What's up with all the engineering majors?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many of the kids at my child's high school and those from closeby schools are deciding to major in engineering. I'm curious as to why its become so popular, as it wasn't as common when I went to college in the 90's.

Do parents guide their kids towards engineering now because they think it will be AI-proof?

They've been guiding their kids towards engineering before AI was a thing.

[Anonymous]

My kid was born loving to tinker and build things and figure out how stuff works. Grew into a robotics obsessed teen. Discovered he really likes physics. He’s just always been that way. Several engineers in DH’s side of the family so I believe it’s something ingrained. It’s not something calculated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are starting to realize that gender studies, art history, etc. are ridiculous waste of time.

Back then, you could do something with a lesbian dance theory degree from HYPSM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's great...until you spend your days breathing in carcinogens in a refinery or paper mill.

Wait, what do you think engineers do?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In general, it's still a fairly small number majoring. Google says there were 82,500 kids graduating with a Bachelor's degree in engineering in 1990 and it's 200,000 today.

Assume a 50% dropout rate, but those are still small numbers compared to the entire college population.

Like many other careers, the engineers who are best able to use AI to increase their productivity 5x will be in high demand.

There are 2 million freshmen every year. So engineers are 10%? That seems like a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's like anything, high salaries outcomes draw high applicants.

Just make sure you understand the end result. I know multiple people who got the engineering degree and hated the job/culture. Mostly cube living with the blinders on.......

You are clearly not informed about the amount of suck young people in investment banking and big law go through. At least in engineering, you are either building or designing something. Or fixing problems. Much more rewarding work than doing busy work for client x who needs this right now on a Sunday afternoon. And with start ups and so on, you can make much, much more money as an engineer that's bringing the skills. And often these days in IB, your boss will have an undergrad degree in engineering.

The point is engineering grads have optionality and can go in many different directions. No small thing that.

You senior partner at your law firm might also have an engineering undergrad degree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many of the kids at my child's high school and those from closeby schools are deciding to major in engineering. I'm curious as to why its become so popular, as it wasn't as common when I went to college in the 90's.

Do parents guide their kids towards engineering now because they think it will be AI-proof?

You just didn't hang out with the right kids in the 90s.

Yeah, I guess not! Most of my friends and acquaintances went into law or medicine. There were very few engineers.

Many of your law/medicine friends likely have engineering degrees. I do and I'm a doctor. Many doctors I know have engineering degrees. Most lawyers I know also do. Guess it depends on who you know. Selectivity bias (which you would know if you had a technical background instead of a non science/math background).

The majority of my law partners in patent litigation have engineering degrees. Same with DH and me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many of the kids at my child's high school and those from closeby schools are deciding to major in engineering. I'm curious as to why its become so popular, as it wasn't as common when I went to college in the 90's.

Do parents guide their kids towards engineering now because they think it will be AI-proof?

You just didn't hang out with the right kids in the 90s.

Yeah, I guess not! Most of my friends and acquaintances went into law or medicine. There were very few engineers.

For the 90s child:
Did you play risk?
Did you play dungeons and dragons?
Did you watch Star Trek or read x men comics?
Did you own a graphing calculator?
Did you know what an electronic bulletin board was?
If so, you probably knew some engineers! I knew lots and I can only answer yes to two of those things!

No
No
No
Yes it was required for HS math
No

My family is all engineers. It's a very difficult major and they don't make a lot of money. Finacne is the way to go.

The Rocket Scientists in my family complain all the time, although I like to say I have rocket scientists in the family

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is important to look at the curriculum.

Not every engineering degree is made equal if there is no objective bar and learning curve.

ABET means the minimum bar is set pretty high for accredited programs. Places like Stanford and MIT din't bother with ABET, but have a high bar anyway.

The key is to apply to an ABET program (or a program so obviously top that they don't bother).

CIT and UChicago too, no ABET

[Anonymous]

My family has multiple engineers. One of them is now a consulting technical writer. Another is the head of IT at a university you've heard of. Another works on naval technology. They do interesting things! I'm encouraging my bright 11 year old who likes science and building things to explore engineering.

I don't think it's a get rich degree, but honestly, fresh grad engineers seem to do better than some of us with STEM degrees in pure research fields. Really, STEM is marketing but it's the TE that pays.

[Anonymous]

I'm a lobbyist with two engineering degrees.

Agree with the above - if you can get an engineering degree, odds are you can pivot into lots of different roles and industries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People are starting to realize that gender studies, art history, etc. are ridiculous waste of time.

Concerning if our culture thinks museums and art are useless institutions. I’ve already given up that people believe in human rights.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is important to look at the curriculum.

Not every engineering degree is made equal if there is no objective bar and learning curve.

ABET means the minimum bar is set pretty high for accredited programs. Places like Stanford and MIT din't bother with ABET, but have a high bar anyway.

The key is to apply to an ABET program (or a program so obviously top that they don't bother).

CIT and UChicago too, no ABET

lol no one goes to UChicago for Engineering.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many of the kids at my child's high school and those from closeby schools are deciding to major in engineering. I'm curious as to why its become so popular, as it wasn't as common when I went to college in the 90's.

Do parents guide their kids towards engineering now because they think it will be AI-proof?

It's a fad and will likely go away in the next few years. STEM jobs are most susceptible to the AI revolution. Expect to see a swing to mathy social sciences (Econ, finance, statistics) and the much maligned humanities (history, English, etc.)

Mathy social sciences. That's an oxymoron.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is important to look at the curriculum.

Not every engineering degree is made equal if there is no objective bar and learning curve.

ABET means the minimum bar is set pretty high for accredited programs. Places like Stanford and MIT din't bother with ABET, but have a high bar anyway.

The key is to apply to an ABET program (or a program so obviously top that they don't bother).

No one is asking if the Top 5 or 10 Engineering schools are ABET programs.