Hardest Engineering Degree?

danago

Hey. Not that it will sway which field of engineering i end up deciding to study, but i was just curious, is there any field of engineering which students generally find harder than the others?

Ive heard things about civil engineering generally being a bit easier than the others, but i cant confirm that it was from a reliable source at all.

will.c

The one you're the least interested in.

I always enjoyed hearing my MechE, AeroE, and EE friends talk about what they were learning and working on. Industrial seems like it isn't too tough, work-wise, but when those guys told me about what they were working on it seemed excruciating.

Mindscrape

I'd say physics or aerospace, but analog EE can get tricky if you are hardcore about it. But yes, Will is right that if you are not interested in what you are doing it will be very tough to focus and do well.

Civil is the easiest, I'll confirm that. My friend who graduated with his bachelor's in civil said that if they ever showed an integral in class, everyone would freak out.

danago

Yea thats a good point. Ive heard so many people at uni say they are going to do civil engineering because its supposed to be the easiest, but like you say, its not going to be easy if they arent interested in it.

Defennder

You must be kidding about the integral story. I'm not a CE major but I seriously doubt any engineering field, excluding perhaps biological engineering would have that little maths. For example, the Euler-Bernoulli equation which I'm pretty sure every CE major would have to learn in their first year is a 4th order DE.

Cyrus

Yeah right. Bio engineering is all fluid systems in the body!

f95toli

It depends on the school and in which country you live.
I studied engineering physics in Sweden (at one of the "better" universities) and that is usually considered to be the hardest MSc engineering program (4.5 years) in Scandinavia. About 50% of the students who started the program finished and got their degree (the year before it was about 30%, many left during the third year which was quite insane).

Astroman

ChemE is supposed to be really hard from what I hear. I'm AstroE though, so can't confirm this.

Nick M

From what I hear... (most difficult at top)

Chemical/BioChemical
Electrical/Computer
Mechanical/Industrial
Civil/Environmental

But I think it also comes down to the classes you select as well.
Many of the Senior Environmental Eng. classes at my school merge with the Chemical/BioChemical Eng. curriculum.

I do know that EE requires the most courses in the mathematics department (at my school at least).

Like others said, I think it also comes down to what interests you as well. If you're slogging through hours of work that seems boring to you, it's going to be hard no matter what.

turbo

I can attest that the work-load in a high-level Chem E program is killer. If you're not really interested in your classes, it's a heck of a grind. You can expect lectures, recitations, and labs in the Chemistry and Physics courses at a minimum, and your mathematics courses will be accelerated to keep your math skills up to the demands of your other science courses.

shamrock5585

i agree with whoever said that it depends on where you study... i am electromechanical and some of the hardest subjects end up being easier because of, interest for the most part, and because of a teacher that knows what he is talking about and knows how to communicate it. Either way you will have to know alot of mathematics and physics for electrical or mechanical... but i enjoy them and find them logical so they are not incredibly hard for me... but then you ask me to make some abstract art and i lose my mind haha... its all about interest.

Fearless

I would say engineering physics at a school that is taking it's programme very seriously. like the elite schools of developed countries.

shamrock5585

true but not only that... theres alot of factors... some of the smartest teachers i knew were also the worst teachers... they new exactly what they were talking about and had many patents but had trouble conveying their knowledge!

Fearless

shamrock5585: Of course. But the best courses are actually the courses which get graded on the fail side of things. That means a normal person fails two or three times and a gifted person doesn't get more than a pass the first time. A engineering degree with only exams like that would really be an elite degree.

Cyrus

Who the hell cares if one is harder than another? This is such a bullsh!t compairson. Anyone who does not realize this is well...........not cut for engineering. Or, more likely, they dont have a clue about anything.

Astronuc

I tend to agree with Cyrus's last comment.

A degree is hard work - if you want to be the best.

I don't think comparing different engineering disciplines is useful. One needs to find a discipline in which one enjoys and is willing to make a contribution.

The level of rigor will be program dependent, and personally I prefer a rigorous program.

turbo

That is key. The Chem E program at the University of Maine was a key feeder program for the Pulp and Paper industry, which was HUGE in Maine in 1970. The program was tough and thorough.