Engineering vs. Other (appropiatly placed this time, I hope)

[jaer57]

You have made a great pro/con list! I only have one small piece of advice if you decide on an engineering career. Pay attention the the accreditation of the school. ABET is the "gold standard" for engineering degrees. Penn State's school of engineering is ABET-accredited, but if you do a distance degree you should make sure it is ABET. I believe Excelsior's EET degree is ABET accredited.

Anyways, after my service in the Marine Corps I completed an electronics degree that is not ABET accredited and found work as an engineering technician. I have noticed that while non-ABET degrees can find technician work easily, if you wish to work in an engineering position, especially design, an ABET degree is a must. Beyond that, experience is the only other way into design which is what I"m going to have to build off of. Also, if you want to be a licensed professional engineer (PE), an ABET degree shortens the path by 8 years. I need 8 years experience in engineering before I can even test for the engineer-in-training (EIT) license that a graduate with an ABET degree could test for immediately which is the first step toward a PE license. This varies by state, but it's mostly the same.

Anyways, I think you have a great pro/con list, and it's obvious you have put some real thought into this. I think you just need to decide to engineer or not to engineer. It's a very challenging and rewarding field. Good luck!