HeartThais Posted October 5, 2009 Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 I guess it depends what you consider a hard science. I think being a doctor requires more memorization skills than raw math intelligence. If he's not falling absolutely in love with calculus now, I highly doubt that he'll enjoy multivariate calculus, linear algebra or partial differential equations. As far as I know, those are the standard university level math requirements for an engineering degree. I'm serious about finance. The guys who work in sales can usually only add/subtract/multiply/divide and some make a ton of money. Asian financial markets will be a really fruitful place to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rchapstick Posted October 6, 2009 Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 What type of engineering did you have in mind? Agricultural Engineering Architectural Engineering Bioengineering/Biomedical Engineering Ceramic Engineering Chemical Engineering Civil Engineering Computer Engineering Electrical Engineering Environmental Engineering Fire Protection Engineering Industrial Engineering Manufacturing Engineering Mechanic Engineering Metallurgy and Materials Engineering Mineral and Mining Engineering Nuclear Engineering Ocean Engineering Transportation Engineering You left out "Choo Choo" Engineering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth1978 Posted October 6, 2009 Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 Hey OP, I'm a 31yr old guy that's currently considering going back to Uni to do a petroleum engineering degree. Last weekend I spent about 10hrs reading a forum called College Confidential (search google for it), they have a sub-forum on engineering, I'd highly recommend checking it out, it will answer pretty much all your questions. As other posters have mentioned, your son/friend (I forgot) really needs to have a bit of natural talent for maths, as engineering degrees are known to be quite taxing, mainly in their workload, but probably also in their difficulty (especially for someone without an affinity for math/physics/etc). These degrees are designed this way to test the students; afterall, would you really want some slacker building a bridge, hospital, refinery, etc. Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WorldFun Posted October 6, 2009 Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 while 'core engineering' degrees might turn out a gold mine given some career skill/luck it seems at least in LOS/SEA 'sales' (engineers) are the top sough after which I guess one can qualify either with engineering degree or some sort of business/marketing degree & experiences in the technical domain such as telco/petro/cars/IT-SW/etc. but really key is to go for something within one's capabilities/interest else it wont turn out well in the end... good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean Posted October 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 I remember college calculus as my last math course and not too fondly. I wouldn't try to push anyone into a field sthat doesn't interest them. My problem is now, he is taking english, algebra, world geography and then his "punt" courses (art, drawing and P.E.) which have no homework and, thankfully, inflate his GPA. I won't have a true reading of his interests until he gets out of English ELL, which may be the spring of 2011. I do expect him to have a game plan on how to turn his college degree into a decent paying career, hopefully here but maybe in LOS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTO Posted October 7, 2009 Report Share Posted October 7, 2009 Like Mekong I was Maths - Advanced Maths - and other maths at school - three different levels - Physics and Chemistry - yet Engineering wasn't me first trade. It found me - it's very satisfying as I like to build things - create things - things I build are advanced satellite based networks (usually but not always) - satisfaction in creating a network no one else has - very rewarding emotionally and can be financially too. Real money to be made in finance but I personally believe you should be doing a job you want to do. I do my job refusing more boring higher paid ones because I believe in what I do - hasn't been the success I hoped - but the changes I've made are now being introduced around the globe so that to me is very rewarding. Plus you don't have to spell reel guod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mekong Posted October 7, 2009 Report Share Posted October 7, 2009 Plus you don't have to spell reel guod. 5555 reminds me of a discussion my engineering manager had with me a few weeks ago, he said "I have Just written a Letter to the Contractor and the first paragraph was full of Acronyms and Abbreviations and only contained 3 actual words ... at that point I realised I was writing about Controls Systems" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaiHome Posted October 7, 2009 Report Share Posted October 7, 2009 I think it may be a bit much to expect a kid of 15 or 16 to have some sort of life plan, particularly if he shows no special interest in anything. If you make him do it, he won’t follow it anyway and will forever resent you for trying to dominate him. At that age all you can do is gently encourage him to do well enough in school now to be able to attend a college or even junior college. If by chance he gets a degree in anything, it will probably have little to do with whatever job/career he ends up with anyway. If he works in some position in the US for a few years, maybe as much as 5-10, then he will be able to come to Thailand and get a similar position and be on the top Thai pay scale. If he chooses to come back to Thailand right out of college in the US, he will still be in demand and should do well. I would go so far to say that even if he goes to a vocational type college (electrical, instrumentation, mechanic, whatever), he would do well in Thailand job market. TH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTO Posted October 7, 2009 Report Share Posted October 7, 2009 Agree totally with TH (What is the world coming too) Personally life I think is pretty boring if you decide young and stay in the one job for life - pretty much most people I know have changed from what they "thought" - or more acuurately what Mum and Dad thought would be a good career - to something hopefully they enjoy more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThaiHome Posted October 7, 2009 Report Share Posted October 7, 2009 Agree totally with TH ... TH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.