It's Not About Molecules, It's About Pipes

Dinosaur Juice

The Petrochemical & Heavy Industry Titans. These are the traditionalists. They wear steel-toed boots, have a scary understanding of fluid dynamics, and are actively preparing to move to the Gulf Coast. Their curriculum is 90% learning how to build a 150-foot distillation column so they can refine fossil fuels and get paid an absurd amount of money at 22. If it doesn't involve a hard hat and thousands of gallons of explosive liquids, they don't care.

# ▲	University	Location	Degrees	Accept	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employ
1	U. of Texas at Austin Austin, TX	Austin, TX	138	22%	55% / 45%	4%	$111,607	98	98%	—
2	Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX	College Station, TX	185	52%	62% / 38%	0%	$129,746	99	97%	—
3	U. of Houston Houston, TX	Houston, TX	74	76%	59% / 41%	8%	$100,804	98	97%	—
4	Louisiana State Baton Rouge, LA	Baton Rouge, LA	69	71%	55% / 45%	6%	$120,171	99	96%	—
5	U. of Oklahoma - Norman Norman, OK	Norman, OK	39	72%	56% / 44%	8%	$98,570	97	98%	—
6	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO	Golden, CO	181	29%	48% / 52%	2%	$95,328	94	96%	—
7	Purdue West Lafayette, IN	West Lafayette, IN	183	43%	64% / 36%	5%	$96,727	96	98%	—
8	Pennsylvania State University Park, PA	University Park, PA	135	55%	69% / 31%	11%	$103,730	97	96%	—
9	Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA	Atlanta, GA	155	13%	49% / 51%	15%	$101,912	97	98%	—
10	U. of Florida Gainesville, FL	Gainesville, FL	81	20%	56% / 44%	2%	$104,248	98	95%	—
11	U. of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA	Pittsburgh, PA	64	59%	58% / 42%	2%	$94,230	94	93%	—
12	U. of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	Salt Lake City, UT	55	82%	76% / 24%	4%	$95,627	96	95%	—
13	U. of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI	Madison, WI	82	41%	63% / 37%	24%	$104,326	97	98%	—

White-Collar Drug Lords

The Bio/Pharma & Molecular Innovators. The traditional ChemEs look at these people and say, "That's just biology with extra math." They spend their time tinkering with E. coli, obsessing over protein folding, and preparing to work for Big Pharma. They will never see the inside of an oil refinery, but they might figure out how to mass-produce the next blockbuster mRNA vaccine. They wear sterile white lab coats instead of high-vis vests.

# ▲	University	Location	Degrees	Accept	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employ
1	Johns Hopkins Baltimore, MD	Baltimore, MD	63	6%	48% / 52%	22%	$106,492	95	88%	—
2	MIT Cambridge, MA	Cambridge, MA	32	5%	31% / 69%	3%	$117,348	98	90%	—
3	U. of California, San Diego La Jolla, CA	La Jolla, CA	108	29%	55% / 45%	8%	$87,076	87	94%	—
4	Tufts Medford, MA	Medford, MA	32	11%	44% / 56%	16%	$108,616	95	97%	—
5	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO	Saint Louis, MO	25	12%	52% / 48%	12%	$111,293	96	91%	—
6	U. of California, Irvine Irvine, CA	Irvine, CA	37	29%	62% / 38%	14%	$90,287	90	94%	—
7	U. of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Philadelphia, PA	21	5%	43% / 57%	19%	$153,550	100	100%	—
8	U. of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	Charlottesville, VA	29	13%	45% / 55%	0%	$114,488	98	88%	—
9	Vanderbilt Nashville, TN	Nashville, TN	30	5%	43% / 57%	10%	$111,909	96	100%	—

Polymer Whisperers & Battery Bros

The Materials, Nano & Soft Matter Architects. These engineers are obsessed with things you can't even see. They are convinced the future is entirely made of advanced plastics, bendable screens, and solid-state batteries. They sit somewhere between mechanical engineers and wizards, trying to force molecules to behave so we can all have lighter laptops and electric cars that don't catch on fire. They use the word "nanoscale" entirely too much.

# ▲	University	Location	Degrees	Accept	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employ
1	Cornell Ithaca, NY	Ithaca, NY	50	8%	56% / 44%	6%	$113,579	97	97%	—
2	Northwestern Evanston, IL	Evanston, IL	24	7%	67% / 33%	8%	$118,895	98	97%	—
3	U. of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Santa Barbara, CA	49	38%	63% / 37%	14%	$93,814	92	95%	—
4	U. of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Berkeley, CA	101	11%	55% / 45%	11%	$110,512	98	93%	—
5	U. of Delaware Newark, DE	Newark, DE	71	72%	59% / 41%	8%	$93,668	93	97%	—
6	U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	Champaign, IL	100	37%	59% / 41%	12%	$108,509	98	99%	—
7	U. of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Ann Arbor, MI	93	16%	53% / 47%	8%	$99,495	91	96%	—
8	U. of Washington Seattle, WA	Seattle, WA	83	42%	57% / 43%	10%	$87,541	91	94%	—
9	Arizona State Tempe, AZ	Tempe, AZ	84	88%	71% / 29%	6%	$100,340	97	95%	—
10	U. of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	Boulder, CO	68	71%	54% / 46%	6%	$105,910	97	94%	—
11	Case Western Reserve Cleveland, OH	Cleveland, OH	46	35%	52% / 48%	17%	$102,544	92	97%	—
12	UCLA Los Angeles, CA	Los Angeles, CA	77	9%	39% / 61%	18%	$92,835	92	98%	—
13	U. of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Los Angeles, CA	27	11%	48% / 52%	7%	$93,925	87	98%	—
14	U. of Connecticut Storrs, CT	Storrs, CT	45	54%	80% / 20%	4%	$89,961	91	96%	—
15	U. of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	College Park, MD	56	45%	55% / 45%	0%	$86,829	90	91%	—
16	New York University New York, NY	New York, NY	58	9%	40% / 60%	26%	$97,014	91	97%	—

High-Vis Vests & Factory Floor Grunts

The Co-op & Manufacturing Practitioners. The blue-collar heroes of the engineering world. While the Ivy League kids are debating theoretical thermodynamics, these students have already worked three semesters on a literal factory floor making soap, Doritos, or industrial solvents. They are fueled by caffeine, practically live in safety goggles, and graduate with a resume that makes corporate recruiters weep with joy. They actually know how to use a wrench.

# ▲	University	Location	Degrees	Accept	Male/Female	Intl	Earnings	ROI	Employ
1	Northeastern Boston, MA	Boston, MA	81	22%	52% / 48%	5%	$98,529	91	99%	—
2	U. of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH	Cincinnati, OH	94	85%	60% / 40%	4%	$97,282	96	100%	—
3	North Carolina State Raleigh, NC	Raleigh, NC	152	40%	51% / 49%	3%	$105,993	98	95%	—
4	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	Blacksburg, VA	71	55%	56% / 44%	1%	$99,964	97	94%	—
5	Iowa State Ames, IA	Ames, IA	76	85%	61% / 39%	9%	$101,546	97	97%	—
6	Ohio State Columbus, OH	Columbus, OH	127	49%	65% / 35%	6%	$100,481	96	95%	—
7	Michigan State East Lansing, MI	East Lansing, MI	70	83%	60% / 40%	10%	$96,363	93	96%	—
8	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	Troy, NY	49	63%	49% / 51%	6%	$103,797	95	99%	—
9	U. of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL	Chicago, IL	44	76%	57% / 43%	7%	$89,756	94	97%	—

Math Masochists Scared of Actual Chemicals

The Computational & Theoretical Pioneers. These students are doing Chemical Engineering entirely on a supercomputer. They haven't touched a physical beaker since freshman year and are deeply terrified of actual, physical chemical spills. Instead, they write extremely complex algorithms to simulate chemical reactions. They are destined to get a PhD, write papers with 14 variables in a single equation, and judge anyone who works in a real factory.