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My son is going to major in Computer Science. He also wants to double major either in Chemical Engineering or Electrical Engineering.
We were told that he has to make the decision on the orientation, but we don't know anything or anyone working in those areas. Does anyone here know about those fields in terms of future job potentials? Also, is EE closer to Computer Science in terms of classes, therefore he can finish college faster than doubling Chemical Engineering?
I appreciate any input and suggestions. Thank you in advance!
What does he want to do, or rather, what's his dream job? My brother got his degree in ChemE and ended up working in semiconductor manufacturing (his goal). Several of his classmates ended up in the oil industry or chemical distribution and development (e.g. think places like DOW, 3M, etc.). Interestingly my uncle was an EE major, and he worked at the same company as my brother doing very similar work.
There are still jobs available to engineers, but he must be willing to relocate to find the job. He will need to take advantage of the connections he makes at school, go to school sponsored job fairs, etc., which is where companies do most of their entry-level hiring.
Obviously one's interest/aptitude/abilities and particular caliber of college are major considerations
That said, today, suspect greatest income and wealth creation potentials are for those kids who secure $200K/yr starting jobs as software engineers at an Apple or Google, excel and move on to whatever is latest/greatest start-up (and unfortunately EE and hardware engg career opps haven't created much wealth in past 10+ yrs)
Oil&gas can be interesting, but aside from a few entrepreneurial pipeline guys, oil&gas is not known for enabling much wealth creation among PetrolE or ChemE grads of past 20yrs...
My son is going to major in Computer Science. He also wants to double major either in Chemical Engineering or Electrical Engineering.
We were told that he has to make the decision on the orientation, but we don't know anything or anyone working in those areas. Does anyone here know about those fields in terms of future job potentials? Also, is EE closer to Computer Science in terms of classes, therefore he can finish college faster than doubling Chemical Engineering?
I appreciate any input and suggestions. Thank you in advance!
He should probably lean towards what interests him, and what he sees as likely jobs he might like to do in the future..... but if I were to offer a little advice for whatever it is worth, EE (electrical engineering) goes much better with computer science than chemical engineering does.
EE and CS are very much intertwined in many ways, and the skills for one tend to heavily tie in with the other. And yes, the classes between the two tend to be very closely related as a general rule, more so than with CE.
Chemical engineering can have some degree of cross-over to CS (and the pay is purportedly among the best for engineering.... I think the pay hedges out EE by a little bit in the usual statistics if I recall correctly), but unless your son has some desire to get into some really esoteric fields like manufacturing semiconductors or something, I'd tell him to go EE.
I really can't emphasize enough just how closely related EE and CS are. The best fit, however, is based on what specific "dream jobs" your son wants to have in the future, what fields (very specifically) interest him. It could be that CE fits better for his desires future job or fields of research, but as a general rule.... go EE... and you won't be steered in the wrong direction.
That said, today, suspect greatest income and wealth creation potentials are for those kids who secure $200K/yr starting jobs as software engineers at an Apple or Google, excel and move on to whatever is latest/greatest start-up (and unfortunately EE and hardware engg career opps haven't created much wealth in past 10+ yrs)
True but I think EE has lots of potential that is often overlooked, even playing in the startup factors. The major driver of EE, "growth" is going to come from robotics. I haven't seen much interesting startups in this area even though the potential is HUGE. Lots of stuff today is made with human labor. There is huge potential for robotic labor to replace human labor.
He should probably lean towards what interests him, and what he sees as likely jobs he might like to do in the future..... but if I were to offer a little advice for whatever it is worth, EE (electrical engineering) goes much better with computer science than chemical engineering does.
That was my first thought. EE seems like it would be a better fit with computer science than Chem E.
If he is determined to do two fields, he should get a major in Electrical Engineering and a minor in computer science.
An EE won't be looked at unfavorably when applying to CS jobs. OTOH, a CS applying to most EE jobs will be looked at unfavorably. Plus, the EE opens the door to a professional license, which is lifelong job security.
Spending an extra year to get a double major in CS and EE is a waste of time and money. He should either graduate on time and not face the added 80k+ of economic costs. Or he should go on to a graduate program. Don't waste time at the undergraduate level, particularly in rapidly changing fields like EE and CS.
CS will likely face continued job pressures--rapidly antiquated skill-sets, kids who can self-learn entire undergrad curriculums for free, off-shoring, increasing role of automation, etc. Still a very good field though. A good software developer will always have a job in one form or another.
EE will have a greater variety of job oppurtunities--from working on airplanes to an increasing role in medicine.
Oil&gas can be interesting, but aside from a few entrepreneurial pipeline guys, oil&gas is not known for enabling much wealth creation among PetrolE or ChemE grads of past 20yrs...
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Originally Posted by cls88
My son is going to major in Computer Science. He also wants to double major either in Chemical Engineering or Electrical Engineering.
We were told that he has to make the decision on the orientation, but we don't know anything or anyone working in those areas. Does anyone here know about those fields in terms of future job potentials? Also, is EE closer to Computer Science in terms of classes, therefore he can finish college faster than doubling Chemical Engineering?
I appreciate any input and suggestions. Thank you in advance!
Not being a technical person I hesitate to even post here, but I think that an electrical engineer has more options for work in more places. That said, I know a few extremely successful chemical engineers in the petrochem/oil & gas service industries.
He loves working with computers, but he is worried that too many computer jobs are sent overseas when he graduates in 4 years. He wants to get a second major that he can fall back on in case computer jobs become hard to find.
We thought double major was a good idea because he would have advantages if he has another major - his computer knowledge can be tied to a particular industry.
Thank you again for all the wonderful comments.
Last edited by cls88; 06-08-2011 at 07:11 PM..
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