re: Which branch of engineering is best from a jobs standpoint?

While folks point to the high initial pay of Petroleum engineering, remember the phrase "5 jobs". When times are good every graudate can choose from 5 jobs. When times are bad there are 5 jobs for the entire graduating class. It's up and down. No gaurantees that when you finish, the market will be anything like it was when you start.

My degree is in Mech. and wouldn't do it any other way. Best from a general concept point of view. You learn enough structural stuff to understand what a civil engineer says when you need to work with them. You learn enough process stuff to understand what a chemical engineer says when they lie *cough* tell you what you need. It positions one well for being an engineering manager overseeing all of the more specialized disciplines.

My only advice... take some accounting classes. I use maybe 2% of the engineering courses I took in school, but I use accounting concepts every day. You get absolutely no degree credit for it, but take the first and maybe the second accounting classes over a summer or something.

Remember... the most important thing you need to know in your enginnering career isn't actually engineering, and not taught in school. It's how to manage egos. Every engineer is right. All the time. Some background in psychology can be useful!