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Is it worth it?
I mean I'm so depress right now...
engineers make so little money...
little compared to all those stuff they have to go through...
I'll rather work a little harder and go to med school. They make like 250000 to 300000 a year.
And look at engineers. Even if you get your phd you get like 100,000....
I HATE THIS

By Jeffl (Jeffl) on Saturday, April 12, 2003 - 09:48 am: Edit

i know what you mean, i'm having doubts about engineering as well, thats why i'm gonna goto a well rounded school,and if you major in engineering you can almost do anything after graduation. the only problem is that you have to work a lot harder than other people to get that 3.5 gpa for med school.

By Ee_Uiuc (Ee_Uiuc) on Saturday, April 12, 2003 - 11:47 am: Edit

If med school is your goal, you would be unwise to major in engineering. Getting a 3.5 in engineering is akin to a 3.9-4.0 in most other majors. Also, I wouldn't go to med school at all, given the impending doom coming to the profession and all.

As far as the general question of "is engineering worth it" goes, by itself, probably not. Your pay will reside somewhere between $45,000-$80,000 for most of your life, and you won't be given a lot of responsibility (and the work will be brainless).

Getting a PhD will open up more doors for you. Your income will probably be anywhere from $80,000 to $150,000. The work will be more interesting. But, is that worth 10 years or so of schooling?

There are other possibilities. I'm going to law school. I'm finding out now that even here, the engineering GPA is a hinderance more than a help. It's really a numbers game. While a 3.4 in engineering is very good, for them, it's a handicap...they'd rather have the 3.5 in poli sci. But there are a lot of opportunities for engineers (esp EE/CS/CompE) in the field of law.

Then, there's the MBA. The GPA is not quite as important here. A lot of it has to do with work experience. MBAs are hurting in the economy now I think more than anyone, but don't expect that to last. The MBA option would probably appeal to most people. You get to drive your own projects, good pay, and work very reasonable hours.

By Kad (Kad) on Saturday, April 12, 2003 - 05:44 pm: Edit

from the PR board:


Date: April 11, 2003 10:53 PM
Author: Hornet


Neither EE nor CS made the list of top 5 majors in terms of number of jobs offered according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers Winter 2003 Salary Survey report -- and salary offers appear weak everywhere
Accounting (average starting salary offer: $42,005)
Mechanical engineering ($48,115)
Economics/finance --- including banking ($40,413)
Business administration/management ($36,634)
Marketing/marketing management --- including marketing research ($35,698)


--------------

Aren't the other majors generally easier than engineering majors, too? *shrugs*

By Ndhawk (Ndhawk) on Saturday, April 12, 2003 - 07:57 pm: Edit

What impending doom to the medical field???

I know of people who are 22 years old coming out of MIT getting 90k /year job offers..

By Redbeard (Redbeard) on Saturday, April 12, 2003 - 09:35 pm: Edit

Don't do this. That engineering degree will open doors for decades--long after the lower GPA or even the school you went to is forgotten. People ask what your degree is in, and often don't ask about school (GPA is never really a question in the working world.)

Can you get stuck in a rut as an engineer? Not if you don't want to. Big employers (NASA, Ford, Boeing) have lots of boring engineering jobs. So don't go there. Invent something. Take a risk. Take on a project. There are many places to expand and change your life.

Now, let me get this straight: somebody would switch to accounting because engineering is boring? Just checking...

The 2003 salary numbers are probably accurate--they will likey hold up as the unhappy class of 2003 gets their job offers. Its a recession--hopefully for just one more year. 2002 was a better year for most engineers, including the BSEE you mentioned. Check out any engineering school's website. Purdue, one I looked at, have BSEE, MecE, and ChemE's with average offers all above 50K in 2002.

The medical profession? Yes, you make $300K a year. And take home $100K after expenses (including malpractice insurance). And, if we get universal health care, you'll all be working for the federal government, just like the mailman. Doesn't that sound like fun?

So, buy low and sell high. Major in something people are "escaping" from. With less competition, you will have more options once the economy improves.