Richardson and Passino concur, saying many might steer clear of engineering because of the difficulty factor involved.

"You're always doing homework and you are always putting in long hours, but it pays off," Passino says. With a co-op program such as Northeastern's, Richardson says the hard work will pay off. "I chose this school for the co-op. Northeastern starts us early in the workforce and I feel I already have a lot of connections," she says.

For Mistry, the hard work he is doing now will pay off for years to come.

"When I entered college I didn't know exactly the field I wanted to pursue, but I wanted to be a pilot so my best alternative is studying math and science," Mistry says. "Right now I'm going through 5 years of intense math and science classes but I know in the end, I will be doing very interesting work, not too many people get to say that. Joining a group of engineers is something to be very proud of -- engineers can change the world."