I'm not an engineer, but I do have some advice. You're not going to be happy if you pick the path with jobs available vs. the path that you enjoy. If you're good at what you do, you'll find the right job no matter which path you choose, so pick the one that's going to make you happy.

Remember, the decision you make now could very well be what you have to live with for the rest of your working days.

I don't know whether to take offense to that statement or not. You just insulted me twice. Firstly by saying coding jobs aren't challenging and secondly by lumping me in with EE's. Don't you know never to compare a Computer Engineer with an Electrical Engineer. Don't worry, I'm just giving you a hard time. EE's are my sworn enemy, and we must be on guard against them at all times.

Really, you should do what ever you will enjoy most. If you can talk to people who have gone through the various programs, do! Find out what they thought of it, where they are at now and what they enjoyed/hated about it. I can talk to you about Computer Engineering if you want, and I have a friend who took Electrical Engineering who would probably love to talk about what she does.

You can definately get a job in the energy industry with Chem. E.
The problem is most of those jobs are in Texas, Oklahoma, Alaska, corporate offices of the giants and on rigs in random places.

I guess to clarify a classmate of mine (we both work full time) works for a technical company and most of the EEs he knows does coding work. Why? I have no idea. I'm sure coding is challenging but when I think EE I think nanotech (although I see a lot of CE in that field as well) or new tech stuff.

I appreciate all the help so far. For me, I'm going to love having a job in any branch that gives me a challenging job that will give my family a better life. I messed up and did not go to school right out of the military and have been bouncing around low paying jobs ever since always striving for more due to my military experience but always hitting the "non-degree" ceiling and having to start over due to company layoff etc.

This degree will allow me to be more financially secure and be able to (hopefully) challenge my skills and cranium.

As far as choosing the field you like, it really is tough to tell exactly "what" each field is capable of. Due to the age thing, i guess i feel I have one chance to "get it right:. I guess Sheared said it best that like other degrees a lot of people branch out into areas. If I move forward in CE, USF also has a good materials minor and they are doing some research I believe.

Also , how do people feel about leaving school with a Masters vice Bachelor?

Keep the opinions coming

I've got a degree in Electrical Engineering along with a Professional Engineering license. I work in the power industry, with a focus on power transmission system operations and expansion planning. It's an exciting and challenging field, and it's also an industry with an aging workforce who will be in dire need of engineers in 5-10 years.

So far as working on new technologies, power generation and storage and big issues, and some of the challenging facing our industry is to work on how to incorporate renewable energy projects onto the power system. For example, the forecasts are estimating 20,000 MWs of wind generation in Oklahoma and Kansas within 20 years, how can we integrate that wind energy to the grid, deliver that power from where the wind is to where the load is, and operate the system with resources that are intermittent. Some other challenges that the industry will be facing coming up will are demand-side management, energy markets, distributed generation, integration of electric vehicles. Some new technologies that will be emerging are superconductors, energy storage, DC power transmission, solid-state switching.

So far as jobs in North Carolina (in my industry), ABB has a large work force in Raleigh. Additionally, Duke Energy is in Charlotte. With a degree in EE, you can work almost anywhere, specifically if you focus on building electrical systems, industrial distribution systems, or control systems.

I wish you well in your studies and would be willing to answer any questions that I can.

I would say that you ought not pick the field based on job prospects -- the tradeoff probably won't seem like a good one years down the road when you're not doing what you would like to be doing.

My background is not likely helpful, but here it is for what it's worth. I got a Bachelor's and Master's in Aerospace Engineering, then went into law. I knew a few people who wanted to work in aerospace but chose EE or ME instead of AE, because aerospace companies hire people with those degrees as well, and those degrees don't narrow your choices as much as AE. But none of the people I know who went the AE route ever seemed to regret it (even the ones who have been laid off a few times). They really wanted to be in aerospace and were willing to risk the more difficult job market.

When I was in school I knew several people studying ChemE, but I can't say much about it other than: (i) they tended to be cooler than the rest of us (I am not saying they thought they were cooler -- they really were cooler, and generally very nice people), and (ii) that field seems very different from the other engineering disciplines -- it is the one that I feel like I understand the least. Something about polymers and distillation towers, I think.

Good luck with your decision.

I had several friends go the Chem E path, if that's the path you're taking then Chem classes are probably the way to go. You'll have Organic Chem. and Physical Chem. ahead of you, and judging by their groaning about the subjects, you'll definitely want to be ready for those. I definitely benefited from an extra chem class when I was in the sole Chem E class I had to take.

Don't worry about engineering, it's pretty easy. Just make sure to whack stuff with your wrench while it's building to make it build faster, spy-check everyone who comes near your stuff, and watch out for stickies.

Is it sad that when I saw the title of this thread, the first engineer I thought of was this:

then the second I thought of was this:

?

If you want to do government work, the Masters will pay off right away. If you don't, though, at your age I would be more worried about getting out there and gaining experience than a fancier degree.

If you're interested in chemical engineering and your wife would settle on being REAL close to NC. I then recommend Eastman Chemical in Kingsport TN.

Kingsport is their main office, but they do have a location in NC so depending on what you did you could end up with a win/win.

Good input so far!

I'm in my 30s, married and left my drinking days behind me in the navy so not too worried about the partying.

Good points. I guess what I say to you and other that have said do what you enjoy vice money jobs is, how the heck do you know what jobs are out there?

I really initially chose the CE direction because I thought it would be more science related (although I guess a lot is plant ops). The"path that suits what you want to do" gets me though. There is no book of engineering jobs that derive from various fields. I know I'll make good money in any field so that is why I'm trolling for info to make some decisions.

Bennard, great points. That info is kind of what I'm looking for in regards to what kind of jobs are available out there. And again, NC is top of my wife's list for places to move after I get out of school.

See, this interests me.

Really you need to look at it the other way around. Don't think, what jobs can I get from this degree. But rather, think what degree do I need to get to do this job. Think about what job it is you want to do. That will tell you what degree you need.

I was going to speak up as a software engineer, but then I read the "If I go EE, I don't want just a coding job or such, I want something challenging, etc." and was blinded by fury!!!11

Well no, not really. I think an EE degree for doing coding is a disservice anyway. A comp sci degree is going to be a lot easier.

I graduated with my Masters in EE myself, focused on Computer Engineering. I'm now doing systems engineering for a big company you've heard of, but I can't see myself doing this long-term. To be honest, I like software development and wouldn't mind doing that.

I don't know what to recommend, but just want to let you know that one of the fields in EE is Power which may have some tie to chemical engineering principles. Also, a lot of the chemical engineers I knew were interested in the biomedical stuff, which is a field that signal processing and now devices (research MEMS) are used in.

Also know the advice sheared gave about an engineering education is totally true.