<p>Hi all! </p>
<p>Long time lurker, first time poster. Lately I have become very interested in Chemical Engineering, but until now I haven’t had any prior knowledge of it (if that makes sense). This may be a vague/odd question, but would it be farcical to major in something that I haven’t had prior exposure to or knowledge of? I’ve never been interested in Engineering before and I didn’t plan on majoring in it (I am going to be majoring in Chemistry). A lot of people that I read about majoring in Eng. have liked it for quite some time (longer than I have), and there are so many different branches of Eng. I would have a hard time choosing, but ChemE definitely caught my attention. </p>
<p>I guess what I’m asking is would it be crazy to major in Eng. if I have no clue whether or not I will end up loving it, as much as I am interested in it? I hope what I’m asking makes sense!</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Probably 90% of students going into engineering have no real exposure to it. You’re fine.</p>
<p>There’s a reason why a lot of colleges have an FYE program. It’s to teach people about engineering before they become an engineering student (officially). </p>
<p>I chose Civil engineering as a senior in HS after taking AP physics C. My family is full of chemists. Needless to say, I had no background in civil. But I’m happy with my choice so far, can’t imagine doing anything else.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies! I still have some time to think about whether or not I want to major in it, and like I said, I’m really interested in it and it is so intriguing.</p>
<p>I have no doubt Boneh3ad is right about this. My guess is that few high schoolers have ever seen process engineering at a petroleum refinery or a big pharma operation.</p>
<p>And lets hope you continue to follow all of the safety procedures in labs so that you continue to get no “exposure” :-)</p>
<p>Seriously, I think ChemE is a great way to go for someone who likes Chemistry, Physics and Math. </p>
<p>Haha, don’t worry. I will always follow proper safety protocol to avoid getting any kind of “exposure”. I find Physics to be pretty interesting too, and while I haven’t taken Physics yet (I’m really excited to), I did take a class that combined Physics and Chemistry. The way my school’s curriculum is set up is different than other schools, so that explains why I can’t take it yet.</p>
<p>My D has been saying she wants to major in ChemE since junior in high school. She is now a first year engineering student (but with sophomore status). I am still not 100% sure if she will really declare that major which may happen as soon as next semester. I would not be surprised at all if she ends up choosing other engineering at the end.</p>
<p>Salut, billcsho!</p>
<p>Oh, why would you not be surprised? </p>
<p>Just like your case that you have no previous experience in ChemE before college, my D had no engineering experience in any field. She may fall in love in a different engineering field after the first year engineering program. She choose ChemE mainly because we know some ChemE graduates and she knows more about ChemE from them. More than half of the students end up graduating with a major different from what they initially intended on the application anyway.</p>
<p>That makes complete sense. I actually can’t even recall how many times I have changed what I wanted to major in (I haven’t anymore, but in the past I was so confused and unsure). But it is safe to say that I have changed my mind so much do to acquiring interests for other subjects that I didn’t have before.</p>
<p>Initially I basically told myself that I could never major in eng. because I didn’t think I was capable of it, but I think I told myself that because I didn’t have an interest in it at that time. I have noticed that the older I get, and the more I learn and progress I seem to be becoming more and more interested in what I used to say I couldn’t do only because I doubted myself, and eng. is one of those things. </p>
<p>I don’t know anyone who is in the field of eng. and I don’t know anyone who majored in it, so I’m basically stuck trying to figure out whether or not it is for me or if I’ll love it without any sort of personal knowledge I guess you can say. I have an idea as to what may have started my interest in ChemE though. </p>