If you are young and talented and also considering a career in engineering, there are so many reasons for you to study this course. Just like all career choices, studying engineering has its pros and cons, though they vary, depending on your reasons for choosing the career. Some people study engineering as a course, some do so to further their education, while some do so as an apprenticeship.
In this article, we have put down all you need to know about engineering as a program and what to do to excel in this field.
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Table of Contents
What Skills Do You Need to Study Engineering?
It is always helpful if one has a passion for the course he or she wants to study. You need to be interested in the subject because that would help you to go through the challenges without giving up. To study engineering, you have to understand that the majority of the work to be done is going to be practical.
Aside from being passionate about the course, you will need a lot of logical, critical, and creative thinking. You must be able to think outside the box because some challenging tasks may not have an immediate solution.
Teamwork is also required. This means that you would work with a variety of people from different work backgrounds. You could be made the team leader and this is another task on its own. As an engineer, you need to take people skills seriously because you will need them for career advancement.
Communication skills are also in high demand for an engineer who is keen on making a great career out of his profession. Effective communication skills help you to interact effectively with other professionals, as well as understand what is required of you at every point in time.
Do I Need High Grades to Study Engineering?
Yes, you do. Grades are very important to study any type of course, though you will need to select the right course first. This is because there are many engineering majors. For you to focus on any field, your grades in that subject matter are very very necessary. You must strive to get adequate grades in the compulsory subjects required for your major. For instance, if you need to study mechanical engineering, you must be great at physics.
Your grades will help you gain admission into college or university to study the course. Mathematics is also compulsory, irrespective of your major. Putting it straight, if you are not good at mathematics and do not have any interest in the subject, then, engineering is not for you. No engineer can survive in the engineering world without mathematics. You will need it at every level of your degree, so get yourself prepared.
How Difficult is it to Study Engineering?
When it comes to the hardest courses to study, engineering ranks among the most difficult. You do not just need your grades, you need other qualities like logical reasoning, common sense, and a great amount of resilience and patience because it is going to be difficult sometimes. You are not just becoming an engineer, you are becoming a professional problem solver. Therefore, you need to buckle down and get ready for the task ahead.
Engineering has chewed so many people up and spat them out, making them very strong and qualified to be a professional in this field. Some of the biggest names in the world of business have degrees in engineering. Neil Armstrong, and Bill Nye, to mention but a few did not just acquire the degree, they were prepared for whatever the world of engineering has to offer. Consistently, engineering has ranked as one of the hardest degrees to offer anywhere in the world.
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What Does it Cost to Offer Engineering?
It is almost not easy to pinpoint the exact cost of offering an engineering degree. It varies based on the university and country involved. For instance, an international student is sure to pay higher than a national studying at the same university. Nevertheless, an estimated cost of £8 000 to £12 000 is required.
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How Long Does it Require to Get an Engineering Degree?
It is compulsory to have a degree if you must be an engineer. Many students who offer STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects experience a longer duration to graduate than students in lesser demanding courses. The length of time required to obtain an engineering degree could be as little as two years and as long as ten years if you are working towards an advanced degree. Do not just consider how long it will take you to obtain a degree certificate, also put into consideration the efforts needed to complete the degree program and what to gain as an expert afterward.
Bachelor’s degree
Furthermore, you need to understand that obtaining an engineering degree within the space of two years does not make you an engineer. You need at least, a bachelor’s degree in engineering to get an entry-level job. In some job requirements as well, a master’s degree or higher might be the least requirement.
The engineering certificate or degree you can obtain in two years can only be termed an ‘associate degree’. Associate degrees come in two aspects: it could be just to learn the basics of engineering which would usher you ahead of a four-year degree study in college or university. You cannot work as an engineer with just an associate degree.
A field of study known as engineering technology can also offer you a two-year engineering technology degree. You can get a job with it, not as an engineering graduate, but as an engineering technician or technologist. Your work could be to assist graduate engineers or work with engineering equipment. You have to also bear in mind that your salary as a technician or technologist cannot be as high as that of graduate degree holders.
Furthermore, a typical bachelor’s degree in any field of study requires a full-time study of at least four years. The engineering curriculum is too rigorous and requires that you give yourself enough studies, assignments, and projects.
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Master’s Program
For engineering master’s degree programs, it can be completed in two years of full-time study. However, it may also take a longer time to complete. Many full-time working-class engineering graduates studied part-time to have enough time devoted to their studies. On average, students spend up to three years to complete an online master’s degree program in engineering. However, if it were to be face-to-face classroom learning, it might just take two years to complete.
Some schools allow students to run a dual-degree program where they run both bachelor’s and master’s degree programs concurrently. In cases like this, it might just require five years for the student to obtain both degrees.
Doctorate Degree
A doctoral degree in engineering takes an average of above eight years to complete. A typical PhD in engineering is a research degree. For high-level research positions at universities, government research laboratories, and competitive industry roles, you will need a PhD in engineering.
For engineers who are not interested in research programs, it could take them as little as three years to obtain a PhD in engineering. They would become Doctor of Engineering at the end of the program. They are only qualified for technical leadership positions instead of research and academic positions. However, it is important to note that you must have a master’s degree in engineering to qualify.
Important Factors Consider While Seeking Admission to Study Engineering
To study engineering in any school, it is recommended that you reach out to several schools before making your choice. You will have better options to aid you in making comparisons regarding the school’s entrance requirements, academic offerings, cost of tuition, scholarships, and financial aid. All these requirements vary from school to school, even though you are applying for the same engineering program.
1. Tuition
It is very necessary to ask the right questions when it comes to tuition. Find out if there are financial aid and scholarships available for engineering students that you could apply for. Applying for multiple scholarships is never an offense, as there are different available scholarships for all kinds of students.
2. Residency
If you are employed and are looking for a part-time degree offer, residency requirements should be found out. If you are offering an online program, this may not be necessary; however, in cases where you will need to be on campus in person, you will need to find out how many times a week you will need to attend classes. On a clearer note, there will be engineering programs you can take online and there will be some that mandate you to show up in class throughout the semester. There could also be part-time programs to be attended in the evenings or weekends.
3. Admission
You will need to find out the admission requirements for the program you are applying for. Not just that, the school you are applying to should be put into consideration too. For international students, standardized test scores like ACT/SAT, IELTS, TOEFL, and so on should be checked. Letters of recommendation and prior college degrees might also be required. The admission process is dependent on the school. Some schools offer more rigid courses and there are others with open enrollment which allows anyone to enroll in classes. You will need to find out all these.
4. Certificate requirements
Some advanced-level engineering programs may require you to have completed a type of certification program before you enroll for the program. They could also go further to request that the certification be obtained in a particular state, especially the state where the school is situated.
It is vital to note that the core requirements will differ based on the school you applied to. This is why you should talk directly to the school of your interest to hear from the horse’s mouth and not base your decision on hearsay or the requirements of other schools. It will save you a whole lot of stress when you do so.
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The Top 10 Most Popular Schools That Offer Engineering Programs
Many schools across the world offer engineering programs, but not all of them are considered the top schools when it comes to engineering. These top schools offer engineering degrees at both undergraduate and graduate levels, with their wide array of specialties and degree programs. Some of them also have many research centers and laboratories, as well as affiliate programs.
Studying in one of the best universities in the world is considered the best start, however, it is not the only way. Do not disregard other schools, simply because they are not at the top of the list. Thoroughly exploring your options helps you to make a good decision. The following are the top ten engineering schools you should not ignore.
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge
- Stanford University in Stanford (Stanford School of Engineering)
- University of California – Berkeley (Berkeley’s School of Engineering)
- University of Texas at Austin (Cockrell School of Engineering)
- University of Oxford, United Kingdom
- Princeton University, US
- ETH Zurich, Switzerland
- National University of Singapore, Singapore
- Imperial College, London
- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), US.
Career Path to Choose After Studying Engineering
It is somehow difficult for every fresh graduate to land a good job after school. However, it is not so with an engineering degree. The likelihood of landing a good job offer is not so difficult, though it all boils down to how hard you sought the job after your degree studies.
Your degree is going to qualify you for a great number of jobs to select from, even with more slightly enviable positions than graduates with other degrees. The skills you acquired from college or university are going to prepare you for several different opportunities because the skills are salable.
The following jobs are going to be much good for you to select from to build a great career path.
- Aerospace Engineering
- Automotive Engineering
- Maintenance Engineering
- Mining engineering
- Control and Instrumentation Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Nuclear Engineering
- Patent Attorney
- Technical Sales Engineering
- Production Manager
- Contracting Civil Engineering
- Water Engineering, and a host of them.
Why Study Engineering?
There are so many reasons to study engineering. Engineering provides you with a whole lot of things like job satisfaction, financial security, the flexibility of schedule, career advancement, intellectual development, and many more. Engineers are always in high demand, though their career is challenging. But the benefit is worth giving it a trial. Whatever the case may be, below are some of the reasons you should consider studying engineering.
1. You will acquire problem-solving skills
Some of the engineering courses help in instilling problem-solving skills in their students. As a trained engineer, you are going to be confident in these skills because they will help you to deal with some life issues effortlessly.
2. Engineering gives prestige
Engineers are admired wherever they are found. People get impressed on hearing that a particular person is an engineer. A lot of hard work and energy are put together to acquire a certificate in engineering. This makes people admire engineers and accord them great respect.
3. Engineers are talented
Engineers are one of the most talented sets of people on earth. With high creative thinking, these professionals get the most difficult jobs done. Not just that alone, teamwork is one of their strengths. They work together with like-minded people, so one person won’t have to fix the problem alone.
4. Engineering offers financial security
Engineers mostly find professional success in their careers. Engineers are paid handsomely and are even some of the highest-paid workers. Their starting salaries are among the highest for any college or university degree. With experience and additional training, an engineer can double his or her salary as quickly as possible.
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5. Engineering offers professional success
Engineering will help you achieve success in your career. A qualification in engineering will help you acquire professional success. With logical thinking, analytical skills, critical observation, and decision-making skills, an engineer can scale through every hurdle in life.
6. Engineers are employable
It may sound odd, but it seems employability comes with the career package of engineering. It is difficult to find an engineering professional who finds it difficult to secure a well-paying job. Even if one happens to lose his or her job, finding another one is never a problem. With more skills and experiences, comes a better chance of one’s employability. Not to exaggerate, engineers are some of the professionals that enjoy a low employment rate globally.
7. Engineering offers a better platform for becoming a CEO
Among Fortune 500 CEOs, engineering is the most common degree, with about a 20% margin. Most engineers are project managers and team leaders. With their knowledge of business and economics, they naturally fit into the position of a CEO when the duty is bestowed upon them to start a new company.
8. It is a good major
For those undergraduates who lack the basic knowledge of what they want to do with life, but have a good knowledge of mathematics and science, engineering is a good course to major in. Moreover, if you wish to switch from engineering to another course, it will not be difficult, as long as it is a related course. As a good major, engineering touches other aspects like business, communications, economics, ethics, and many more.
9. The world cannot survive without the engineers
Engineering is a profession that addresses real-world problems. engineers invent new things and also improve the qualities of substandard ones. With them, the world becomes more improved, offering better living conditions. Issues like pollution are better handled, new energy sources are harnessed, new drugs are produced and new structures are built.
10. Engineers enjoy a high level of job satisfaction
Job satisfaction makes one happy. This could be a result of so many factors at play and they include high income, flexibility of schedule, adequate allowances, good job security, and so on. With these factors, job satisfaction is possible.
11. Engineers think outside the box
With their creative abilities and experiences at play, engineers can solve a variety of problems at once. Sometimes, the solution to the problem might not be one of the everyday solutions one meets. Therefore, their creative minds would prod them to think outside the box to obtain the solution and get the work done. This is to say that engineers are excellent creative thinkers.
12. You can choose to earn as you learn
If you desire to obtain more certificates as an engineer, it is quite possible. There are a lot of such professionals in school who earn as they learn. You can be one of them.
13. Engineers travel the world round
As a highly skilled engineer, you are a hot cake in the job market. Your skills can be applied and utilized anywhere in the world. So, if you feel working overseas is the best option for you, making your dream a reality is never going to be a problem. Just try to do this one thing – get to learn other people’s languages. As a multilingual individual, you can combine your engineering skills with a foreign language.
14. You can contribute to the society as an engineer
This is just a fact. Society feels the work of engineers everywhere they go. Move down the lane, you will be driving on a road constructed by the engineers. What about the car? Sure, it is one of the products of engineering. Deciding to fly in the air, engineers constructed the airplane. Every aspect of society has experienced the Midas Touch of engineers. We cannot talk about innovations and advancement without mentioning the engineers as the pilots of the whole thing.
15. Without engineers, no business is possible
Every aspect of the business needs engineering to succeed. Before talking about any other thing, the very heart of the business which includes electricity, network connection, mobile phones, and so on, are the products of engineers. Is it possible to connect with other people living abroad just by sitting in the comfort of your home? Talking about the comfort of your home, what made your home comfortable is a result of engineers playing their professional roles.
Becoming an engineer is a difficult task, but the benefits are so much that you may not remember the rigorous process you passed through. If you wish to become an engineer, mount your horse, take up the reins, and soar.
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