I graduate with a bachelors of science in chemical engineering on Friday. I basically have everything finished. I am graduating from an east coast Big 10 school.

I just want to know if anyone can relate to being so incredibly burnt out. Like I don’t even wanna get out of bed or talk to anyone. I also do a lot of other things volunteer, work, job apps…

I am just so tired. Any tips for getting energized for this next chapter in my life?

(I also studied abroad, so I don’t want to travel. It’s exhausting.)

Hi everyone,

I'm planning to do chemical engineering in like 4-5 years time and have a few questions regarding where should I go? I wanna explore job opportunities abroad and would love to hear your thoughts on which countries are the best for working in this field. Currently living in Malaysia if that helps.

• Which countries have a strong demand for chemical engineers?
• Are there specific companies or industries that are particularly good to work for?
• What are the working conditions and salaries like in those countries?
• Any advice on visa processes or relocation?

Thanks in advance for your insights! I appreciate any tips or personal experiences you can share.

Hello everyone,

I’m a senior about to graduate, and I’ve been applying for jobs since last September. So far, I haven’t gotten a single interview. I’ve probably sent out over 700 applications for entry-level roles, positions requiring up to two years of experience, and even internships—but still, nothing.

I worked so hard to land two internships, but now it feels like all that effort was for nothing. In both of my internships, I tried to push for a full-time role after graduation, but they told me they couldn’t hire me because they don’t have the funds. They also mentioned that they don’t typically hire interns full-time. Even now, I’ve asked again, and they still say they can’t hire me full-time.

I’m feeling desperate at this point. I can’t afford to do a master’s due to financial difficulties, so I need to secure a job as soon as I graduate. Doing nothing is not an option for me. My last internship did offer to bring me back as an intern, but the pay isn’t great, and financially, I can’t afford to stay in an internship.

I’d love some advice on my CV and job application strategy. Ideally, I’d like to work in oil and gas, but I’m not sure if that’s realistic since my internship experience is in the semiconductor industry. Right now, I just need to land a decent-paying job, and I feel completely lost.

I honestly feel useless right now and don’t know what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I’m a second year chemE student, and I’m taking fluid mechanics and thermodynamics currently and am realizing I have absolutely zero interest in these subjects. Is it possible that I can be so disinterested in these subjects and still find a chemE career interesting? Or is disliking my classes a sign that I should change my major. Do any current chemical engineers remember disliking chemE classes but now enjoy their chemical engineering jobs?

Hi everyone, I'm a first-year undergraduate student in Chemical Engineering.

Whenever I watch videos or read posts about chemical engineering, I often hear people say, “You need to have something that makes you stand out.” I’ve been trying to figure out what that actually means, I’ve searched on Google, YouTube, and Reddit. And the top 3 I could say is

1. programming language (like python and vba)
   
2. communication skill
   
3. teamwork skill

but i guess those three skills are pretty common (?)

So here’s my question:
What’s the hardest skill to learn that few of chemical engineers have, but also the most useful or valuable in the long run?

I want to start preparing early, and I’m willing to put in the effort. Any advice or personal experiences would be super appreciated. Thanks in advance!

I just got accepted into my Bachelor's in Chemical engineering and am incredibly excited. Any advise or words of wisdom from wizened veterans of the degree or industry?

Im genuinely just curious because people rave about how hard it is and I've never been terribly amazing at school but I wonder if I really think the subject is interesting would it be as much of a challenge rather than being fueled by the large payout.

I’m an incoming student at UVA for chemical engineering. I got into Georgia Tech too, but I rejected it because going to UVA would allow me to graduate a year earlier, save 10k per year in costs not including the earlier graduation, get my masters in +1 year, and be much closer to home. I want to get into pharma/biotech. Did I make the wrong choice? Be honest.

I’m trying to decide between a cheap undergrad in MSE then get a masters in ChemE, or expensive undergrad in ChemE and start getting industry experience asap? I have done countless hours of research and I can’t seem to find a consistent answer anywhere and would really appreciate some insider knowledge

I was accepted as a transfer to UC Berkeley for Chemical Engineering this fall, but going there would mean taking on a lot of student debt as an out-of-state student (about $50k total). On the other hand, I could stay at Boise State (which doesn’t offer chemical engineering) and finish my degree in Materials Science & Engineering completely debt-free, then maybe get a masters later. Either degree would take me about three years to finish.

One complication is that some of my classes, like differential equations and possibly Physics 1 and 2, might not transfer to Berkeley, which could be a pain to retake. I’m torn between the prestige and experience I might get at Berkeley versus the financial security of graduating debt-free at Boise.

Are industries even caring about reputation for undergrad degrees anymore? Do masters degrees make a significant difference? Which choice has more of an advantage and why?

I will be starting my undergrad at Cornell University this year. I recently saw a post on here where a lot of people commented that the job market for this field isn’t doing well and that they were jobless for some time or had to switch paths. This started to worry me. Are these just the unfortunate few or is this an actual problem now. Thanks

I’m a cheme coming out of a good school in 2026, 3.0 GPA, plenty of research experience and an internship under my belt. Im humbled to love what I do for research (process systems and biofuels), and am curious about where to go moving forward. Applications for PhDs open up this summer, but I’ve been told to wait for the AIChE conference in November where I’ll be presenting work (hopefully) to meet professors and apply then. Anyways, I’m fortunate enough to have great people with me to give me some suggestions, but I’m also curious for a public opinion on if PhDs are still worth it or if I should just move to the workforce.

I’m a little stuck, and am curious as to what schools I should look to, professors, or if going for a doctorate is even worth it in my shoes.

Thanks for reading and I’d love to hear some feedback.

I wish i had discovered him sooner. He teaches thermo the best so i thought id share.

To me, companies don't care about their workers. Some do more than others, and some may actually care, but in general, they want you for a job, you want to be there for money, and that's it.

They really do bot care about you. If workers die in an incident, they care more about their publicity and replacing the workers than the workers themselves.

To companies in pretty much all industries, we basically don't matter.

It's especially easy to feel this way when layoffs are rampant, although I know that layoffs can be simply due to a lack of work.

But seriously, I am wondering how some of you manage to find joy working in engineering. It seems like a whole lot of work and pain in school just for extra money unless you are in a super high cost of living area.

Hi guys,

I am a fellow student joining a college this year for learning chem e. Over the years, i have always been passionate about learning to code and create new types of automations or fun little projects with programming.

I still want to continue studying chem e and so i wanted to know if its still worth it to learn programming in this field. I have 4 more years till masters so i can master this to take it as extracurricular for my masters application into a good uni.

So in your opinion, do y’all think its worth learning?

This is brownian diffusion efficiency, this is one of the factor that affects floatation. So i get confused how brownian diffusion formula can be derived into this.

I'm in second year of Chem Eng and I'm just curious what everyone's undergrad thesis was. I'm asking this not for the purpose of 'stealing' them, but purely to broaden my ideas on what could be studied. Tell us about your study/topic, what difficulties did you go through when doing it? What led you to be interested in this topic? Anything is welcome! :))

Edit: This post made me realize there's a different curriculum in my country/uni (Philippines) than in other countries. Basically, here in my uni, we are required to do both a Research Thesis (like you would see in a publication) and a Plant Design for our 4th (final) year.

I’m going to take organic chemistry in the spring and I heard that this course is really hard, is that true? Like I have never met someone that was like oh organic chemistry was good or something

Hey all, I'm 23F student (I worked for a few years before starting uni). I've had a rough year, my brother died, I've been working a bit with tutoring while studying, was very sick during exams, saved my rat from choking on peanut butter and am now taking intense care of him (normal things), and also got my usual mental health issues (adhd, anxiety and insomnia.) Not to excuse it, but it's certainly why I'm spiraling, I've failed two exams in second year chemical engineering, I don't know if I failed the other two yet. I have to go to bootcamps in my holiday for a chance to pass. Which means I have no mid year holiday or chance to rest. Ive never failed a subject like this, and all I seem to hear is how well my friends are doing in their studies. But now, I really feel worthless, overwhelmed and close to giving up.

Does anyone here have any experience with failing or set backs? Am I even cut out for this?

Hello! This may be a silly question but im really curious, would I be able to get a chemical engineering degree without a chemistry qualification. Or more specifically mainly focus on biology (plants, animals, organisms etc) within chemical engineering? Im good with physics, math and bio, I really enjoy them (current 4th yr in hs) but I always hated chemistry and couldn't bare to take it.

If not is there any other engineering paths I could consider looking into that align with what I'd like to do?

Edit) if ive totally misunderstood the point of chemical engineering and its needed qualifications please do correct me! Thank you so much!!

Junior chemical engineering major here. It’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Thermodynamics 2 is beating the hell out of me. How did y’all get through this????

I’m currently in high school and this year I have to start applying to colleges and such. I’ve always been interested in doing chemistry which led me to wanting to become a chemical engineer. However, now I’m starting to worry about pursuing a degree in chemical engineering.

I wanted to look more into chemical engineering so I googled nonstop about it and the more I searched the more I saw people saying they regretted getting a degree in chemical engineering and that doing mechanical or electrical engineering was the better choice. I also saw a ton of people saying how they couldn’t find a job with a chemical engineering degree and when they tried to look for a different job that they were rejected because chemical engineering is such a specific degree to have.

My original plan was to get a bachelors in chemistry and then get a masters in chemical engineering, but now I’m starting to worry. Should I be looking for a different career in chemistry?

I’ve heard literally every other person talk about how skill is more important than a degree. Personally as one pursuing chemical engineering what skills are there that I can develop that will help boost my career? Please help me