<p>Hi, I'm a junior in high school right now and I'm starting to think about what I would like to major in college. I'm thinking of bioengineering since I find biology fascinating and I like programming and math. However, I've never liked to build stuff, so I want to know: is it fine to major in bioengineering if you don't like to build things?</p>
<p>A good portion of jobs in my field in EE (solid state electronics) consist of just doing particle transport and scattering simulations all day. There are simulation jobs in most engineering fields, including bioengineering, so you’ll be fine if you don’t want to build anything.</p>
<p>analysis… sure.
patent law?
or even management later?</p>
<p>By “build” you mean actually construct gadgets with your hands? Fighting robots and model rockets and go-karts, that type of thing? Sure. In fact, I think that a lot of the guys who go into engineering because they like to build things quickly discover that they do not like physics or calculus and therefore have a handicap (or even drop out). That’s what I’ve picked up in conversation.</p>
<p>Building things is fun, but it’s not a hobby I ever had. I never owned an electronics set, or an erector set (hehehe…), or stuff like that.</p>
<p>I mean, certain types of engineering are just not the type you can do yourself. Go try to fabricate an integrated circuit in your garage and see what I mean. Not everything can be made with parts from Radio Shack and Home Depot. The mechanical engineering majors have the advantage there in that a lot of things they work on can conceivably be made with off-the-shelf parts, and lends itself to hobbyism.</p>
<p>This is like trying to be a doctor but not liking to heal people.</p>
<p>I disagree, Yakyu. Just because you like engineering doesn’t mean you like building things in the sense that I think the OP means. What about a guy designing circuits on a computer all day? He sits in a comfy chair, never gets his hands dirty. What about the QA people, testing ICs? What about people who design nuclear power stations or aircraft carriers? If they didn’t grow up building aircraft carriers in their garage, does that mean they are like a doctor who doesn’t like to heal people? A lot of engineering doing one part of a larger process. Some people are bored by semiconductor fabrication, does that mean they aren’t really computer engineers? You don’t have to like every aspect of engineering to like engineering.</p>
<p>The only thing I had to build as a structural engineering student was a model of a hotel for an architectural design class. It was horrid! I tried my best and it was still pathetic. I still graduated with a high GPA, lol.</p>
<p>The OP sounds exactly like my son who is grappling with this same problem. He loves thinking and figuring out a problem especially with Calculus and physics (his favorite part) but he hates going into a lab and building a solar house out of cardboard (that is what he is doing right now in an intro engineering course at a local college).</p>
<p>He is wondering if he is making a mistake thinking about majoring in mechanical engineering and should go into a double major of math and physics instead.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I would start out with physics. The math that you do in high school (i.e, calculus) is really applied math, and isn’t all that similar to the proofs that math majors do. Nonetheless, he should take classes, see what he likes, and then decide what he wants to major in. Best of luck.</p>
<p>It’s all very similar the first year. I might add that designing a solar house out of cardboard sounds like some hippy teacher’s idea of a make-work lab, rather than something serious engineering students work on.</p>
<p>What TomServo said (post #4). And #6. My H and my S are both successful engineers (EE and ECE) - not “builders” or “tinkerers.” Love physics and math, and problem-solving.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If you dislike building things but love problem solving, go into engineering.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your advice everyone! I love problem solving and math (and I’ll be taking AP Physics B next semester) so I guess going into engineering will be fine! :)</p>