Please Help!! Major in statistics at UCLA or industrial engineering at Georgia Tech??

Chardo
Tue, 17 Apr 2018 20:02:12 +0000

^ I would dispute the claim that UCLA has a better name everywhere. In the engineering world, Georgia Tech is a top of the line brand, known and highly regarded by everyone. And particularly in industrial engineering, they are far and away the best. Few programs of any kind enjoy an automatic seal of approval like GT industrial engineering. Any west coast employer would snap up a GT grad just as easily as UCLA.

To answer your questions:

1. Which major is better for jobs/internships? I would say industrial engineering. It’s basically the business side of engineering, all about efficiency and productivity (which equals profitability), and as such they are in demand by literally every industry. IE grads can go down myriad career paths, whether it’s optimization, supply chain, operations, analytics, you name it. Stats major, like anything in math, is also very employable, but there are so many more applications for the skill set learned by IE.

1. Which has higher salary? Could be either. Depends what you do with the degree. Generally either one can lead to riches, and neither one goes hungry. Your belief that industrial has relatively low salary for engineers is mistaken. "Industrial engineer" is not a common job title. IE's often end up in very high paying business jobs, like management consultant, data analyst, etc. You would not bother with double major at GT. One major alone is insanely difficult there. And the IE program by itself makes you eminently employable. You would just choose one of the concentrations that appeals to you.

3+4. Covered that above. Suffice to say that students at GT (and UCLA) get jobs and internships all over the country.

But it sounds like you know in your heart where to go. And since following your head could lead you to choose either, with good reason, there’s nothing wrong with following your heart.