaced by computer, just like you will be in the foreseeable future.

For the simple parts it maybe faster to do it by hand but for the bigger more complex systems using Inventor/CAD is way faster. Especially with moving parts that interact with each other. Also it's very easy to edit parts that have been all ready made. I have never had one of my designs make it through to the end with out being edited.

I'm just wondering how would an engineer be replaced by a computer? I feel it would be like replacing a cook or an artist with a robot. There are too many variables, programs are useful tools but it takes an experienced person to control them and not kill someone.

One final note, M.E. only had one drafting class and that was during our General engineering days. You don't usually find a M.E. who specializes in drafts.

 

[Sieg The Bum]

-Cut-

Spoken to a M.E. who advised me to not be shy about enrolling in a Nuclear Engineering program. I still feel unconfident, though, and worry about being too 'specialized' to have a richer career.

What you would look at specializing in is heat transfer and steam turbines. These two things are actually very wide in there applications. One of my profs had a masters from MIT with that specialty and he wound up working for Kodak. The only class you would really have to take to be "specialized" for the field is maybe an intro to nuclear engineering class or two. But even then those classes would not be required and would only be used to give you an edge.

But honestly you have time. Our general engineering stage didn't end till the second year.

And congrats on getting a free ride.

 

[jrubal1462]

There are a couple schools of thought on undecided engineers. All of your first year classes should be just about the same for all engineers (except sometimes for software/electrical based things, but you can probably already tell if that sort of work is in the cards for you.) This gives you a bit of time to not fall behind at all, while taking the necessary calculus, chemistry, physics etc. and having a chance to dip your toes in different disciplines of engineering. At Syracuse, they had an undecided engineering 101 class where you learned a little about each different discipline, but it was only recommended for people who really had NO idea which to choose. If you were on the fence between 2 related disciplines, like Mechanical and Aerospace (WOOT) most professors suggest you just take the intro class to one or the other, blindly, and by the end of the semester you should know for sure if you really like that one, or would prefer the other.

Good luck with finding what works for you. If we get to vote here, I vote for aerospace. I did Aerospace BS at Syracuse, and I'm working on MS at Purdue. If you have any questions please feel free to PM me.