Thanks everyone! Very helpful comments and information. I was having a little moment of panic when he was home over Thanksgiving and we were discussing these things (he just declared his concentration; he’s a sophomore). He absolutely should do what he wants. I just have pangs because he is a person who loves many subjects and he’s pretty much equally capable of these different topics. So while he always loved building and Science Olympiad and his STEM courses, etc and it’s easy to picture him in engineering, he also loves politics and current events and comedy and I can see him as a writer for a late night comedy show and other careers. My biases point me towards thinking that’s the more interesting way to go, but I’ve had a week to put my biases away and accept that he has made his choice, at least for now. I am making myself happy for him! But this thread was a great source of information and diversion for me this past week so I appreciate everyone’s input!!
E.N.S.2
PS I especially love all the data from Data10 and Gator88. And yes, Data10, I had mistakenly taken my info from an article that talked about the growth of the overall School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, which does include CS and Applied Math majors. Whoops! But it will be interesting for me to follow their SEAS school over the next few years. As you noted, there were only 7 EE degrees awarded in 2017-2018, and there were zero just a few years earlier, when they didn’t even offer that degree. This past year, 2018-2019, they awarded 19 EE degrees, so change is occurring. I will be fascinated to see how it all pans out and also eager to check out the new facility in June. Perhaps I’ll post an update/information when the times comes. Thank you for pointing me in the right direction!
The least happy engineers are the ones who are in it because someone talked into making the “smart” decision instead of the one they preferred, either because they were good at math or salary was a concern, etc. The happiest ones are the ones that chose it because they have intrinsic interest and drive. The latter sounds like him. He’ll be fine.
BTW, my son was an accomplished musician and could have gone to conservatory. He also loves skiing and hiking. He is a mechanical engineer, but still finds a way to work in the other things that interest him.
My friends daughter is going into law but dream job is writing comedy. She’s very funny /clever. Sooo… She started taking comedy writing and improv classes at Second City in Chicago. She will start law school in the fall. Maybe she will combine the two? Maybe she will have a side gig?
Some specific liberal arts majors can move into engineering jobs that do not require PE license, but the path is more roundabout than for those who major in engineering. E.g. physics majors in some engineering jobs, math or statistics majors in industrial engineering jobs.
Obviously, it is still better to study engineering if one wants to work as an engineer.
Harvard has had a very long and stormy history with engineering studies. Its roots go back to the Lawrence school where the Harvard faculty “considered it beneath them, now they want to buy their way to the top since it’s currently hot” (Greymeer)
“In the past, Harvard didn’t devote much resources to “vocational” majors at the undergraduate level like nursing, business or engineering.” ( “forbar1”)
Mr Lawrence supplied the resources to found Harvard’s Lawrence Scientific School in 1848, a year after Yale had founded the Sheffield Scientific School. Dartmouth Chandler School of Science followed in 1852. Dartmouth and Yale hung in there, but never seemed to reach full potential. Meanwhile RPI was moving along with the German School model from 1824. Railroads generated more pressure to further the development of scientific applications… Moscow actually started its industrial school in 1763. France and Germany developed in these areas.
Some of the major players in WPI’s early development were from the Lawrence School. Ira N. Hollis had been dean of Engineering there (and President of the American society of Engineers) when he became WPI’s 5th President. Two Dartmouth graduates were the first WPI presidents. Their contributions to the engineering field were widely significant and very real, but Harvard abandoned ship.
They abandoned ship, but now they want to buy their way back into the market!
Is it a thirst to help solve our world wide problems or is it necessitated by their own marketing studies?
OK, We can get over it! But let us get rid of the educational arrogance from all directions. We have very challenging problems ahead of us!
He will be fine. Harvard is a good engineering program but many Harvard engineers do not work in the traditional engineering fields. Many go on to finance, consulting, quant trading firms, or IB. Traditional engineering schools like Stanford, MIT, UM, UCLA, and Cal, all have long established networking with your usual engineering companies. Thats the main disadvantage of being a Harvard engineer because those students can take advantage of those career fairs. Harvard has fantastic career fairs but for different industries. The aerospace industry is a perfect example. They will recruit out of schools like UCLA/USC because they have a long relationship with them whereas they do not at Harvard because historically very few students would accept offers from them.
No input about Harvard engineering whatsoever, but wanted to let you know that I absolutely LOVE that you were having a moment of panic at the thought that your kid might want to be an engineer rather than a comedy writer!
and accept that he has made his choice, at least for now. I am making myself happy for him! But this thread was a great source of information and diversion for me this past week so I appreciate everyone’s input!!