All you need to know is that engineering comes from the word ingenious and business is derived from the word busybody.
Engineering Degree
- Thread starter isucyfan
- Start date
Not disagreeing with you that leadership makes those calls but in a lot of companies that heavily utilize engineers the leadership tend to have engineering backgrounds. Not all the leadership and it certainly isn’t mandatory but in many cases they go hand in hand.
This. I'm one of those book smart engineers. Never really geeked out about any of it, but just kept trucking through it because of lack of creativity in what was possible in college.
My career is still in engineering, and I'm doing fine down the supervisor / project management route. But if I'm being honest, the technical stuff was never a passion.
More than anything, this might speak to the broad value of an engineering degree I suppose.
Both are usually paid (for engineers anyway). Co-ops and internships are similar, but co-ops typically have multiple terms, often alternating work/school/work with the same employer. If he gets in with a company he likes and the feeling is mutual, this can be a great way to have increasing responsibilities throughout subsequent terms and give him a good idea of what it would be like to work there. Stay open to the idea of working a semester or two during the school year if the right opportunity comes around.
Also will throw this out there since it is one of my few regrets and haven't seen it mentioned anywhere: do a study abroad semester, especially if he's on scholarship and can stay on track with his coursework. The Iowa State Aero program had a relationship with TU Delft in the Netherlands that I really wish I would have done. I'm sure Tech has something similar with other universities.
This has probably been answered already but in my experience internships are summer only while co-ops are a summer plus a semester. Both are paid. Co-ops usually still register as full time students during the semester they are working, just don't have any classes. That let's them keep scholarships/grants and continue to defer loans. And both could be nationwide - in TX, IA or anywhere in between. Sometimes the employer provides housing too.
Thanks for the explanation. And, one of the things he liked about TTU's engineering program is that there is a study abroad requirement. They have a relationship with a school in Spain
100% this. It really doesn’t do you much good to wait 1.5-2 years before you decide which type of engineering you want to do. You won’t get much exposure to those specific engineering disciplines in the first 2 years anyway. Best to talk to a ton of people in various engineering fields and then decide where you want to go. You can always change later if you want but I’d say that’s a significantly better approach than being “undecided” for 1-2 years. (FWIW, I was in school 20 years ago and have no idea how much has changed since then).
I went into civil and never looked back, a lot you can do with that degree. Industrial and chemical also seem to be pretty diverse in their post-college opportunities.
So out of curiosity is there some reality behind this or just academic trash talking. I scroll through Surly Horns some you'd swear that school is the MIT of the south. I've always wondered if their academics are as overhyped as their sports teams.
If I had to guess I would imagine TTU is 9th in the current Big 12 just ahead of WVU in terms of academics.
This is only based on conversation not me looking up anything
Most engineering employers don't really give a crap where the school ranks. I'd say most care about:
1. You got an engineering degree (from any accredited school)
2. Work/internship history (you ever build anything or have experience in this field from other jobs?)
3. Extracurriculars (think built a house with Habitat for Humanity vs. something like President of Alpha Beta Zeta Omega Zeus)
4. Personality fit (interview vibe)
That fact that your engineering degree was from K-State vs. Texas Tech vs. Iowa State vs. Texas is waaaaaay down on the list. Probably last.
Some companies do have relationships with certain university’s that act as feeder systems. Also the higher ranked the university the better those internships will typically be. However once you got the interview it’s not like where you graduated from is going to be a deal breaker.
I'll throw in on the engineering decision thing.
My freshman year at ISU ('03) I went in as engineering undecided (undecrlared?). Ended up going the civil engineering route (and it was the correct decision). After the first year, you'll need to definetly have made a decision on a course. Maybe not the exact degree if he's still unsure, but a general direction. I'd say after the third semester you'd be hard pressed to not be delayed a semester or two if he makes a major major change. By that point you are starting to get into some focused classes.
I will say that if he does pursue an engineering degree, having some business / business law definitely helps later on in the career. I'm learning knew stuff about accounting every day in my current role.
My freshman year at ISU ('03) I went in as engineering undecided (undecrlared?). Ended up going the civil engineering route (and it was the correct decision). After the first year, you'll need to definetly have made a decision on a course. Maybe not the exact degree if he's still unsure, but a general direction. I'd say after the third semester you'd be hard pressed to not be delayed a semester or two if he makes a major major change. By that point you are starting to get into some focused classes.
I will say that if he does pursue an engineering degree, having some business / business law definitely helps later on in the career. I'm learning knew stuff about accounting every day in my current role.
All great comments, even with some good-natured ribbing from our business friends. Here's my two cents (edit: this might be ten cents with how long my post is) as a recent grad and current PhD student in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.
First, both my dad and grandpa were engineers (Dad was ChemE -- he chose his major exactly the same way as Yellow Snow, and Grandpa was an Electrical Engineer), so that definitely influenced my desire to be an engineer. I was strong in math and science (and pretty much all subjects) in high school, similar to the OP's son, but I chose engineering because I wanted to solve problems and the potential for a high salary.
I chose AgEng, specifically focusing on land and water resources, right away as I knew I wanted to be in an environmental area and solve problems around ag sustainability. Declaring a specific discipline right away does help make sure you get on track for prereqs and get placed in course sections with other students in your specific major. But, as others have said, many of the first and even second year classes are the same for all engineering majors (Calc, Chem, Physics, English, Intro to engineering problem solving, etc.) so its easy to stay on track if you are undeclared or switch majors. FriendlySpartan makes a great point about the AP credits: it can be highly beneficial to take the college course even if you have the AP credit - especially for a Calc or Physics. Taking those fundamental courses again at the college level (faster pace, more self-motivated studying) will make sure you really understand the material. And, it should be easier to get good grades in those classes, which would be highly beneficial for the OP's son to keep the high GPA.
Speaking of GPA, I didn't have trouble with keeping a high GPA, but maybe that's why I'm a PhD student now
. However, I worked very hard freshman and sophomore year on calc, chem, physics, etc and that set me up for success later on. Establishing a good GPA in your first year will give you some wiggle room as you go on -- and that likely means you've developed good study habits.
For engineering in general, a lot of the knowledge/skills are the same across disciplines, but just applied in different ways. Think fluid mechanics for air drag with cars and planes in Aero E and ME vs fluid mechanics for water flow in hydrology, pipes, hydraulics in ME, CE, AgE. So yes, a degree in any sort of engineering can often be applied in other fields.
I'd echo all of the other comments advocating for internships, co-ops, job shadows, on-campus research jobs, etc. And the comments advocating for computer/software engineering. Programming and data skills are IN now and will continue to be. Basic programming is included in all engineering curricula at ISU as far as I'm aware, but it's pretty basic unless you're in those specific majors. The one caveat with that is not everyone enjoys coding, so maybe that's where you choose the engineering major most interesting to you and supplement it with a couple additional coding/data classes to get those skills.
TL;DR: Engineering good. Hard to go wrong, even if the specific degree isn't your true passion.
First, both my dad and grandpa were engineers (Dad was ChemE -- he chose his major exactly the same way as Yellow Snow, and Grandpa was an Electrical Engineer), so that definitely influenced my desire to be an engineer. I was strong in math and science (and pretty much all subjects) in high school, similar to the OP's son, but I chose engineering because I wanted to solve problems and the potential for a high salary.
I chose AgEng, specifically focusing on land and water resources, right away as I knew I wanted to be in an environmental area and solve problems around ag sustainability. Declaring a specific discipline right away does help make sure you get on track for prereqs and get placed in course sections with other students in your specific major. But, as others have said, many of the first and even second year classes are the same for all engineering majors (Calc, Chem, Physics, English, Intro to engineering problem solving, etc.) so its easy to stay on track if you are undeclared or switch majors. FriendlySpartan makes a great point about the AP credits: it can be highly beneficial to take the college course even if you have the AP credit - especially for a Calc or Physics. Taking those fundamental courses again at the college level (faster pace, more self-motivated studying) will make sure you really understand the material. And, it should be easier to get good grades in those classes, which would be highly beneficial for the OP's son to keep the high GPA.
Speaking of GPA, I didn't have trouble with keeping a high GPA, but maybe that's why I'm a PhD student now
. However, I worked very hard freshman and sophomore year on calc, chem, physics, etc and that set me up for success later on. Establishing a good GPA in your first year will give you some wiggle room as you go on -- and that likely means you've developed good study habits.For engineering in general, a lot of the knowledge/skills are the same across disciplines, but just applied in different ways. Think fluid mechanics for air drag with cars and planes in Aero E and ME vs fluid mechanics for water flow in hydrology, pipes, hydraulics in ME, CE, AgE. So yes, a degree in any sort of engineering can often be applied in other fields.
I'd echo all of the other comments advocating for internships, co-ops, job shadows, on-campus research jobs, etc. And the comments advocating for computer/software engineering. Programming and data skills are IN now and will continue to be. Basic programming is included in all engineering curricula at ISU as far as I'm aware, but it's pretty basic unless you're in those specific majors. The one caveat with that is not everyone enjoys coding, so maybe that's where you choose the engineering major most interesting to you and supplement it with a couple additional coding/data classes to get those skills.
TL;DR: Engineering good. Hard to go wrong, even if the specific degree isn't your true passion.
Son-in-law is an Aerospace Engineer. 4 year degree + final year internship 0 pay required for degree. Immediate good job post grad w/ grad school paid by employer over 3 year period of employment for Masters @ UConn. I have a son w/MBA @ Wash U (St.Lou) who has negotiated billion $ contracts for airplane production. I asked him what does he do if he is asked a technical production question and he said he takes a couple engineers along to handle those questions. I asked what happens if they ask the engineers about costs? He said they never worry about that, engineers don’t know anything about money!
Kinda sounds like you have an inferiority complex.
