|
November 18, 2002
A: FROM MENTOR DIANA DEDE
IN CO
The best advice I can give is not to worry about the top five
but go with
what you like to do. Even in declining industries there are
lots of
possibilities. Better to enjoy your work then to work in a
field because it
has the most job potential and be bored or unhappy.
********************
November 18, 2002
A: FROM MENTOR MARY JO MULLEN
IN IL
Sana, US News & World Report publishes their list of top
colleges in
different fields every year. This year they listed:
1. MIT
2. Stanford
3. Cal Tech
4. U of California - Berkeley
5. U of Illinois - Urbana & Champaign
If you go to:
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankengineering_brief.php
you can get the top 5 schools for different disciplines of
engineering.
I think its difficult to say which branch of engineering will
be in high
demand, especially over such a long time. Right now, the market
seems to be
saturated with computer engineers, but that will likely change
as the
economy and large corporations balance themselves out. Civil
engineering
(my specialty) is usually a pretty steady job, since there
is a lot of work
that has to be done, such as fixing roads and bridges. And
there is a lot
of government work in civil engineering, which is generally
steady work,
even when the economy struggles. I can't really say much about
the other
disciplines, since I am not involved in them and don't know
anyone well in
those disciplines. I would recommend researching what the
different
engineering fields do on a day to day basis, and make your
choice based on
what interests you the most. If you go into a field that is
supposed to be
in high demand and hate it, you won't last long there. And
there are no
guarentees that something forecasted to be in high demand
will actually turn
out like that. When I graduated college just 5 years ago,
the big push was
computers. Now I have many unemployed friends in computers
and some
companies continue to lay off people in these positions.
********************
November 18, 2002
A: FROM MENTOR KRIS MOODY
IN NH
I don't really know which engineering schools are ranked highest,
or who
ranks them, or what criteria they use to rank them. However
I do have some
comments about figuring out where you might get the "best"
engineering
education. First and foremost I would say that your education,
whether in
engineering or some other field, is largely what you make
it. The same 2
people with the same intelligence in the same school might
have very
different experiences and feel like they have learned a lot
or a little
depending on many things, including of course how much you
personally put
into it. Also, different approaches to education might work
better for one
person verses another. And lastly, a lot depends on what you
are hoping to
get out of it, for example a lot might depend on whether you
already know
exactly where you want to specialize or not. Personally, when
I was in
college, my engineering school had a philosophy that it was
best to produce
well-rounded engineers who understood at least a little about
all kinds of
engineering. I took courses in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics,
stresses
and solids, and all kinds of engineering. I only had a small
handful of
classes that specifically addressed electrical engineering,
which is the
field I ended up going into. When I got my first job, all
of the other
first year employees came from colleges where they had studied
electrical
engineering from the very beginning. I was kind of intimidated,
and
thought they would know a lot more than I did, even though
I knew I had
gone to a good school. As it turns out, I think my educational
experience
was very different from these other people, but I don't think
one approach
was better than the other. I think they were just different.
I have done
quite well in a career of electrical engineering, and I am
also grateful to
have the background to understand a little about some other
things too. I
think that there are wonderful opportunities to learn all
around us, and
really it is up to us to make the most of it and reach whatever
goals we
set for ourselves.
********************
November 18, 2002
A: FROM MENTOR MAYLING WONG
IN IL
To answer the first question, a good resource is the US News
Annual
college survey
(http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/rankindex_brief.php).
The survey shows the top engineering schools overall and lists
the top
colleges in different areas. To answer the second question,
the news
magazine also has some information
(http://www.usnews.com/usnews/work/wohome.htm)
As you make your decision on what area to specialize in, keep
in mind that
the need for engineers is large in general. Rather than selecting
an area
based on need, I suggest selecting it based on your interests.
As an
engineering student goes through 4 years of schooling, it
is very common
for the student to change majors based on what he/she has
come across and
has found his/her likes and dislikes. I would suggest making
the effort
on talking with different types of engineers, finding summer
internships
in areas that you are interested in, and keeping an open mind
throughout
your schooling and career. You never know what lies around
the corner!
|
