<p>My son is finishing his 2nd year in mechanical engineering and not enjoying it. What would be an alternative to engineering for a student who is good at math and physics?</p>
<p>He might look at becoming an actuary.</p>
<p>[Actuary</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Actuary]Actuary”>Actuary - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>2nd year mechanical engineering does not actually involve very many mechanical engineering classes. He is still in the weed out classes like calculus, chemistry, physics, statics/dynamics.</p>
<p>I’d encourage him to keep pursuing it. If he can suffer through 2 more years and get his engineering degree, he can do anything he wants after college.</p>
<p>He has completed several Mechanical engineering classes as he did not take many of the freshman classes due to AP credits.</p>
<p>Which ones? What did he not enjoy about them?</p>
<p>We need more information. Hiding it from us doesn’t help us provide good suggestions for you S.</p>
<p>Lots of engineering students aren’t enjoying it a whole lot at this point since it’s a lot of difficult work. But if he really wants to do something other than ME and enjoys Math/Physics and can handle that level of Math/Physics okay then he might want to consider EE or CS. </p>
<p>The key is to find out what he really ‘is not enjoying’ in particular since those aspects might exist in other majors. </p>
<p>Yet more majors to consider - physics, math, economics, chemistry, and any science or humanities majors he might find of interest.</p>
<p>Edit - cross posted with Bigtrees (great minds and all that)</p>
<p>Is he interested in being a physics major? Or, would he like to switch to another type of engineering?</p>
<p>He is just not very happy. Hated Material Science, hated deform body mechanics, liked thermal science I, but struggled in thermal science II. Hated statics and dynamics, hated fundamentals of ee. Liked intro to C/C++. He is getting B’s and C’s. Mostly C’s. I am thinking that civil engineering might be better.</p>
<p>Does the school have an advising center? They might be a help.</p>
<p>Gamerbach, </p>
<p>Material science is a Material Science Engineering course (not mechanical)
Statics and Dyamics are Civil Engineering courses (not mechanical)
Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering is a electrical engineering course (not mechanical)
Thermal Science I and II ARE mechanical engineering courses. He enjoyed them but found them tough. Most students find these courses tough.</p>
<p>C/C++ is computer science.</p>
<p>It sounds like your S took 2 mechanical engineering courses. The rest of them are the weed out courses that I referred to in my original post. Next year will be better.</p>
<p>Gamerbach,</p>
<p>Looking back at your posts, this is the third time that you have posted the same question. I’m sure the answers this time won’t be any different than either of the 2 previous times you posted the exact same question.</p>
<p>There was a post a while back about math majors. My limited recollection was that they can basically write their own ticket in the job market. My H was a physics major and that background has really helped him in his law career. Has your S considered Industrial Engineering? I had to look this one up on the internet and was pleasantly surprised at what a well rounded major is was.</p>
<p>Our oldest was in the same boat…really did not like the first two years of ME. Part of the process at most, if not all, engineering schools is to “weed out” students during the first 2 years. As I told my son, “if it we easy, everyone would be an engineer…” Your son may want to look at other engineering programs like Industrial or Systems. It may require an extra semester, but typically the first two years of engineering studies are the same regardless of the focus.</p>
<p>I can tell you Industrial Engineering (OR is also part of the IE program here) is what a lot of the kids who quit other engineering majors do.</p>
<p>If he just wants to leave Engineering altogether, but wants to keep going with math and physics, why not just major in math or physics?</p>
<p>Perhaps he needs to explore more in depth specific fields and occupations within engineering, math or physics; if he is drawn to a specific occupation and not just a general major or field of study, that may help motivate him more. I suspect many students students begin their studies without a clear idea on what they will actually do with their degrees. Has he done any job shadowing in areas he is interested in? Here is a link to a site which includes tons of career planning info relating to the science, math, technology and engineering fields </p>
<p>[Sloan</a> Career Cornerstone Center: Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Math & Healthcare](<a href=“http://www.careercornerstone.org/]Sloan”>http://www.careercornerstone.org/)</p>
<p>Some schools also offer programs for applied physics, engineering physics, and applied math, which I assume are similar to engineering but not quite as techy, yet still more oriented to practical application than theoretical so perhaps more marketable than pure sciences and math? Perhaps those are areas he might want to look into? </p>
<p>[Applied</a> physics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_physics]Applied”>Applied physics - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>Another thought is that he might look into taking some career aptitude tests (those should be available through the career services dept at his school); this could also open his eyes to fields or careers that he might be interested in.</p>
<p>
No Civil would definitely be worse. How does he feel about calculus and differential equations?</p>
<p>Physics is a good major for someone who likes math and physics, apparently. The job prospect for a physics major is not bad, esp. if he likes applied physics.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And that may well be the source of the problem. Despite what the advertising says, high school AP courses are not the equivalent of college level courses. Sure it’s fun to be able to skip a course, but there is often a price to be paid upstream. An engineering student will be fine taking AP credit for a humanities course. But taking AP credit for any math, physics or chem. prerequisite classes is a risky deal for all but the brightest engineering student. </p>
<p>And if this is the case, switching to physics will only yield the same problems.</p>
<p>toblin, this is a great point. my S was advised not to use his AP credit for science/math required courses, just the humanities.</p>
<p>If he liked Thermo 1, he would like chemistry or chemical engineering. Physical chemistry Pchem) is one of the toughest undergrad chem major courses (usually 2 semesters and a 3 credit lab) and has a lot in common with the engineering class thermo. If he made it through 2 semesters of thermo, I think he could survive and even enjoy a chemistry major. Getting any technical degree will open up many opportunities for him . He could take a chemistry summer course to see if he likes it. Engineering tend to be ‘dry’ for some, chemistry, physics or bio suits others.</p>