Advice on 2 majors and a minor.

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

Okay guys I wanted to ask for advice about majors and minors.

Right now I am an undergraduate electrical engineer in the 2nd part of the sophomore year in the program but I decided that

I wanted to switch to computer engineering because I feel I would like to use hardware but I don’t want to necessarily

design it. I don’t mind electrical engineering but the program to me seems almost like a physics major. Its real math heavy I

feel and I see as the degree goes on the math doesn’t get any easier. When I was little I was always fascinated by

computers when we got out first computer in 2000 I lived on the thing digging through folders deleting things trying to save

space , deleted windows explorer once trying to delete internet explorer lol. Anyway I’m still interested in computers but I

would not like to sit at a desk all day every day and just code, I would like to interact with the hardware somewhat during

my professional career. I feel that computers in my nich and have done the best in computer related classes making an A c

programing and a B in digital logic and microprocessors. So I have decided to switch to computer engineering with a minor

in electrical engineering, for the minor in EE I only need two classes more. Doing this switch the only extra classes I have

taken that won’t count are 2 one hour intro to electrical engineering classes, so I don’t feel like I’ve lost much. I am also

about to drop a thermal dynamics course I signed up for this year because I don’t need it for computer engineering or the

electrical minor putting my drop counter to 2 out of 6.

My second topic is I am also getting a BA in translation and interpretation for Spanish. I know this probably sounds stupid

but I love Spanish and I’m actually half Hispanic but never grew up with the language. So I’ve made it a lifelong goal to learn

Spanish and I would say I’m intermediate level at the moment. Currently I have 4 courses left to get a translation

certification and 7 courses left to get a Bachelors of art in interpretation and translation. At first I was only going to go for

the translation certification but the Bachelors of Arts was 3 classes more so I decided to go ahead with it.

Right now I feel kind of bad like I’ve wasted a lot of time in college. I graduated high school in 2012. I am currently 21 years

old and looking at these degrees I have lined up il be done with it all in spring 2020. Also as of now scholarships and

financial aid has been able to pay for my college. But if I go with this degree plan then I will have to take out a loan for the

last year which would be $12,000 or less.

My future aspirations or jobs in life that I am currently thinking about doing are, I would like to one day teach after retiring

from being an engineer. I would like to actually work for a company here that would send me abroad to Mexico to work

because I really love it there. I would also like to do translation for Spanish on the side say as a freelancer or something

using the internet. I also wouldn’t mind doing interpretation on the side and volunteering at places where they need Spanish

interpreters or translators. For engineering I am interested in robotics and embedded systems more or less.

I want to greatly thank everybody who read this crazy story and would like to greatly thank everybody who might be able to

give me some advice on anything, whether it be I shouldn’t switch majors, that I should, That I shouldn’t/should drop

thermal, any advice is welcome. Thanks!

2

sorry for the formatting, try to double space it but did’nt work out too well =/

3

I have no engineering knowledge or experience to tell you about the profitability, etc, of your major changes. However, I am also a 2012 high school graduate that just turned 21, and at this point, probably cannot finish school until at least spring 2021.

As people keep telling me, we’re not finishing anything late - few professional goals NEED to be accomplished before they ‘expire’. As long as you’re getting what you want to be getting out of life, the journey, school, whatever, then you’re doing fine.

I wish you the greatest luck and fulfillment, sir.

4

Thank you for the insight and reply! There will always be somebody older then you attending college so I know what you mean. I still have classes with someone thats probably 50 years old going for an electrical engineering degree, not that its bad or anything, it just shows you that your never to old to get what you want out of life, just enjoy it while you can and like you said get what you want to get out of life.

5

If you prefer Computer engineering then switch and drop the thermo course. However, i would suggest that you not take the two extra courses for the EE minor. There is really no need and it does lengthen your time in school even if only a little bit. In general I do not recommend taking two degrees particularly when it lengthens your time to degree. You see very determined to get your language degree but please do not assume that it is so easy to be a translator and interpreter that you can do it on the side of your engineering job. My spouse is a professional translator and it is a profession that needs to be worked at and not a side job. I would recommend taking as much language courses as you can but not spend the extra time getting a full degree. You can always continue studying a language after graduation in many ways.

6

Thanks for the insight! I constantly work on my spanish throughout the day whatever time I get, I spend at least an hor mon through friday doing some personal spanish practice outside of the classes whether it is spanish conversation practice or nailing some vocabulary or grammer. I also listen to music in spanish and watch/read movies, news or books in spanish when I get the time. Basicly everything thats I dont have to do in english ( like classes, find information for engineering etc.) I do in spanish. I greatly appreciate your input though! It does length my degree by more then a bit.

Also about not getting the EE minor the thing is right now I am still taking two other EE classes that would count towards the minor. If I did not get the minor I could not take any other classes right now. Also If I did not get the minor a bunch of classes that I have taken wouldnt count for anything so at least if I take the two more classes next semester they will count for that minor.

7

I am not sure that"counting for a minor" is very important to anyone. I would say that the extra EE courses you have taken count intrinsically for themselves as something you now know about. This is what is the most value, not the minor. However, if you feel more comfortable getting a minor and you don’t mind the courses, go for it.

8

you have a very good point with that. For instance I dont plan to do anything with electromagnetics that I can think of so why take it. Thanks for the insight.