Mechanical engineering vs chemical engineering

Need some advice on whether to go to the university of Leeds to study Chemical engineering or Newcastle University to study Mechanical engineering.

Reply 1

Smack

Volunteer Team

Original post by mikeliterous

Need some advice on whether to go to the university of Leeds to study Chemical engineering or Newcastle University to study Mechanical engineering.

Which discipline interests you the most?

Reply 2

mikeliterous

Original post by Smack

Which discipline interests you the most?

Aspects of both courses interest me. Intially, I was more interested in Mechanical engineering however with more research, i found that chemical engineering isn’t entirely chemistry based. I know that Mechanical is the broader of the two branches which offers more job opportunities however i heard that chemical jobs may be higher paid. Furthermore, Leeds has more prestige with regards to engineering with Chemical engineering being ranked 8th in the UK. However i have also heard that the undergraduate uni really doesn’t matter. Conclusion: very confused

Reply 3

Smack

Volunteer Team

Original post by mikeliterous

What kinds of things interest you, engineering-wise? I.e. do you like cars, planes, computers, industrial plants etc?

How long do you have to make a decision?

Reply 4

mikeliterous

Original post by Smack

What kinds of things interest you, engineering-wise? I.e. do you like cars, planes, computers, industrial plants etc?

How long do you have to make a decision?

I could see myself either specialising in either renewable energy, areonautical or biomedical, still undecided.

With regards to time, im not sure when clearing closes, as well the limited time the clearing place is available if another person takes it.

Reply 5

H.a.hx

Original post by mikeliterous

Perhaps mechanical would be more suited to you then. Look into course content such as module and see which one you would enjoy more.

Reply 6

trapking

Chemical Engineers are just Mechanical Engineers with a few months of chemistry under their belt :wink:

Reply 7

Student-95

If you don't have a strong preference for the course, do you have one for the uni? You're going to be there a long time so that's a big factor here.

Reply 8

University of Bradford

Official Rep

Hi @mikeliterous

Have you visited the unis and talked to them about their first year offering? Did one of them make you feel more excited than the other?

Our first year for all engineering courses is a multidisciplinary year meaning that students get experience in all four of our engineering disciplines before they go on to a specialism. This could help you to make sure that you are the most passionate about the area you are studying, so see if they offer a module structure similar to this.

Who are you more likely to get good industry links with? Other things to consider may well be class sizes (which uni will you get the most time with lecturers and techs?), cost of living and societies.

Good luck

Emma P

Reply 9

jaysmith_91

I chose Mechanical Engineering in the end. I have to say, the amount of fields open to someone with a Mech Eng degree is ridiculous. Not sure if there are as many diverse opportunities with Chemical

With Chemical you could make a lot of money in say the petroleum industry, but with mechanical, there's perhaps more options. Like 1/3 of people go into finance, and another 1/3 go into business consultancy and management tracks, and the final third of ME grads go into anything from aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, medical devices. Case in point I had a friend graduate with MEng Mechanical Engineering and got a graduate job with Google.