<p>Is the operations research major within the engineering school a reliable major, e.g. is it as useful all around as let’s say, a chemical or electrical engineering major? Will jobs be hard to come by with such a major? Or will the Cornell name likely alleviate any problems with this, haha.</p>
<p>Cornell Operations Research provides a well-rounded education and its students are highly sought after by a wide range of employers. I received employment offers from PriceWaterhouseCoopers in technology consulting, Goldman Sachs in trading, and several technology firms (in various technology-type roles). This was years ago. Jobs will be hard to come by in today’s market conditions, but a Cornell OR degree can certainly help.</p>
<p>One area that my OR class seemed to lag compared with our EE and CE colleagues was the number of students who went on to Ph.D programs. One classmate went on to get her Ph.D from MIT and is now a professor at a west coast university; I am not aware of any other classmate pursuing a similar path. Perhaps Collegehelp has data on this.</p>
<p>The program was perfect for me. It allowed me the analytical coursework that I wanted while not getting overly technical (I don’t think I would have survived in the EE program). I also had the opportunity to take courses in the Arts and Sciences, ILR, and Human Ecology schools. I found those courses to be rewarding.</p>
<p>The operations research degree is a great program and will open doors into many possible careers (and the Cornell name won’t hurt either). It is definitely not as technical, but perhaps more analytical than other engineering degrees. And while all engineering majors provide ample opportunities to go the business route rather than an engineering route, OR is perhaps the most business oriented. OR also seems to offer the most flexibility in OR or major approved electives, giving you more opportunity to explore different areas.</p>
<p>I was an OR/IE major a million years ago at Cornell and LOVED it as a major and as a career starter … I loved the major from the time I bumped into it in one of the sophmore engineering survey courses. In addition, I have also found a OR career and OR jobs quite available.</p>
<p>That said OR is a relatively small field compared to fields like EE os CS and this effects the job market. The supply and demand situation seems to work out fine so there are jobs for OR folks. However, given the small size of the field the options can be somewhat limited in any preferred geography. There will be positions available for an EE in virtually every major market (there will also be a lot of EEs shooting for those spots) … while for an OR person it might take more patience and fewer options if someone has a particular city in mind (there also are less folks applying for these spots).</p>
<p>How math intensive is it? Is it as grueling as the rest of the engineering majors?</p>
<p>OR is more math intensive than the other majors. They require the general engineering Math sequence (Calc II, Calc III, DiffEq and Linear Algebra) but they also require Probability and Statistics, Optimization courses, Stochastic calculus, etc.</p>
<p>My guess (and it’s only a guess) is that OR, while grueling, is less so than the other engineering disciplines. Things get interesting once you complete the math sequence Chendrix listed above, and start the OR-specific courses.</p>