Visali

I'll be majoring in EE and attending UIUC. How do you becomes successful (or rich)? For some (like my parents), the normal engineer's salary isn't enough. Sakky, in one of my previous threads, told me to go into investment banking. I highly doubt I'll make it that far, and I don't think IB is the job for me. How can you become rich with ENG?

I was planning to keep a good GPA for my undergrad and get into a good MBA program for management. I don't exactly plan to start my own firm or whatever because I just can't see myself doing that. I heard many times that finance and engineering is many times combined, and in the business world, it's who you know instead of what you know.

So, I guess my question is how do you know or get to know powerful people? In my life, I have realized that you need connections for everything. How do you get connections in college? Work? Research? Internships? Is that how?

Any input you have is helpful. Thank you!

RETHEEM

it will be important for u to know people.that is how pple progress to start with.U never know who u may stumble upon.!!

Mr Payne

As an engineer, one makes the most money starting their own company. A highly risky option.

morfinx

What do you mean by "For some (like my parents), the normal engineer's salary isn't enough"? How much do you consider to be a normal engineer's salary?

If you don't mind managing people, a BS EE and then a MBA could work for you. Or as Mr Payne mentioned, start your own company. Although most new businesses fail.

Visali

I consider the normal salary to be about $50000. I'm not interested in starting a new business because it might fail. I am risk-taker, but there is a limit to everything.

cst612

This is hilarious.

How much money do you really need as a 22 or 23 y/o college grad? Engineers start at around 50k, no matter where you went to school, and in some instances, it's much higher.

I'm an E-4 in the military, which means I make 30 grand a year. And I have a pretty damn comfortable lifestyle.

Maybe you should just worry about actually getting your degree (who knows if you actually will) then about how much money you're going to make. All you need to know is that engineers do well as opposed to other bachelor's degree holders.

People become "rich" or "wealthy" not because of what specific job that they have, but because they have a vision, determination, and a certain knack for business and opportunity. Unless you're in Hollywood and/or superstar athlete.

ken285

For some (like my parents), the normal engineer's salary isn't enough.

How do your parents figure into this? They're not the one's earning the degree or getting the salary. As long as you're comfortable, than you'll be fine. Just do your best at what you love and you'll have a fine life.

nshah9617

As the previous posters have said--what exactly is a "comfortable salary" for you?

For the most part Engineers make pretty good money and with a Masters under your belt and experience you can easily break 6 figures. If you want millions of dollars a year--you are in the wrong field.

peck191

some are lucky enough to be invited to work at a startup that makes it big, but that's also a longshot.

cpuomega5

if you think being successful refers to being rich, you can go to hell.

Shackleford

lol...................

GShine_1989

If you insist on being rich as an engineer, your options are to start a company, move into non-technical management, or marry someone richer than you.

toronto_guy

What is big? Most people only want to make "a lot" of money but few set an actual numerical goal to reach. If a goal is too vague, you can never reach it.

So how much do you want to make? Based on this amount, this narrows the range of options.

Back in the days when I was foolish and delusional enough to believe my profs that there were jobs for chemical engineering graduates, I remember doing calculations for absorption towers and the like.

I remember that one of the design parameters was the desired effluent concentration and that this in turn influenced the scale of the unit operation.

I think the money aspect is the same by deciding how much is "big" this defines the scope of options to meet your goal. If "big" for you is 500K, then you need to look at Investment Banking, Law, Medicine, or Management Consulting.

If "big" is 90 to 150 K, this is feasible with a Masters in Engineering (but not chemical - this is a terrible field!).

Whatever road you choose, keep in mind that everyone else wants basically the same thing because greed is a basic human trait.

The key to success in the aforementioned fields is to be the best at whatever your choose to do. In the case of Law, Medicine or IB/MC, this will entail having excellent academics.

peck191

I'm not sure why you say 90-150k in chemE is not feasible because that's just not true.

ken285

It's possible, but it probably has the fewest job opportunities compared to the other major engineering fields.