I don't know which type of engineering I would like to study

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Electrical and Chemical Engineering are very useful for NASA related fields. I graduated from Northeastern University with BSChE and am currently working for a lab affiliated with NASA for my master's research.

YEAH!!!! Fellow NU alumni

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04

It is very easy to to get a 50-60k job out the door with an engineering degree.

Sounds like damn excellent pay for grunt work.
This is the kind of thing I like to read.

<--- Mechanical Engineering Technology major

 

[Kreon]

Coast Guard Academy definitely.

Keene State is good too... (so says my dad)

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04

Originally posted by: spidey07
I've tried to stay out of this thread, but i feel compelled to give an opinion...

Stay away from engineering. Engineers are the grunt workers and normally stay there. They're the low level "grunts", seldomly respected and always overworked and underpaid. They're like secretary's, but just a little higher in the food chain.

Get into Business and People/relationship management. This way you get to tell the grunts what to do. Engineers are schooled to take orders, that's what they do. Focus on communication and people/management skills.

OP - if you like all the things you described then go for a BA and specialize in those topics. From there you can quickly move to a product manager - knowing enough about the product but having the soft skills to make a ton of money.

I disagree. There are a ton of mid to senior level managers that have engineer backgrounds. Business schools love to produce engineers with MBAs. But for this argument, let just set grad school education aside.

It is very easy to to get a 50-60k job out the door with an engineering degree. You typically top out around 100-150k if you do not pursue a management position. Even if you don't pursue a management position, you are still gauranteed to have a very comfy life (even if that means you are taking orders).

The same cannot be said for business degrees. Although business degrees have an almost unlimited potential in moving up the coporate ladder. The ratio between those who try to climb it and those who acutally make it to the top of the ladder is 100 to 1. Business degrees are typically easier to obtain than engineering degrees in college, therefore more competition in the workplace (where everybody has a business degree), therefore less chance to move up the ladder.

Yes the potential to be a CEO or CFO is so much greater if you have a business background as opposed to an engineering background, but most of that potential is never realized for the average white collar worker with your run of the mill business degree. You really have to have the necessary drive to become managerial material, not just the degree.

I know money doesn't define success, but it does define a comfortable and stable life for you and your family. With all other factors equal, your chances to have a comfortable life making 100k by 35 is a lot greater with an engineering degree than your chances with a business degree.

if you want to make 60K out of college, take accounting. Get a CPA and your salary will sky rocket. Engineering is grunt work. We sit on our a$$ all day and produce the results, but more credit will go to the less talented marketing team.

 

[JoeFahey]

My father has an MBA, and has spent most of his life in education teaching business. Much of this interest has also shed onto me. After seeing what is being said here I think it is appropriate to add another one of my interests here as well. Business. I have always looked at working for an MBA as well. I have the communication skills, through my participation in local government, and interest in the private sector to make this feasible.
Regardless, I couldn't see myself graduating with just a business and economic education. I would like to find a way to use both a business degree and an engineering degree to make a good career for myself. I think it would be best to get some experience through internships after I get my engineering degree. How would you suggest I look at achieving this? Should I get an engineering degree, get some experience, and then go for my MBA? Is there an approach that is commonly accepted as being the most beneficial?

 

[Gibson486]

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: Imdmn04

It is very easy to to get a 50-60k job out the door with an engineering degree.

Sounds like damn excellent pay for grunt work.
This is the kind of thing I like to read.

<--- Mechanical Engineering Technology major

Sorry to break your bubble, but engineering tech usually starts lower. On the bright side, you can still easily hit the ceiling as a regular engineer.

 

[BarneyFife]

Originally posted by: spidey07
I've tried to stay out of this thread, but i feel compelled to give an opinion...

Stay away from engineering. Engineers are the grunt workers and normally stay there. They're the low level "grunts", seldomly respected and always overworked and underpaid. They're like secretary's, but just a little higher in the food chain.

Get into Business and People/relationship management. This way you get to tell the grunts what to do. Engineers are schooled to take orders, that's what they do. Focus on communication and people/management skills.

OP - if you like all the things you described then go for a BA and specialize in those topics. From there you can quickly move to a product manager - knowing enough about the product but having the soft skills to make a ton of money.

What about all the BA's that work managing pizza huts/grocery stores/etc...? Where I work at, the managers are all engineers with a PE. A BA is a dime a dozen unless you went to a top school.

 

[Imdmn04]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: Imdmn04

Originally posted by: spidey07
I've tried to stay out of this thread, but i feel compelled to give an opinion...

Stay away from engineering. Engineers are the grunt workers and normally stay there. They're the low level "grunts", seldomly respected and always overworked and underpaid. They're like secretary's, but just a little higher in the food chain.

Get into Business and People/relationship management. This way you get to tell the grunts what to do. Engineers are schooled to take orders, that's what they do. Focus on communication and people/management skills.

OP - if you like all the things you described then go for a BA and specialize in those topics. From there you can quickly move to a product manager - knowing enough about the product but having the soft skills to make a ton of money.

I disagree. There are a ton of mid to senior level managers that have engineer backgrounds. Business schools love to produce engineers with MBAs. But for this argument, let just set grad school education aside.

It is very easy to to get a 50-60k job out the door with an engineering degree. You typically top out around 100-150k if you do not pursue a management position. Even if you don't pursue a management position, you are still gauranteed to have a very comfy life (even if that means you are taking orders).

The same cannot be said for business degrees. Although business degrees have an almost unlimited potential in moving up the coporate ladder. The ratio between those who try to climb it and those who acutally make it to the top of the ladder is 100 to 1. Business degrees are typically easier to obtain than engineering degrees in college, therefore more competition in the workplace (where everybody has a business degree), therefore less chance to move up the ladder.

Yes the potential to be a CEO or CFO is so much greater if you have a business background as opposed to an engineering background, but most of that potential is never realized for the average white collar worker with your run of the mill business degree. You really have to have the necessary drive to become managerial material, not just the degree.

I know money doesn't define success, but it does define a comfortable and stable life for you and your family. With all other factors equal, your chances to have a comfortable life making 100k by 35 is a lot greater with an engineering degree than your chances with a business degree.

if you want to make 60K out of college, take accounting. Get a CPA and your salary will sky rocket. Engineering is grunt work. We sit on our a$$ all day and produce the results, but more credit will go to the less talented marketing team.

Accounting is grunt work too. Having taken finanical and managerial accounting classes in college, I can tell you that it is both boring and frustrating when your sh!t don't balance.


All jobs out of college are grunt work. But I rather do the type of grunt work that pays more. Only the ones that have the drive will become management material.

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: Imdmn04

It is very easy to to get a 50-60k job out the door with an engineering degree.

Sounds like damn excellent pay for grunt work.
This is the kind of thing I like to read.

<--- Mechanical Engineering Technology major

Sorry to break your bubble, but engineering tech usually starts lower. On the bright side, you can still easily hit the ceiling as a regular engineer.

Most of my friends start up at 50-60k as chemical engineers. Some even hit the 70k mark (with sign-on bonuses) in the petrochemical industry.

 

[Jawo]

Virginia Tech has a really good engineering department VT Engineering

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Imdmn04

Originally posted by: spidey07
I've tried to stay out of this thread, but i feel compelled to give an opinion...

Stay away from engineering. Engineers are the grunt workers and normally stay there. They're the low level "grunts", seldomly respected and always overworked and underpaid. They're like secretary's, but just a little higher in the food chain.

Get into Business and People/relationship management. This way you get to tell the grunts what to do. Engineers are schooled to take orders, that's what they do. Focus on communication and people/management skills.

OP - if you like all the things you described then go for a BA and specialize in those topics. From there you can quickly move to a product manager - knowing enough about the product but having the soft skills to make a ton of money.

I disagree. There are a ton of mid to senior level managers that have engineer backgrounds. Business schools love to produce engineers with MBAs. But for this argument, let just set grad school education aside.

It is very easy to to get a 50-60k job out the door with an engineering degree. You typically top out around 100-150k if you do not pursue a management position. Even if you don't pursue a management position, you are still gauranteed to have a very comfy life (even if that means you are taking orders).

The same cannot be said for business degrees. Although business degrees have an almost unlimited potential in moving up the coporate ladder. The ratio between those who try to climb it and those who acutally make it to the top of the ladder is 100 to 1. Business degrees are typically easier to obtain than engineering degrees in college, therefore more competition in the workplace (where everybody has a business degree), therefore less chance to move up the ladder.

Yes the potential to be a CEO or CFO is so much greater if you have a business background as opposed to an engineering background, but most of that potential is never realized for the average white collar worker with your run of the mill business degree. You really have to have the necessary drive to become managerial material, not just the degree.

I know money doesn't define success, but it does define a comfortable and stable life for you and your family. With all other factors equal, your chances to have a comfortable life making 100k by 35 is a lot greater with an engineering degree than your chances with a business degree.

And this reasoning is why engineers are the grunts. They "settle" with their meager salary, always taking orders from others. They are the cogs in the machine, expendable. Their mindset is so ingrained and vision so limited that it's easy to appease them...they think 100K is good money and are happy to work for it. This is a win-win scenario, employeee thinks he's doing well, I get a bigger bonus for overworking him/underpaying him. Stay away from engineering if you want to make real money, that's the best advice I can give any young person. Sales/marketing/product manager are where's it's at.

You don't get to play in that arena by being an engineer. Some do, but to truly impact the bottom line you are NOT an engineer.

 

[simms]

Originally posted by: Parasitic

Originally posted by: Gibson486

Originally posted by: Jeff7

Originally posted by: Imdmn04

It is very easy to to get a 50-60k job out the door with an engineering degree.

Sounds like damn excellent pay for grunt work.
This is the kind of thing I like to read.

<--- Mechanical Engineering Technology major

Sorry to break your bubble, but engineering tech usually starts lower. On the bright side, you can still easily hit the ceiling as a regular engineer.

Most of my friends start up at 50-60k as chemical engineers. Some even hit the 70k mark (with sign-on bonuses) in the petrochemical industry.

Engineering TECH is not the same as Engineering (at least up here in Canada)... the Techies are the ones that operate the machinery and usually top out much earlier.

I won't say how much I will make when I'm done (ChemE, UToronto), but out of my group of friends the average pay is around $60K (CDN).

 

[simms]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Imdmn04

Originally posted by: spidey07
I've tried to stay out of this thread, but i feel compelled to give an opinion...

Stay away from engineering. Engineers are the grunt workers and normally stay there. They're the low level "grunts", seldomly respected and always overworked and underpaid. They're like secretary's, but just a little higher in the food chain.

Get into Business and People/relationship management. This way you get to tell the grunts what to do. Engineers are schooled to take orders, that's what they do. Focus on communication and people/management skills.

OP - if you like all the things you described then go for a BA and specialize in those topics. From there you can quickly move to a product manager - knowing enough about the product but having the soft skills to make a ton of money.

I disagree. There are a ton of mid to senior level managers that have engineer backgrounds. Business schools love to produce engineers with MBAs. But for this argument, let just set grad school education aside.

It is very easy to to get a 50-60k job out the door with an engineering degree. You typically top out around 100-150k if you do not pursue a management position. Even if you don't pursue a management position, you are still gauranteed to have a very comfy life (even if that means you are taking orders).

The same cannot be said for business degrees. Although business degrees have an almost unlimited potential in moving up the coporate ladder. The ratio between those who try to climb it and those who acutally make it to the top of the ladder is 100 to 1. Business degrees are typically easier to obtain than engineering degrees in college, therefore more competition in the workplace (where everybody has a business degree), therefore less chance to move up the ladder.

Yes the potential to be a CEO or CFO is so much greater if you have a business background as opposed to an engineering background, but most of that potential is never realized for the average white collar worker with your run of the mill business degree. You really have to have the necessary drive to become managerial material, not just the degree.

I know money doesn't define success, but it does define a comfortable and stable life for you and your family. With all other factors equal, your chances to have a comfortable life making 100k by 35 is a lot greater with an engineering degree than your chances with a business degree.

And this reasoning is why engineers are the grunts. They "settle" with their meager salary, always taking orders from others. They are the cogs in the machine, expendable. Their mindset is so ingrained and vision so limited that it's easy to appease them...they think 100K is good money and are happy to work for it. This is a win-win scenario, employeee thinks he's doing well, I get a bigger bonus for overworking him/underpaying him. Stay away from engineering if you want to make real money, that's the best advice I can give any young person. Sales/marketing/product manager are where's it's at.

You don't get to play in that arena by being an engineer. Some do, but to truly impact the bottom line you are NOT an engineer.

I agree. Coming out of my degree I am NOT doing engineering - moving over into Business Management and logistics.

 

[Imdmn04]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Imdmn04

Originally posted by: spidey07
I've tried to stay out of this thread, but i feel compelled to give an opinion...

Stay away from engineering. Engineers are the grunt workers and normally stay there. They're the low level "grunts", seldomly respected and always overworked and underpaid. They're like secretary's, but just a little higher in the food chain.

Get into Business and People/relationship management. This way you get to tell the grunts what to do. Engineers are schooled to take orders, that's what they do. Focus on communication and people/management skills.

OP - if you like all the things you described then go for a BA and specialize in those topics. From there you can quickly move to a product manager - knowing enough about the product but having the soft skills to make a ton of money.

I disagree. There are a ton of mid to senior level managers that have engineer backgrounds. Business schools love to produce engineers with MBAs. But for this argument, let just set grad school education aside.

It is very easy to to get a 50-60k job out the door with an engineering degree. You typically top out around 100-150k if you do not pursue a management position. Even if you don't pursue a management position, you are still gauranteed to have a very comfy life (even if that means you are taking orders).

The same cannot be said for business degrees. Although business degrees have an almost unlimited potential in moving up the coporate ladder. The ratio between those who try to climb it and those who acutally make it to the top of the ladder is 100 to 1. Business degrees are typically easier to obtain than engineering degrees in college, therefore more competition in the workplace (where everybody has a business degree), therefore less chance to move up the ladder.

Yes the potential to be a CEO or CFO is so much greater if you have a business background as opposed to an engineering background, but most of that potential is never realized for the average white collar worker with your run of the mill business degree. You really have to have the necessary drive to become managerial material, not just the degree.

I know money doesn't define success, but it does define a comfortable and stable life for you and your family. With all other factors equal, your chances to have a comfortable life making 100k by 35 is a lot greater with an engineering degree than your chances with a business degree.

And this reasoning is why engineers are the grunts. They "settle" with their meager salary, always taking orders from others. They are the cogs in the machine, expendable. Their mindset is so ingrained and vision so limited that it's easy to appease them...they think 100K is good money and are happy to work for it. This is a win-win scenario, employeee thinks he's doing well, I get a bigger bonus for overworking him/underpaying him. Stay away from engineering if you want to make real money, that's the best advice I can give any young person. Sales/marketing/product manager are where's it's at.

You don't get to play in that arena by being an engineer. Some do, but to truly impact the bottom line you are NOT an engineer.

Like I said, you have to have the drive to become management material. Everybody has big dreams and what not, but the reality of it is that only 1 out hundreds become senior managers. Just because you have a business background does not mean you necessarily have that drive and ambition to become a senior manager. For the 99% of those that will not likely make it to the top of the ladder, an engineering major is a better choice. Yes this may seem to be an "unambitious mindset", but how many of those who has the "ambitious mindset" actually realizes their ambitions? I am simply providing the most sensible (albeit unambitious in your view) career path for a kid.

For example, lots of kids in their adolescence wants to be professional athletes (most kids did) when they grow up, how many actually makes it to the pros? This is the same process. Yes there is a chance they can make it to the pros. But as they grow older and older, they slowly realize the chances aren't all that great, so the more sensible thing would be getting an education instead.

Your advice works for those few that has management potential, but for 99 percent of the population that will not make it to senior management, my advice is more sensible. I admit an engineering degree is a "play it safe" degree that will guarantee some level of living comfort, but nothing extravagant. You also have to admit that for most people (that doesn't have management potential), an engineering degree will work out better than a business degree at the end.

Plus, you can always get an MBA on top of an engineering degree, that is very common with senior managers in technology based firms. An engineering degree isn't a glass ceiling, one's drive and mindset sets that ceiling.

 

[3NF]

Throw some biology/chemistry into the mix. Go into nanotechnology engineering.

 

[PowerEngineer]

I graduated from RPI ... many years ago now. A reasonably good school; always have felt better prepared than counterparts from other schools. Still, I wouldn't go far into debt in order to attend RPI for undergraduate.

As far as "dream schools" go, I'd put Cal Tech at the top of the list -- particularly given your interests and their frelationship to JPL.

Good luck!

 

[BarneyFife]

Try civil engineering. Its a good feeling to see your creation.