First of all, I am sorry if this is not the right forum for the question. So, I am so undecided for my major. I am an italian student (albanian citizenship) currently in my gap year in Washington DC, taking english lessons, preparing TOEFL, SAT, volunteering and travelling. But I wanted to take some college level courses so to have a head start, such as introduction to accounting, calculus 1, business english etc. This means I have to decide my major now. If you have time just continue reading my reflections:
I am almost sure I can do them both. But finance, or whatever related to, will be much easier than chemE which will take a lot of time. But I like the fact that after ChemE I can find a job and then work on my master degree; this is definitely a good thing since I don’t want to continue being a ‘burden’ for my parents for other 7 years. And even with a bachelor degree, a Chem Engineering earns well. While with a bachelor degree I don’t know if the stipend for other major will be as high. I am more oriented towards ChemEng just because of the job opportunities once I have my Bachelor Degree. Then I think: what if it was too difficult? I am so confused!
Which would your advice be?
PS I am aiming at Yale, Princeton
If you’re doing Chemical Engineering, why Yale and Princeton? Yale’s engineering program is not that strong and Princeton’s program, while strong, in my opinion up to par with other schools of similar selectivity such as MIT, Caltech, Stanford etc.
Also, are you sure that Yale/Princeton accept the college classes you’re currently taking? At least for Princeton, it seems that they don’t accept credit for college courses, only for certain AP/IB tests.
http://admission.princeton.edu/applyingforadmission/advanced-placement-credits#credit-another-college
It was just to name a few. To let you understand that I am aiming high. Yes, I knew about Princeton. Actually these courses are for me. I think the beginning in college would be easier with such courses in the background. It doesn’t matter if I don’t receive credits for them. The headstart I was talking about was ‘personal’. Principally I would like to let them know that I am trying to do what I could not do in Italy.
I named Princeton and Yale just because they are my favourites! We all have favourites. But I think I will apply to something like 7 universities including a safety school.
Have you ever considered dual majoring or majoring in one and minoring in the other?
I know my mother says I am very intelligent but I don’t think I could handle this double major. And I think ChemEng will take a lot of my time. I don’t want to do two different things and not excel neither in one nor in the other. Besides I think These two fields I am considering are so different that don’t have many classes in common… But I haven’t thought about which minor to choose if I stick with ChemEng.