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%	57% / 43%	2%	$110,742	98	98%	—
2	Texas A&M University - College Station College Station, TX	College Station, TX	217	52%	52% / 48%	3%	$123,773	99	97%	—
3	U. of Houston Houston, TX	Houston, TX	78	66%	67% / 33%	10%	$99,077	98	97%	—
4	Louisiana State Baton Rouge, LA	Baton Rouge, LA	72	71%	65% / 35%	0%	$111,631	99	97%	—
5	U. of Oklahoma - Norman Norman, OK	Norman, OK	30	72%	63% / 37%	17%	$90,597	94	98%	—
6	Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO	Golden, CO	151	29%	48% / 52%	0%	$96,711	95	96%	—
7	Purdue West Lafayette, IN	West Lafayette, IN	137	43%	55% / 45%	12%	$94,979	96	98%	—
8	Pennsylvania State University Park, PA	University Park, PA	130	55%	62% / 38%	13%	$99,826	96	96%	—
9	Georgia Tech Atlanta, GA	Atlanta, GA	144	13%	45% / 55%	13%	$101,692	97	98%	—
10	U. of Florida Gainesville, FL	Gainesville, FL	117	23%	58% / 42%	6%	$104,630	98	95%	—
11	U. of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh, PA	Pittsburgh, PA	82	59%	60% / 40%	1%	$93,213	94	93%	—
12	U. of Utah Salt Lake City, UT	Salt Lake City, UT	61	82%	64% / 36%	0%	$94,911	96	95%	—
13	U. of Wisconsin - Madison Madison, WI	Madison, WI	111	41%	63% / 37%	23%	$102,023	96	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%	51% / 49%	14%	$111,011	97	88%	—
2	MIT Cambridge, MA	Cambridge, MA	49	5%	39% / 61%	8%	$124,650	99	90%	—
3	U. of California, San Diego La Jolla, CA	La Jolla, CA	89	29%	58% / 42%	16%	$97,911	94	94%	—
4	Tufts Medford, MA	Medford, MA	23	10%	39% / 61%	9%	$115,375	98	97%	—
5	Washington University in St Louis Saint Louis, MO	Saint Louis, MO	38	12%	61% / 39%	16%	$105,686	94	91%	—
6	U. of California, Irvine Irvine, CA	Irvine, CA	40	29%	80% / 20%	20%	$102,280	96	94%	—
7	U. of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA	Philadelphia, PA	23	5%	43% / 57%	9%	$154,695	100	100%	—
8	U. of Virginia Charlottesville, VA	Charlottesville, VA	33	12%	39% / 61%	0%	$115,895	98	88%	—
9	Vanderbilt Nashville, TN	Nashville, TN	24	4%	42% / 58%	0%	$105,943	94	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	35	8%	43% / 57%	14%	$118,510	98	97%	—
2	Northwestern Evanston, IL	Evanston, IL	28	7%	57% / 43%	25%	$120,160	98	97%	—
3	U. of California, Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA	Santa Barbara, CA	44	38%	68% / 32%	16%	$104,039	97	95%	—
4	U. of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA	Berkeley, CA	120	11%	54% / 46%	13%	$126,322	99	93%	—
5	U. of Delaware Newark, DE	Newark, DE	82	72%	70% / 30%	13%	$94,396	94	97%	—
6	U. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Champaign, IL	Champaign, IL	145	37%	63% / 37%	14%	$107,589	98	99%	—
7	U. of Michigan - Ann Arbor Ann Arbor, MI	Ann Arbor, MI	81	16%	47% / 53%	5%	$100,000	92	96%	—
8	U. of Washington Seattle, WA	Seattle, WA	57	42%	47% / 53%	4%	$96,353	96	94%	—
9	Arizona State Tempe, AZ	Tempe, AZ	89	88%	65% / 35%	15%	$101,977	98	95%	—
10	U. of Colorado Boulder Boulder, CO	Boulder, CO	91	71%	52% / 48%	4%	$106,784	97	94%	—
11	Case Western Reserve Cleveland, OH	Cleveland, OH	39	35%	64% / 36%	13%	$98,005	90	97%	—
12	UCLA Los Angeles, CA	Los Angeles, CA	67	9%	55% / 45%	16%	$105,166	97	98%	—
13	U. of Southern California Los Angeles, CA	Los Angeles, CA	38	12%	45% / 55%	11%	$106,401	95	98%	—
14	U. of Connecticut Storrs, CT	Storrs, CT	62	54%	63% / 37%	0%	$92,965	94	96%	—
15	U. of Maryland, College Park College Park, MD	College Park, MD	39	45%	59% / 41%	0%	$92,423	94	91%	—
16	New York University New York, NY	New York, NY	49	9%	49% / 51%	24%	$104,085	95	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	93	24%	56% / 44%	9%	$104,660	95	99%	—
2	U. of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH	Cincinnati, OH	109	85%	62% / 38%	1%	$92,906	95	100%	—
3	North Carolina State Raleigh, NC	Raleigh, NC	170	40%	58% / 42%	1%	$103,529	98	95%	—
4	Virginia Tech Blacksburg, VA	Blacksburg, VA	78	55%	67% / 33%	3%	$99,194	97	94%	—
5	Iowa State Ames, IA	Ames, IA	73	85%	60% / 40%	3%	$96,097	96	97%	—
6	Ohio State Columbus, OH	Columbus, OH	187	49%	65% / 35%	2%	$97,429	95	95%	—
7	Michigan State East Lansing, MI	East Lansing, MI	63	83%	60% / 40%	2%	$95,843	94	96%	—
8	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy, NY	Troy, NY	48	67%	52% / 48%	4%	$107,062	96	99%	—
9	U. of Illinois Chicago Chicago, IL	Chicago, IL	46	79%	54% / 46%	7%	$90,756	95	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.