I am going to college. I dont know whether to pick law, business/accounting, computer science or engineering.

Which would be best for a H1B in 4/5 years? (when the economy is better)I know its hard to say, but traditionally what areas are?

I know this isnt the best way to pick a degree, its just one factor i find important

Unless you are planning to take whichever subject you choose to advanced PhD level and then establish a great career elsewhere beforehand, you cannot count on being admitted to the USA as a temp or perm migrant.

Even when the American workplace needs foreign skills, they still won't take them. They could likely take half of the IT workers in Europe and still not have enough but their authorites are too busy constructing Fortress America to realise that.

"Even when the American workplace needs foreign skills, they still won't take them. They could likely take half of the IT workers in Europe and still not have enough but their authorites are too busy constructing Fortress America to realise that."

Sorry to drag up an old thread, but I was wondering something:

I'm currently living in the UK but married to a dual US-UK citizen, so H1B isn't an issue. I'm looking for a career change and strongly considering IT.

My question is, what's the job market for IT workers like in the US? I've spoken to a couple of people who say it's not doing as badly as other parts of the economy, and from what you say here (that they would import more IT workers if visa rules didn't prevent them), you seem to agree with that.

Any thoughts? Is this a good area to be in in the US? We'd both like to live in the US rather than the UK in the long term, so any thoughts would be appreciated.

With the caveat that both "IT workers" and "US" are such broad terms as to force any reply to be extremely vague...

The current IT job market is bad. Sure, it is better than some sectors, but that's a reflection on how bad the other sectors are, rather than how good the IT sector is. There's always exceptions, but right now the general view would be that it is bad.

To put this view in context I work in IT in the US, and I hire. It isn't hard to get people to apply for vacancies, and I'd say at least 50% of applicants are 'between jobs'.

I think you should find out which one you like better. You do not want to spend 4 years at school and then your life career on something you do not enjoy.
But since you asked, I'd say engineering. Engineering is well paid in the USA, and they have a shortage of engineers.