PRO's & CON's: Energy Balances (Jacob's Version)

I haven't posted to the main blog in a while either, so when I saw Christine's recent past, I thought I would do my own version of it (although I didn't really get her permission... better to seek forgiveness, right?).

So I've recently come to the conclusion that I'm basically not in the right major. I honestly should have realized this earlier... I think I just wasn't paying enough attention to! ;)

I want to be a chemical engineer (which is reflected by my current major, chemical engineering), but I don't want to run a plant. According to the reliable source that is Wikipedia, there are two types of chemical engineers: chemical product engineers and chemical process engineers. Chemical product engineers work to develop new products and materials (think research and development), while chemical process engineers work on methods to synthesize products (think designing and running a plant). I want to work on the development of materials (possibly polymers, but I'm open to other things too).

I went into this major expecting it to at least be partially focused on product engineering, but the closest the curriculum gets to covering material relevant to what I actually want to do is just the required chemistry classes. Almost every single class actually offered by my major is a class regarding some sort of mass or energy balance/transfer -- essentially, figuring out what goes in/out of a pipe.

When I figured this out a couple weeks ago, I kind of had an internal crisis because I really didn't want to change majors. So I talked to an ad advisor, and apparently I can easily get a job in chemical product engineering with the degree towards which I'm currently working (keep in mind that my school doesn't have a materials science major), which was a relief, but didn't really solve my problem... SO! here's my list, to finish things up:

Pro's:

• I can get a job in a field in which I'm actually interested.
• I can gain some extra knowledge that might come in handy down the road.

Con's:

• I have to deal with all these God-awful transfer classes for two more years...

</rant>

Jacob