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).

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.)

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

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

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).

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.

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).

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.

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.

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

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

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?