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How many things do i have to major in to be an airplane engineer?

im a high school student who knows people in engineering airplanes and they have alot of money so how many things do i have to major in to get to where they are. #engineering #mechanical-engineering #electrical-engineering #aerospace-engineering

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Brad’s Answer

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You only need to major in one thing. You can be a mechanical engineer, an aerospace engineer (which is basically a mechanical engineer focused on aircraft - whereas mechanical engineering is much more broad). Electrical engineers can work on airplanes as well - there's a lot of electrical systems. Material engineers work on airplanes as well. There's no need to do a dual major, unless you don't want to have any fun in college.


I'm a bit biased (as I am a mechanical engineer who had an internship at Boeing), I would suggest that you study mechanical engineering. Many people may offer other advice and it's up to you to make the decision, but the main reason that I would suggest mechanical engineering is because it is broad.


Believe it or not, you may find out you don't want to work on airplanes and a mechanical engineering degree will give you more options to do something else. Yes, airplanes are AWESOME, they are one of my favorite things (right up there with audio) but keep in mind they are very big. As an engineer on an airplane you will work on a VERY SMALL part of the airplane - something like a bracket, a seat, an overhead bin, an small portion of the wing. If you like being a small part of something big, DO IT and LOVE IT! For me, I would rather be a big part of something small, and I quickly found out that airplanes are too big for me.


Bottom line, engineering rocks. I have tons of non-engineering friends who look at what I do say to me "engineers have all of the fun" - this was not a statement I heard much during undergrad, but I hear it all the time now!

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Gary’s Answer

I agree -- you don't need multiple degrees. You just need an engineering degree. If this is something you're really serious about, definitely look into which schools are most reputable in the field. A couple of ways to do this: (1) Contact the recruiting offices at some potential employers you might want to work for (American Airlines, Boeing, Airbus, The Air Force, etc.) and ask them which universities they recruit at, so that you can apply to those universities. They'll love your story, and I'm sure you'll get replies. (2) Find universities with aerospace programs and ask them for a list of the companies that recruit ON CAMPUS each year, and how many people got jobs straight out of school. You'll want to make sure that your University is setting you up properly for a position.


In the short term, don't forget to rock your Math and science courses! And when I mean rock, I mean ROCK. You need to ROCK them. Become so good with math and science that you could teach the class if you wanted to. That will give you a good foundation to build your future!

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