<p>Ever since the time that I first saw an airplane fly, I have wanted to have a career in the aerospace industry. I always wanted to be a pilot throughout my youth, but my parents never let that happen, so I figured I'd have a career in aerospace engineering. I'm entering my senior year of HS and deciding on colleges. I had my mind set straight on AE, but after reading some things about how the job is closely related to government spending, and how Obama is slashing spending to NASA and others, I began to raise my doubts about my intended future.</p>
<p>Similarly, I've always had a love to electronics, things ranging from computers, to cell phones. I spent a lot of my high school days working on PCs, working on smartphones, etc, and also have a passion for things of that nature. </p>
<p>So now as the time comes to choose colleges, I'm quite unsure of what the better career path would be for me. I plan to go to grad school, if I work my butt off, hopefully MIT, CalTech, Stanford, and get a MS in either field that I go into. What would be the better choice for me in terms of future salary, education, etc?</p>
<p>While it is right to be cautious about the aerospace industry, as it is a notoriously volatile job market, it really has nothing to do with Obama or NASA. NASA represents a tiny percentage of jobs in the aerospace industry. On top of that, Obama actually proposed to increase NASA’s overall budget, not decrease it. The main point of contention is his plan to scrap the Constellation Program. That money isn’t going away though, it is just being reallocated.</p>
<p>The better choice for you will be the one you are most interested in. Future salary is nearly the same in the majority of cases. I believe EE’s hold a slight edge in salary, but it is not really significant. You should instead just look at what interests you more.</p>
<p>Also, my advice is to just worry about getting through the first couple years of undergrad before you worry about graduate school. You don’t even know what you want to major in for sure yet, so there is no way that you can honestly know that you want to do graduate school already.</p>
<p>I have an interest in both, albeit more in aerospace due to my fascination of flight, however part of me thinks that CE holds a greater job security and greater need in the coming years, so I’m quite unsure of what to think.</p>
<p>A lot of the engineers that work in the Aero industry are from the baby-boom era are are going to start to retire soon. I think that the aerospace job market will grow in the near future, so you should keep that in mind when you make your decision. Also keep in mind that you can always switch as the first few semesters of engineering coursework is relatively the same between majors (Aerospace, Mechanical, Computer, Electrical, etc…) as they are all gen eds</p>