Engineering Major Switching to Economics...Report In:Need Some Questions Answered

[finessesosa]

im bout to make the switch from engineering to economics ...cant take this engineering no more ...ill be out in Two semesters with Economics meanwhile ill beout in damn near 2 years with Engineering....

How is the hiring rate and how is the average starting salary and so on as opposed to engineering...ive had Three Internships for the past three years withEngineering firms so am i good?

Thanks

 

[da xplicit one]

Damn that sucks. What engineering field were you in?
Engineering is NO JOKE.

 

[finessesosa]

Originally Posted by Da XpLiCiT OnE

Damn that sucks. What engineering field were you in?
Engineering is NO JOKE.

you got damn right...i was in Civil Engineering ...you got any advice

 

[da xplicit one]

My only advice is to do what you're passionate about. In the long run, if you aren't passionate in what you are doing, especially in any engineeringfield, you will have a hard and tough life. If you are already disliking many of the things you are doing in your civ classes then you probably aren'tpassionate about it. I'm in computer engineering, and the hwk and labs are insane, and I'm at school from morning till midnight at times. It is veryhard, but I enjoy 'most' of it. Not everything you have to like, but I think most of it you should. Graduating with an engineering degree will payoff. My friend just graduated with a civil engineering degree last May and got hired 3 weeks before he graduated with no experience at all and makes 60k/yrstarting salary

Good luck

 

[mr fizzy womack]

Yall killin' my motivation here.

I'm going electrical and I'm finishing my first year this spring.

 

[scarface2k1]

I am currently an Economics major at Northeastern University. I am a junior, and during my first co-op (internship), I worked at Merrill Lynch, making whatwould have been 45k a year. Because I was a first time co-op, thats why the salary was relatively low, but with a degree, I would expect to make between 60-65kmy first year out excluding bonus (even thought most bonuses on Wall St. are flat this year, and probably for the next 2 years unless you work at Goldman). Ithink that any interview you have, you should stress your Quant skills and that you used to be an Engineering major because alot of firms want kids with topnotch Quant skills. What are your future goals for a career, further education (MBA?), what school do you go to, and where do you want to work.

Hope I can help more.

 

[mangudai954]

I'll tell you this..the unemployment line was d'ed up with engineers over here.

edit: My fault..this was after 9/11

 

[8tothe24]

I hear you. I will get my EE degree with 3 classes and Senior Project to go. But how long will it take... hmmm... Stuff is wearing me down.

 

[cstamas33]

Where do you go to school xplicit?

 

[finessesosa]

Originally Posted by Mangudai954

I'll tell you this..the unemployment line was d'ed up with engineers over here.

WHOA are you serious

Yall killin' my motivation here.

I'm going electrical and I'm finishing my first year this spring.

nah fam...make sure you talk to people at your school that areseniors or so on,dont make the same mistake i made...i LOVEEEED engineering but its the politics of getting out...and you gotta be ON TOP of everything..theengineering internships i worked at this past year was LOVELY but then coming back to school at PSU and doing the actual work made me very unmotivated

...Economics/Business was always something that was in my heart at the end ofthe day so the switch wouldnt even be a problem to me but i wanted to make sure im making the right one.

I am currently an Economics major at Northeastern University. I am a junior, and during my first co-op (internship), I worked at Merrill Lynch, making what would have been 45k a year. Because I was a first time co-op, thats why the salary was relatively low, but with a degree, I would expect to make between 60-65k my first year out excluding bonus (even thought most bonuses on Wall St. are flat this year, and probably for the next 2 years unless you work at Goldman). I think that any interview you have, you should stress your Quant skills and that you used to be an Engineering major because alot of firms want kids with top notch Quant skills. What are your future goals for a career, further education (MBA?), what school do you go to, and where do you want to work.

Hope I can help more.
that definetly helped me out..ive worked at Lucent Technologies, Bovis Lend Lease and an Small Environmental Firm in NJ. I go to school atPSU...if you were at a junior what would have been 45K graduating then that is

...and full time graduate at 60-65K then that is even more

...myadvisor told me if i was engineering before and switched theyd be fools not to hire me with all my experience.
As far as further education i wanted to do Petroleum Engineering but who knows at this point?

will PM you though

 

[finessesosa]

Originally Posted by 8tothe24

I hear you. I will get my EE degree with 3 classes and Senior Project to go. But how long will it take... hmmm... Stuff is wearing me down.

exactly...stuff wore me out...

.i feel like a quitter but i couldn'ttake it anymore seriously ..i have a "Life" also

 

[bonafide hustla]

my dude u already know my stance on this issue. I damn near don't advise anyone at a "major" college to do engineering. mad politics involved. they tryna weed dudes out. which i guess I understand. If you're at a smaller college, it might not be that hard from what I've heard from peoplethat are in engineering at smaller colleges. And regardless of the college, if u got a degree in engineering, you should never be jobless for that long.

 

[teddythegr8one]

its not that bad. i dont do much and ive been gettin by. Its actually gotten easier for me as the years go as a civil engineer. The engineering classes for meare pretty easy t was the physics and stuff i hated...

 

[wawaweewa]

I'd advise you not to do it.
If you do, go into Finance or Financial Economics and not plain old economics. More opportunity there.

Very few people with a plain economics degree will be making more than 40 out of college.

 

[lurkin2long]

My dad majored in plain old Economics and he is doing more than fine.............but then again he did graduate from Yale in new haven CT, also his job hasnuttin to do with his degree. But yea i know a few ppl who switched from engineerin, stuff is serious business.

 

[wawaweewa]

Originally Posted by lurkin2long

My dad majored in plain old Economics and he is doing more than fine.............but then again he did graduate from Yale in new haven CT, also his job has nuttin to do with his degree. But yea i know a few ppl who switched from engineerin, stuff is serious business.

Well, having a degree, any degree, 20 or 30 years ago was a big deal. Much bigger deal than today.


Yale's def. nice and helps.

30 years ago there were prob. no other economics disciplines but plain economics.

 

[lurkin2long]

yea wawaweewa, younger generation got it tougher in this world. smh seriously, college was prolly so easy for our parents. no ti-83 calculators, no internetfor research etc. the work load had to be way different.

 

[toy collector123]

ya boy made the switch from engineering to business and aint never looked back.

at A&m they try too hard to weed dudes out so I weeded my self out. smh. I'm also trying to get into med school and graduating with <3.0 aintpleasing. well now, my mid grades are looking pearly.

also, I wouldve been in school for 4 years with engineering given my 67 dual credit courses but with business I have 1.5 years left. gonna finish my pre-medprerequisties this summer and will study for mcat this fall.

I just have to thank the man above for giving me the thought that I was not fit for engineeringand a med school pursuit at the same time.

 

[wawaweewa]

Originally Posted by lurkin2long

yea wawaweewa, younger generation got it tougher in this world. smh

seriously, college was prolly so easy for our parents. no ti-83 calculators, no internet for research etc.

Are you even following?

Few people, as compared to today, even went to college 30 years ago .

A college degree today is like a HS degree 30 years ago. Graduate work today is equivalent to college work 30 years ago.

A graduate degree in plain economics is nice. A BA in plain economics isn't all that great.
It's not about being easier then or easier now.

 

[lurkin2long]

my bad, i followed what you just said now though.

basically college degree aint no guarantee in this world of today..............

 

[nycknicks105]

 

[bkdan1]

Good luck. I'm in aerospace and I can't handle econ classes. One AP Micro class in HS and I was DONE.

 

[airvandal180]

Well, I'd say switch, but I have a friend from UIllinois who transferred to my school and did the exact same thing (engineering to economics) and he has a3.8 GPA but is having a hard time finding a job.

If you wanna make money right away, I'm not so sure economics is the way to go. The current job market is ruthless unless you're in a medical field oraccounting, it seems.

 

[gettin it crackin]

I'm thinking of being a Biomedical or Environmental Engineer next year at Georgia Tech. I'm really second guessing myself, though. I really don'tthink I'll be able to handle the workload.

 

[lurkin2long]

ONLY MEDICAL AND ACCCOUNTING?

awwwwwwwwwwwwww man i hate math an im too dumb for med school.


hmmmmmmm, ill get an idea soon though.