<p>Which of the following engineering majors (undergraduate) are most respectable within engineering in general? (Not level of difficulty, not number of job prospects, and not in the eyes of the non-engineering/non-science public.)</p>
<p>Biological Engineering</p>
<p>Civil Engineering</p>
<p>Environmental Engineering</p>
<p>I’m just curious as to what CCers have to think on the subject.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>to me their all the same…engineering is a hard subject as a whole so…i guess i respect them the same.</p>
<p>None of those three engineering majors is respectable. Go be a doctor, lawyer, military officer, professor, etc. if you want people to respect you for dubious reasons.</p>
<p>Civil Engineering will be the most recognizable which is good. Environmental is/was a sub- field of civil. Many school are starting to offer it as its own major. It is becoming allot more recognizable. A civil engineer can can take environmental engineering jobs but the opposite is difficult or impossible in allot of situations. Biological engineering is not nearly as recognized as these other two and may take some explaining to employers. I would steer away from the bio one unless you are very set on it. Is it an agriculture type program or some type of biomedical engineering? In general things with bio in front of it are not going to have great career opportunities at the undergraduate level. I would choose civil but i’m also biased since that’s what I chose. </p>
<p>If you are asking what other students think about these majors I would not factor that in to your decision at all. Most engineering majors argue about which one is more difficult and make jokes about other majors.</p>
<p>My old school (and OLD is very appropriate in my case) believed that all engineering was based upon mechanical engineering. The core knowledge and skills were consistent and in place prior to taking on a specialty. Having said that, the choice (mine was EE/computer science) is up to you and it should be based upon where your interests lie. Contrary to some here on CC (I guess they don’t fly, drive, go into large buildings, attend sporting events, etc.), I find all forms of engineering to be very respectable. To say otherwise is nonesense. Do you find all forms of law “respectable” (watch some day time television before you answer this one)? The same goes for any occupation (isn’t that a DOCTOR that is currently at the center of the most talked about US trial?). Be honest with yourself and do what YOU want to do.</p>
<p>in general engineering and respect don’t go hand in hand.</p>
<p>
civil is the lowest. it’s the lowest in pay, lowest in respect. i wouldn’t even consider it white collar type of job. </p>
<p>
hopefully you won’t be complaining when you’re having a tough time looking for job after graduating… you’ve been warned.</p>
<p>Respected by who?..and whoever is the “who”, what makes THEM the authority?</p>
<p>Most respected → Electrical.</p>
<p>Nuff said</p>
<p>@rheidzan (no idea how to quote)</p>
<p>Thanks for the useless input.</p>
<p>We are comparing the three majors the op listed. The OP did not ask about other options. Of those 3 majors I think civil would be the best. I am fully aware that other areas of engineering may have better outlook than civil at the moment. Civil engineering is what I am interested in so I will take my chances. I do not think I will be jobless.</p>
<p>Not gonna lie rheidzna, but that was the biggest pile of horse **** I’ve read in a while.</p>
<p>I have to tell you - Civil will be one of the most sought-after majors out there in the next couple of years. The infrastructure is a disaster and it will have to be addressed – no ifs, ands, or buts - whether there is money or not. If not, there will be tragedy - bridges collapsing etc. There really won’t be any choice - and the Bureau of Labor Statistics supports what I am saying: For the next x amount of years, civil, environmental, and biomedical engineering are the fastest growing fields.</p>
<p>^ An objective source cited as evidence on CC… cue the white noise of naive Interwebs incredulity.</p>
<p>The night before a test on Electrical motors you will read the Electrical Engineering text book not the Physical Chemistry text book. Real word problems and job functions do not have sharp lines separating different undergraduate degrees. General Mills may consider a Mechanical Engineer or Chemical Engineer for the same job opening. Most of the hires at Allen-Bradley or Emerson maybe EE/CS majors, but they also like to have both ME and ChE on the staff.</p>
<p>The skills most prized by an engineering manager are the soft skills.
<p>Biological—>Environmental—>Civil, IMHO.</p>
<p>
-I wouldn’t belief the same gov’t that reports our normal unemployment is measured with U3 instead of U6.
-Infrastructure in other developing countries are disasters. Why aren’t they improving it? Cuz they got no money.
-I’ve been around in this field long enough and been very fortunate enough to work for a public utility company with benefits unheard of in private.
My friends, former classmates, former co-workers with masters, PEs and even SEs are mostly unemployed and they’re not seeing any improvement in the short term. Don’t say you haven’t been warned…</p>
<p>If I could just take this in another direction. Are you from a part of the world that has a caste system? We in American don’t worry about which type of engineer is more respectable (Note: he didn’t say respected. He said respectable.) We in American consider all engineers and doctors to be respectable. We don’t consider Cardiologists to have better morals than Family Practise. Yes, we all know they make more money, but we don’t consider them to be intrisicly better people. I think you need to get over the concept of what is most “respectable.” None of them are embarrassing professions. Do what you enjoy most, not what your grandfather back in the motherland will be more likely to brag about. Welcome to America, nobody here cares about such nonsense! Which is why this has turned into a root for the home team thread.</p>
<p>Love this thread, LOL!</p>
<p>Most people that I know would agree that electrical engineers are the most respected. </p>
<p>Disclaimer, I am an electrical engineer and most people that I know are too! :-)</p>
<p>ClassicRocker Dad for the win!</p>
<p>EE’s UNITE!!</p>