hye345

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davidng1

UMASS Amherst has one of the best microwave engineering concentrations in the nation.

adogden

I've been following this thread and I think that it's a little rediculous. First of all I've read comments about the differences between Math, Physics, and Engineering Majors, though the differences are few. I personally am double majoring in Physics and Mechanical Engineering because the differences in requirements are so few. I will also end of with a math minor simply by receiving my engineering degree. Engineers at my school take all of the calculus courses, Differential Equations, and Advanced linear algebra along with many more. And on the physics side I'm taking Quantum physics, Relativity, and nuclear Physics. These are all upper level physics courses.

adogden

My point is just that there is nothing easy about an engineering B.S. , and not many inherent differences with a physics degree.
As for the value of the degree, I would assert that an advanced degree in physics is much harder to attain than an M.D. , because it's not simply hard work and memorization, you have to have the ability to understand abstract concepts...(Most people can't) and that is why an engineer is valuable.

da scientist

Hmmm, some valid points concerning the M.D. and Physics, but in defense to the M.D. anytime it is something involving the human body it is extremely complicated. Yes, physics is the basis of all science, but following your thinking it does not make it the hardest. There are many M.D.(s) that have the ability to understand abstract concepts as you stated. Many M.D.(s) do medical research, in which is the hardest in my opinion. I do research in medicine/science and believe me it is far from just simply hard work and memorization, but also the ability to understand abstract concepts. (I am not a M.D. but PhD.-Pharmacology emphasis on Gastroenterology/Cancer Biology). My point is that just because they are M.D.(s) does not mean that they could not do what you are mentioning or be a PhD. (in any field including Physics). I just chalk it up to all of the degrees mentioned being tough. What it boils down to is what is easier for one individual may not be as easy for another!!! Lastly I cant believe this post is still going on...lol. It really is irrelavant. Reminds me of the classic big debate of "who is smarter, M.D. or PhD"....but just as this post continues, that debate continues to rage on and it is irrelevant too.

DCguy

An Engineering degree doesn't get you a bigger pay check than something like a finance or MIS degree. IT ppl are more in demand than engineers and they get paid much more than engineers as they progress in their career. Engineers are not managers and only few become managers. I actually had seen some engineers with a BS going to medical school and getting all A's in medical school. Getting into the medical school is hard, but once you get in, it's actually much easier to graduate than graduating with a PHD in engineering.

da scientist

Yes, all disciplines are tough....only problem is how can you just state that it is easier to do the MD than the PhD in engineering. As I stated, those that you know are only individual cases and what may be hard for some may be easy for others and vice versa. So I don't see how you can compare apples and oranges. Also yes finance definitely gets paid more as well as the MD and PhD ....engineering salaries tend to start off pretty high and then they level off.....the others don't experience this leveling off.

DCguy

My coworker recently got his PHD in electical engineering and he tells me there were only 2, including himself, who received a PHD in electrical engineering from his school this semester. He says it was a long 5 year nightmare and says 1 out of 2 PHD students drops out usually. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard from my grad school professor that there were only about 70 who graduated in the United States with a PHD in electrical engineering last year. I'm not saying becoming a MD is easy... it's very difficult. But there may be thousands of MD's graduating this year. I'm sure there are less than one thousand engineers graduating with a PHD this year (I hear there are only about 700 in the US).

Corbett

According to the Digest of Education Statistics for 2006 (tables 287 and 288), there were 6,601 doctoral degrees in engineering issued during 2004-05, including

1,566 in EE
915 in ME
773 in ChE
713 in CE

Those four disciplines represent 60% of the reported total, the rest were presumably in other engineering disciplines.

For comparison, there were 43,423 JD degrees and 15,461 MD degrees issued in 2004-05.

Mr100%

whoever asked the original question is obviously not an engineering major. the question should be WHY NOT? engineering is one of the hardest undergrad majors if not the hardest. engineering has one of the highest drop-out rates if not the highest (60% last time i checked). almost everything you use in life involves engineering and manufacturing unless you live in a cave. so let's see, a lot of people drop out of engineering let alone not picking engineering in first place and almost everything in life requires engineering...yeah, i think engineers are underpaid.

sakky

I would actually say that that's not bad. I believe that half of all PhD students in any discipline - sciences, humanities, engineering, etc. - will drop out. Furthermore, the median PhD completion time in many other disciplines, notably the humanities and some social sciences, is about 7 years, with a significant percentage of people taking more than 10. Heck, there are some people who spend more than 10 years on an English PhD, and still end up dropping out.

jmbill

in my opinion once someone finds the cure for canser or aids or then they should be paid alot more than an engineer would ever get paid. that is a result that is worth that much. however all the people who are doing reseach and reaserch and more research shouldnt be getting crazy amounts. they are simply getting information. it is the people who put that info into the correct formula who should get the money. as for engineering juts look at the world u see today and nearly everything is a result from engineering. these achievemnets are worth the money. i think that engineers will solve the oil crisis faster than someone will find the cure for canser or aids

xjis

why would ppl keep digging out this old thread over and over? (OP was back in 2005)

seriously, if money was such an important issue in your life, you should have obtained MD instead of PhD. it's not like we kept salary information a secret before you decided to do PhD instead of MD.

there's no use whining about it especially when you were old enough to think for yourself if it was worthwhile to get that PhD instead of MD/JD/what-not.

and there's no arguing over what profession is worth how much in capitalistic society. no one is going to pay you certain amount of money just because he thinks your profession is worth that much. the market decides the price on your head.

ken285

Better to dig out an old thread than to start a new thread on the same exact topic.

aibarr

Awwww, I commented on this back before I was married.