I worked at a biotech company right out of college in 2001. I had a BS in biology and made 35k. Those with a BS in chemical engineering made 45k. I'm sure starting salaries have gone up in the lasy 14 years. If you go in the petroleum industry you'll make even more.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically any engineering degree will land you one of the highest paying jobs right out of college.

Then your wages will stagnate unless you move on to something else.

exactly.
It's a great starting salary but you won't make more than about $150K unless you add in another degree and get into the business side of things.

Or basically---it's a great career for 95% of the country---except for places like DC where you generally can't afford to buy a house on a $100K salary.

I agree. DH has a masters in engineering and makes 95k. He works very long hours (60+), is in high demand (he gets a job offer a year from competitors) and absolutely LOVES what he does. But yeah, salary isn't that stellar compared to what people in sales makes who don't have his kind of education or specialty.

... And a conscience that allows you to stomach directly participating in a destructive industry.

I had a friend who did it, thinking "I drive a car. I use oil. I'm already complicit." But he said it made him sick (literally and emotionally) to be out in those drilling fields, so he cashed out, got a materials science degree, and now works on solar.

Not Chem E, but engineering has been an incredibly good field for a family member who is smart, but not particularly ambitious (not wanting to get into management, not wanting to push to climb the ladder, likes to go to work and do his job and then leave it behind, doesn't have his work email hooked up to his phone, etc). He makes great money for the level of ambition, easy to find jobs, and good job security.

Chem E is even better is my understanding.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically any engineering degree will land you one of the highest paying jobs right out of college.

Then your wages will stagnate unless you move on to something else.

exactly.
It's a great starting salary but you won't make more than about $150K unless you add in another degree and get into the business side of things.

Or basically---it's a great career for 95% of the country---except for places like DC where you generally can't afford to buy a house on a $100K salary.

Oh and salary, most of ours make 70k out of college and go up to 100k. I think you do need a masters with an engineering degree.

Very good degree!!I work on oil and gas drilling and we have lots of these. Petroleum engineers make the most, but chem is good too

DH has BS and MS in Chem E (back to back so finished that when he was 23) and an MBA that he got later

There is more than oil but certainly oil,gas, alternative energy (basically energy period) is a big draw for chem e's. He's in the semiconductor field and never worked in any energy capacity actually. There's a lot you can do it seems and a lot of engineers coming out now also use their minor to get skills in related field like comp sci, etc.

I still believe engineering degrees are the most marketable post-college.

The Patent Office hires all kinds of engineers. Then you can go to law school and become a Patent and Trademark attorney and make a very large salary.

Anonymous wrote:Is this a good degree? What are the job prospects? Salary?

Yes it is a good degree if you can handle with decent GPA
Job prospects are good with BS in ChemE. You can also get into BioE grad/PhD after ChemE BS
Starting salary is one of the best in engineering majors - over 60k starting

Anonymous wrote:Basically any engineering degree will land you one of the highest paying jobs right out of college.

Then your wages will stagnate unless you move on to something else.

Anonymous wrote:Basically any engineering degree will land you one of the highest paying jobs right out of college.

If you're willing to branch out beyond traditional engineering fields. But if you want to be a specific type of engineer, some will require more schooling than others.

Basically any engineering degree will land you one of the highest paying jobs right out of college.

From what school? From a top school you can do some basic lab jobs or work in oil after graduation. Pays well, better if you like the outdoors. A lot of bio and chem engineering requires grad school to make you truly competitive though.

Is this a good degree? What are the job prospects? Salary?