Should I major in environmental engineering? Is it a difficult major?

[Julianne]

I'm currently a sophomore and thinking about majors. I've thought about doing something in environmental science since I have a passion for it. I considered environmental engineering and am interested in this.

Is environmental engineering a difficult major? I consider myself to be okay in math and physics and science. Not the best, but I don't think I'm the worst student. More like the average student.

I don't know if I should go through with this major because I don't know how hard it will be and if I can handle it. I'm willing to work hard for it and put all my effort in it and my interests lie in that field.

[Gabriel]

In my opinion I don't think your interests should solely be the reason for selecting a major. Times are tough now a days, you have to consider the job market and research if there is a demand for environmental engineers around your area or around where you want to work. Overall, I know there is a relatively lower demand for it worldwide if you compare it with hardware engineering or petroleum engineering. But that was not your question, I just had to let you know.

About difficulty, if you're a sophomore then I will be assuming you have taken all the basic math (calculus) and mechanics (statics/dynamics) courses demanded by most engineering schools. Also the insignificant but yet mandatory statistics, logic,etc blah blah blah minute social science courses which have absolutely no purpose for engineering students. If not then those will be your first hurdles, it was kind of hard for me because I was not ready for that level of difficulty. But...once you get over it, the last 2 years of college will really be more interesting rather than hard, especially since you have an interest for it. I did Civil Engineering by the way and the first couple of years were the hardest I had to endure...I had to take some environmental classes and I was bored, I don't know maybe waste water, water supply, or soil pollution etc...weren't really my interests.

Bottom line. As an engineering student, you will face all the courses that you have to pass at first, which are more difficult in my opinion, than the ones that actually matter; which will come towards the end of college. The job market should really be your concern though, people choose a field because they "enjoy" it and they end up working minimum wage jobs because the generation has kind of gotten colder and specialists are more in demand than generalists. Also ask your professors and advisers about the matter because it's pretty serious, don't make the decision without thorough research. Have you considered studying database systems, programming, or something in the health industry ( yuck I hate medicine btw...but they're having demands right not).

Good luck on your quest.