Old Dudes! I Need Help Choosing a Major!

[AcidicDreams 10+ year member]

Do engineering... FA's end up being salesmen unless you are fee based...

Alternatives are Speech Pathologist. You can get a job anywhere, ok pay for gov, can work school ours or get your own practice and make bank.

Business Degree.... can be used just about anywhere doing anything... starting pay sucks though... 30-40k tops plus there are more than a few business majors running around and the only good way to distinguish yourself is experience or go to a top10 school for your MBA

DO NOT DO CS!!!!!! it's pure hell, trust me... I even like coding but doing it for school is torture. Then even if you like coding the people that make the big bucks REALLY know thier shit. For instance it's cake designing a SQL or Access based application, but if you want to make big bucks you have to be able to write your code effeciently. This sounds easy but it's not. It would help to be a perfectionist. Also if you are not a top flight programmer there is always a guy in India who will do your job for half of what you will....

Business Information Sysytems is a good blend of computers and business

If you want to do something spiffy go into remote sensing... aka using satellites, you'd have to find a school with Geological Information Systems...

 

[PatFitz9 10+ year member]

I got my BS in Manufacturing Engineering last December. (it's not a BA if you're in engineering) i am not a millionaire by any means, but i think that i am doing pretty well for myself. it takes some hard work, but it's worth it. as long as you can manage your time, and you think that you can do it, you can still have plenty of fun. and btw, i have been working for only 3 months and i make more than my mom

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

EE, do it.

 

[bikinpunk 10+ year member]

Okay, let me say that I get the sense that you're thinking you can dive into whatever you choose and just make money at the end. That's not going to happen unless you're slangin', then you have to worry about getting shot.

Also, to those of you who think if you like math then engineering is the way to go, could not be more wrong. It's not just math you have to enjoy, but physics and after 2 years those concepts are nothing more than a stepping stone. You truly have to be able to think creatively and critically. I chose Aerospace engineering as my major because I thought it would be cool to study how things fly and more. I had a huge wake-up call my sophomore year. I had no idea how much time studying would take up and how incredibly hard the coursework would be. Beating your head against a wall for an hour to figure out one step in a problem is pure torture. Also, there's a major misconception in thining because you're good with your hands you'll be a great engineer. I have many friends who are brilliant when it comes to building things but are struggling to make C's in certain courses because they simply can't put their knowledge into engineering terms. You also need to have very good writing skills. Why? You may not realize it, but most engineers spend a lot of time writing technical documents. If you can't write what a part does, or what it supports, how is it supposed to be understood by your bosses (who usually have no engineering background), or the public? When I interned for GE, I ran my own tests and had to provide Engineering Test Procedure documents that were archived. These tests were done on a couple major parts of the refrigerant system. God forbid, if something went wrong down the road, the documents would surely be checked if there were ever a lawsuit. During one interview I had, the first question I was asked by the 2nd-round interviewer was "How much do you read?". I was kind of taken back, considering the first interviewer told me I was called to the interview because of how well my cover letter was written. Goes to show you, that a well-rounded education is why Engineering is so highly praised.

I realize I sound bitter, but I'm truly not. I work as a contractor for NASA right now, and have 1 year left of school. So far, work has been really fun and interesting. I don't sit at a desk all day, althought I attend 6 hour meetings that make me want to commit *******. The pay is great, especially considering I haven't graduated. The perks are there. My future will have no limits due to having a good education. I just hate when people think that they should become engineers because it pays good, and then I see them drop out after 1 year. It's not easy, so don't think it will be. SERIOUSLY, DON'T THINK IT WILL BE. This is by far the best advice I can give you. But, if you work hard at it, you likely will never regret it. According to most College guides I had read, an Engineering degree will almost guarantee you a job, even if it's not in the engineering field. I'm actually considering getting an MBA instead of a Graduate degree in Engineering. Good luck to you man.

As far as what type of engineering; well, that's up to you. All are well-paid. I see fluctuating salary averages, but for the most part, Chemical is the highest paying (as it should be- that stuff is incredibly time consuming and hard). EE & Computer are sometimes synonymous. Computer science is more often than not the code writing side, where engineering is more hardware related. I could be wrong, however. Mechanical & Aerospace are fairly close in the coursework up until your Junior year, then they get more refined into the particular field. My friend's dad got an Ocean Engineering degree and went to work at a nuclear reactor plant. Go figure. He now owns his own company and is a licensed Professional Engineer (where the big bucks are). Put it this way, his SON (my best friend) has NO college education, is 23, and makes $45 an hour. Lucky bastard.

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

one thing to think about is going into a market that isn't flodded with people wanting jobs. and also choosing a major that will still help you even end up using it. I started as a psych major took some grad classes then switched my major. Even though ill never do anything with it the knowledge will serve me for the rest of my life, in everything i do.

So i would look into something like a general business and marketing degree. Great knowledge and opens plenty of doors for you. Easy as well.

Also, dont decare a major until you have to. I could've graduated at the end of this year but i switched my major and while i dont regret taking the courses it was alot of time spent that i could've put towards completeing the major im currently working towards.

hope this helped some. fucker

 

[chefhow 10+ year member]

If you want a very highly demanded job and you like to cook but are a science geek get a Food Science degree. I have a AS in Culinary and I am going back to school to get my BS in Food Science over the net. Very in demand and the pay is good. The ppl with both degrees are very lacking and the big manufacturing companies pay top $$$ to the ones who have both. I don't know where you go to school but if they offer it you may want to look into it. I am constantly on the move, get to travel all over the country on the company dime and have insight as to what restaurants are going to sell in the market almost year ahead of time, alot of the time because I have either worked on it or designed it myself. Pretty cool stuff.....

 

[geardownson 10+ year member]

Old dudes?

http://www.riotvideo.com/Old_Men_Fighting.html

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

Old dudes?http://www.riotvideo.com/Old_Men_Fighting.html

ahahahaha

 

[denim 5,000+ posts]

from being in the industry, don't be a software engineer unless you want to go all out and write super cutting edge stuff,

 

it is a constant chase that no one can keep up with

 

[SHiZNiLTi 10+ year member]

2 years college and got a degree in Computer Networking Information Technology. Also got my MCSE, which is a beyatch to get took 2 times

I then landed a job as the IT guy for the PHX branch of a large global logistics company that clears freight into the US for Intel, motorola, honeywell, etc.

Without going into too much detail all I do is maintain about 60 workstations and a big server room. I keep the network running at peak performance. We have a very advanced setup compared to other brokerage offices and this is what keeps us at the top.

This job is very easy and pays very well (42k a year).

I'm not allways stuck in front of the PC, Everyday the actual work I do only takes about 3 hours. The rest of the time I just browse a bunch of forums and BS with people in the office.

I also have a side job of building custom pc's for people which makes me an extra 5K a year for spending money on the weekends.

Here is an example of what I build, this one was built 8 months ago for myself, but is still one of my favorites....

Click to view it...

 

[noob with an RS 10+ year member]

EE, do it.

electrical engineer?

 

[noob with an RS 10+ year member]

****, i haven't checked this thread for about a week. it's nice to see i got a hefty amount of replies. THANKS to everyone that contributed. and fuck you to the dude that said i will never do better than mediocre. anyway, looks like i'm going to be ruling computer science out. i definitely don't want to do mass-coding. i'm good at math, but im not a genius! engineering looks like its at the top of my list right now. lol and food science degree is actually starting to appeal to me from the post above.. traveling, in high demand, cooking, and good pay are all great perks to me! business is something people around me tell me to do.. what exactly are the kinds of jobs ppl go for after acquiring a BA in business? if business is basically managing, i really don't see myself being a manager. i think i like to be a team player or the lone genius,.. hmm.. decisions decisions

 

[Shugarra 10+ year member]

I think I just want to reiterate what Bikinpunk said - engineering is hard, but rewarding. Just because you are good at math doesn't mean you will excel in engineering. The math you do learn starts to look a lot different than the math you learned in high school. This is not to discourage you, just to give you a realistic outlook of what you'll be heading into. I'm sure there are people out there, but I don't know of anyone in engineering that has an easy time with all, or even most of their classes.

p.s.

BA = Bachelor of Arts

BS = Bachelor of Science

 

[Eugenics 5,000+ posts]

****, i haven't checked this thread for about a week. it's nice to see i got a hefty amount of replies. THANKS to everyone that contributed. and fuck you to the dude that said i will never do better than mediocre. anyway, looks like i'm going to be ruling computer science out. i definitely don't want to do mass-coding. i'm good at math, but im not a genius! engineering looks like its at the top of my list right now. lol and food science degree is actually starting to appeal to me from the post above.. traveling, in high demand, cooking, and good pay are all great perks to me! business is something people around me tell me to do.. what exactly are the kinds of jobs ppl go for after acquiring a BA in business? if business is basically managing, i really don't see myself being a manager. i think i like to be a team player or the lone genius,.. hmm.. decisions decisions

Honestly a culinary degree from a good university is a great thing. My friend is one of the two chef's at the restruant/nightclub i work at and he probably gets just as much respect as our flair bartender from england who's ranked 6th in the world or something like that. He knows his shit, he can make anything for anyone, and people respect that. Not to mention he's lived in about 10 different countrys and even more states pretty much partying and eating/learning the local foods. Contrast to me, and im having to take a year OFF of school so i can study, he pretty much was told to do it for his major.

Oh, and women love a good chef... or men, your choice.

I can see what school/academy he went to if you're intrested at all. And you can look into it more.