Need help deciding between aeroE and mechE

boneh3ad
Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:50:05 +0000

First, throw out money as a factor in choosing a major. That is a terrible way to decide. Second, just an FYI, you will be getting a BS in MechE or Aero, not a BA unless your school is just strange.

Anyway, here is the thing, the two majors are very similar, and the major difference is the context in which Aero is taught. I was kind of in the same situation as you when I was trying to decide what to do in college, and I ended up going with Mechanical and then switching to Aerospace for graduate school. If you want to get into the aerospace field, then AeroE will certainly get you there, but so can MechE. In fact, there are more MechE’s that work at Boeing than their are Aero’s.

Really, you can’t go wrong either way. If you do Mechanical, just use your electives to take extra fluids classes and other Aero classes depending on your area of interest and you will be nearly on a level playing field with Aeros for most positions (though there are admittedly some positions that only an Aero can really fill). That is the path I took, and I worked several internships at Rolls-Royce and got into grad school fully funded in Aero. The biggest upside for MechE is that if you do lose your Aero job for one reason or another (like a bad economy), then MechE is much more marketable in other industries. On the other hand, Aero would have a bit less of a learning curve once you get into industry, and sometimes does get paid a tiny bit higher.

Really, it is your choice. You can’t really go wrong with either.