Why would someone major in engineering if they don't want to be an engineer?

[Anonymous]

Same reason someone majors in English even if they don’t want to be an English teacher or writer—some combination of what the person is good at/enjoys and the skills/habits of mind they will learn from the chosen major.

[Anonymous]

I think your Brown statistics are speaking to the optionality of attending these schools.

I bet the kids studying engineering probably thought they would be engineers, but then they are getting solicited by consulting firms, hedge funds, etc. that value kids with these backgrounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think your Brown statistics are speaking to the optionality of attending these schools.

I bet the kids studying engineering probably thought they would be engineers, but then they are getting solicited by consulting firms, hedge funds, etc. that value kids with these backgrounds.

what are the salaries?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You have to be an engineer to be a patent attorney.

If you want to understand the industry it’s good to have the background.

You want to run and engineering company not be one.

You do not. It helps, for sure. But this is false. I work at pto.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think your Brown statistics are speaking to the optionality of attending these schools.

I bet the kids studying engineering probably thought they would be engineers, but then they are getting solicited by consulting firms, hedge funds, etc. that value kids with these backgrounds.

what are the salaries?

Six figures starting

[Anonymous]

Because their parents told them to?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:An engineering degree gets you some technical chops clout. Shows you can do higher order math and analysis then if you were just a business major. Two friends are top finance guys in NYC making crazy money. They have masters in engineering disciplines and did that before getting MBAs and going into finance.

+1

Also, engineering major and then pivoting to med school will give you advantages. If you can maintain a high gpa with engineering major, you will most likely do exceedingly well in med school. Engineering majors are some of the most difficult undergrad majors, it teaches critical thinking and analysis. You can apply this to any job and employers know that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because their parents told them to?

And we have a winner. At least in Western Fairfax County. Many parents expect engineering or CS.

[Anonymous]

Mathematics learned in engineering can be used in financial modeling.

[Anonymous]

Columbia has industrial engineering and operations research. It includes financial engineering. It's part of their engineering dept, along with other engineering disciplines. Their foundation courses are engineering courses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An engineering degree gets you some technical chops clout. Shows you can do higher order math and analysis then if you were just a business major. Two friends are top finance guys in NYC making crazy money. They have masters in engineering disciplines and did that before getting MBAs and going into finance.

+1

Also, engineering major and then pivoting to med school will give you advantages. If you can maintain a high gpa with engineering major, you will most likely do exceedingly well in med school. Engineering majors are some of the most difficult undergrad majors, it teaches critical thinking and analysis. You can apply this to any job and employers know that

In my opinion you need different skills set for engineering and medicine. Engineering requires very little memorization and medicine is a lot of memorization followed by regurgitation.

[Anonymous]

Return on investment. An engineering degree opens up opportunities. Someone with an engineering degree can work in marketing, but someone with a marketing degree cannot be an engineer.

[Anonymous]

money money mon-ney

[Anonymous]

Parental pressure -I was steered towards engineering so that I could “always earn enough to take care of myself.”

I did not do this to my kids. Studying something extremely hard, that you don’t love, is a grind. I did it, but wouldn’t ask my kids to do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Return on investment. An engineering degree opens up opportunities. Someone with an engineering degree can work in marketing, but someone with a marketing degree cannot be an engineer.

This. Majoring in engineering opens up an expansive array of career opportunities. It's such a versatile major.