I'd say engineering, even if you don't plan on being an engineer. I have an engineering degree, and am now in bschool/law school. I think it's just a different way of problem-solving that helps me tremendously. That being said, make sure you can get a decent GPA out of it - engineering isn't easy, and you can't screw yourself over in grad school apps. Second - learn to write along the way. I think writing is by far the most important skill you need to learn. And you never learned it in high school.
As far as usefulness and flexibility - I agree. Engineers are (used to be ?) the most poorly paid of the professionals after a several years if they stay in their field...but some of the most successful MBA's, lawyers and enterpreneurs I know got their starts in engineering.
While I really enjoyed getting my Liberal Arts & Social Sciences degree, I can't say it translates very well in the job world. A lot of times I find myself wishing I had chosen a more practical path. I double majored and graduated summa c*m laude, but it doesn't really give me an edge. Most of the jobs I've looked at require a master's and/or several years of experience already.
Beaten by the first and second post. Engineer followed by Accounting/Finance then Medical. I have a couple of cousins with Engineering Degrees and they make great money out of college with a bachelors. Same with accounting/finance degrees, but it took them a little longer.
You can get money starting, but after a few years you realize you need to go to law or business if you want to make real money.
Engineers are both geniuses and idiots. The best major to pull out would be engineering because off the bat you'll make bank straight out of undergrad. Most engineers have a sh!tty GPA so you can get through it pretty easily. At the same token, at least for me, most of the engineers I know are idiots. They leave to try a real science major and end up back in engineering. It all depends on how much time you wanna spend in college. If you want your masters, be bold, do something like Biochem/Biophysics, do something like double inorganic and organic chem, or even something like material sciences, material optics, or both. But if you wanna shoot straight out into the real world after four, engineering is best.
This. You'll find that having a technical background is a huge plus later on in your career. For example, three of my buddies in my EE class back in '02 followed these career paths: BSEE -> HP -> Motorola -> Harvard HBS -> Bain BSEE -> Sandisk -> UChicago -> Credit Suisse BSEE -> Cypress -> Michigan Ross -> Bain
What's real money? I know plenty of engineers that get paid 100-200K. If you want to get paid well, you have to be a good communicator and have to be good at working with other people as a teammate or leader. This applies to any field except for maybe medicine.
This is an uneducated post.. your experience leads you to "idiots" who are engineers. Most engineers I know are pretty much the opposite. I'd say there's a good mix just like in any field. But in terms of "engineering is only good if you want a good salary after 4 years of school", that's stupid also. Yes, you will have that. But you can also go to med school after 4 years of engineering. Or law school. Or business school after 2-3 years of experience. Or you can go straight into consulting with your engineering degree, which can move you in all kinds of directions. Or yeah, you can go straight into normal engineering, which in itself has a million options.
I'd say it just depends on what area of engineering you get into and how you move around. You can definitely maximize your earnings if that's your goal.. but a lot of people seem to be happy where they are in terms of their role/function and all (and that is what it's all about).. so their salary doesn't move.
Not true about medecine. True, House is the exception to the rule (i know it's a TV show, I'm kidding people) but for the most part any doctor will tell you medecine is at least 80% networking. True, doctors aren't good at math, so that statistic is slightly skewed. How many times have you seen someone with a 2.5 Gpa get bumped in, while someone with a 3.5 get declined. It happens a lot. I think if you have a good attitude, work hard, and try to know those around you it's pretty much impossible to fail. But then again, I have yet to step into the real world...
If you are an engineer, the following options usually exist. Out of school-->Get experience-->content-->top out at ~$150k Out of school-->Get experience-->more school (M.S., etc.)-->mgmt-->top out ~$200-250k Out of school-->Get experience-->Business school-->mgmt/other-->top out ??? I know guys in this category who make a lot of money.
It is ironic that a post like this came up, because I was thinking about starting a thread about something similar. I am in my third year at UT, getting my BS in Civil Engineering. Lately, I have been doubting that Civil Engineering is what I want to do with the rest of my life. I have a 3.30 GPA (will rise this semester, and hopefully the semesters to come) and, if I do say so myself, very good interview and communication skills. (10 years of theatre and acting helps so much in this, at least for me) I guess my question is: Has anyone been in this situation, specifically with Civil Engineering, or witnessed anyone who has been? I just am curious as to what else may be out there, with this degree. I definitely would not mind doing Civil Engineering for a few years out of college, because I do enjoy it. I just don't think I want to do it forever. Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance!
A family friend (quite younger than me) that I know graduated last year from UT in civil engineering. He now works for Exxon and is making good money. I'm not sure if you are looking for more information... if you are - I can try and answer.
No one majors in medicine. It is a grad school program. The topic was in regards to undergraduate programs. But I agree, that medicine is alot about networking and getting the right number of "referrals" to your practice. My dad is a poor networker and thus he makes a fraction of the salary that his other doctor friends make who are good at networking. It all has to do with the business side of medicine. But I guess there is a business side to any career unless you are working for the government.
I have always held the belief that engineers are usually smart enough to get into medical school or some other top tier type graduate program, but sometimes don't push themselves hard enough to make that plunge into the next tier of salary (i.e..doctor's salary, lawyer salary).
Brightside, i'm of the belief that many many smart people try engineering and find that they don't have the knack for it. A lot of these guys really wanted to do law or medicine afterward. Sadly, by that time, it's too hard to recover and get the necessary GPA for med school/law school. Sucks because they would've been awesome at it.
Physics > Engineering > everything else Physics can get you a job anywhere paying tons.. unless its in academia
