When to Study Engineering?

Engineering is not every student's cup of tea. Although easier from studying pure sciences, it is still very difficult. What is extremely important for studying any form of engineering is a good background in mathematics. Maths drives all branches of engineering. In Electrical it comes up in solving circuits or manipulating images (matrices!). In Computer Science, it comes up algorithm design and in robotics. In Chemical Engineering, Maths is used to solve complex differential equations and also to predicts things going on in a chemical plant. In Civil Engineering, Math is used in studying traffic movement, managing traffic lights optimally, and modeling underground movements of roads. One popular branch of mathematics used commonly is probability. Probability is about estimating things and in life nothing can be certain. Hence, engineering decision are often based on probability. For example if a robot is moving a trying to follow a particular line then it will calculate the probability of a line being in a certain place and accordingly go in the direction in which the probability is maximized. This is just one simple example of where probability plays a key role in engineering. My point here is that, if you are good at Maths, you are bound to well in Engineering.

But if you really enjoy Math, then you may not like Engineering! See, in Engineering we do more applied Mathematics and for people, who want to see proofs of things, they should actually study pure Mathematics. Topics covered there are not about solving integrals and taking derivatives, but how to understand integrals and derivatives from a more sophisticated point of view. To some, this view point is more interesting that redundant problems of calculating integrals just for the fun of it.

What role does Physics and Chemistry play in Engineering? Mechanics play a big role in Mechanical Engineering and Electricity and Magnetism plays some role in Electrical Engineering. Physics is also crucial in Chemical Engineering where you study a lot of thermodynamics (can be classified as chemistry as well). In Civil Engineering, you study more Geology (motion of earthquakes and other things) than Physics and Chemistry. Thus, everything again is applied. If someone really enjoys the concepts of Physics, then he/she should actually study Physics and go into research fields in the future.

In the same way, if someone enjoys Chemistry, he/she should study Chemistry. Actually, Chemistry, amongst PCM, has the best job prospects in Industry because it's application in drug research. So, studying Chemistry, Organic Chemistry in particular, can be very rewarding financially.