Choosing major: Computer Science, Neuroscience, Computer, Industrial, or Mechnical

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>I need some help choosing between these majors as I am having a great deal of trouble choosing. I'm currently a junior but since I enjoy planning stuff, here I am. If you guys don't mind, please even get some friends from the "Medicine(Nursing?) Major" sub-forum so I don't have to repeat this post there.</p>

<p>I would greatly appreciate it if you could answer the following questions because they would clear up a lot of confusion and indecisiveness. </p>

<p>Yes, I did research but I also want various sources to answer each of these questions so I can have a degree of organization because with my current information, I essentially have 1 or 2 answers from a single source.</p>

<p>Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Neuroscience, Industrial Engineer, Mechanical Engineer.</p>

<p>-I like using computers and working with them. But I also like neurology and helping people. I want to make a difference in people's life. But I want enough personal time to spend with my family. I don't want to be sit in front of a computer the entire time for I value my eyes. Nor do I want arthritis. I want enough of a salary to pay of possible debts from education and also enough to have a comfortable middle class life-style with a family. I prefer not to face heavy deadlines that force me to take in loads of caffeine to stay awake. Or really, I don't want a job or major that requires me to take in loads of caffeine. </p>

<p>1-What are the differences between Computer Science and Computer Engineering that I must consider if choosing between teh 2 majors? Industrial and Mechanical?</p>

<p>I care about salaries and nothing is changing that. To me, salary is as important as enjoyment of the career. Asian parents have nothing to do with this.
2-Which ones offer the best salaries, please rank them. I'm sure neurologist is at the top.</p>

<p>3-Which jobs allow one to have a comfortable upper-middle class life-style? And with a family of 4 (Assume my future wife would make $65,000 mid career)?
Computer Scientist, Computer Engineer (Oddly, many salary websites don't list computer engineer as one of the jobs), Neurologist, Industrial Engineer, Mechanical Engineer?</p>

<p>4-What the said jobs above, please rank them in order of "free/family tiem available". For example, one could list neurology at the bottom of the said list if it requries erratic schedules and a lot of time away from family or free time doing non-career related stuff.</p>

<p>5-Please rank in order of amount of human-human interactions.</p>

<p>6-What must I consider to choose between engineering and medicine (Neurology)?</p>

<p>7-Is engineering tedious and boring? I like using computers but I don't want to have to sit in front of one the entire day as I value my eye sight. I also want an indoor career but preferably one that doesn't require me to sit around in a cubicle typing away or doing paperwork the entire time (I don't want arthritis).</p>

<p>8-Any other things I should know of consider when choosing a major? </p>

<p>If you've reached this end and have answered all questions, please, pat yourself on the back for spending time helping a confused high-school junior with making choices for his future.</p>

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<p>You may want to read up on what new medical school graduates do during residency.</p>

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<p>Neurologist would need a medical degree, not a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience. Pre-medical preparation can be done alongside any major (including computer science, history, math, economics, etc.).</p>

<p>For bachelor’s degree job and career prospects, you may find the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/internships-careers-employment/1121619-university-graduate-career-surveys.html&lt;/a&gt; helpful.</p>

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<p>Well just during residency its that bad. But afterwards, it surely isn’t as bad right?
Wtih engineering, there are always deadlines.</p>

<p>So I can take Computer science as a major and pre-med prep at the same time? So I can see if I really want to go into neurology or not. then if I do, I go to med school? I never knew that! Does majoring in neurology affect my chances into med school?</p>

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<p>have you considered biomedical engineering?</p>

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<p>If you’re talking about being a neurosurgeon this is wrong. A lot of times you’re the only neurosurgeon available within 100 miles and literally all the work comes to you regardless of whether or not it’s your day off. Neurosurgeons also spend ~16 years in school/residency.</p>

<p>I don’t know as much about neurologists though, but generally most doctors face a lot of pressure and stress and work a lot more hours than most other career fields. They actually don’t make much money if you take their salary and divide it by hours worked, especially given the amount of time they had to spend in school (isn’t neurology like a 5 year residency on top of 4 years of undergrad and 4 years of med school?)</p>

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<p>You can definitely take CS as a pre-med and it will not hurt your chances for med school admission at all. You still must take some core science classes like phys 1-2, chem 1-2, ochem 1-2, bio 1-2 (which can be electives for a CS major) Some of those will be requirements of a cs major (at my school, phys 1-2 is required for cs as well as 2 lab science classes, so it’s really only 4 extra classes. Statistically, music majors are just as competitive as biochem majors for med school admissions. Your undergrad major will have virtually no bearing at all on what residency you get. A lot of people who get into med school majored in biology or biochem not because that’s increases their odds but because it is the most relevant and a good route to prepare you for the first year of med school. The only real factors in med school admissions are GPA, MCAT, and clinical experience (volunteering or working in medicine, like shadowing doctors, working as a part-time EMT or cleaning toilets at a hospital while you’re in undergrad). The clinical experience is very important because they want you to have a good idea of what practicing medicine would be like before you commit to it. One thing to consider is that your major will not really affect the GPA expected of you. If you major in CS you might not get as high of a GPA as a biology major would and that can hurt you. I saw some statistics and the median GPA for med school admission for engineering majors was only .05 lower than the median overall - meaning the engineers were afforded a very tiny bit of wiggle room on GPA but not much.</p>

<p>Harvard’s med school admission page actually hints that they PREFER liberal arts majors for pre-med because they like the diversity they bring. The truth is, no undergrad is really important for med school and you will learn all the science you need to know in med school. My sister in-law is in her 3rd year of med school and she said that biochem (her undergrad major) did help a little the first year, where you basically relearn all of the science you need, but all that did was make it easier since a lot of it was review.</p>

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<p>1-What are the differences between Computer Science and Computer Engineering that I must consider if choosing between teh 2 majors? Industrial and Mechanical?</p>

<p>CS tends more to the theory behind compilers, languages, algorithms, information theory, etc. CE would tend more towards practical applications. The boundary is fuzzy, may vary from school to school, and may not matter very much in the real world.</p>

<p>IE tends more towards design and operation of industrial processes, some schools it is closer to operations research. ME’s deal with the design of anything mechanical (and you’d be surprised what qualifies). </p>

<p>2-Which ones offer the best salaries, please rank them. I’m sure neurologist is at the top.</p>

<p>Historically, Chem E/Petroleum has commanded the highest starting salaries (esp if you don’t mind sitting on a drilling platform in the Bay of Middle of Nowhere), EE/CS and maybe Aero/Astro in the middle, Civil towards the lower end. MANY variations in this, depending on overall state of target industry, location, specific employers, etc. IMO, ALL (or almost all) engineering disciplines are cyclical and you will be changing jobs and maybe industries as technology changes and your interests evolve.</p>

<p>3-Which jobs allow one to have a comfortable upper-middle class life-style? </p>

<p>Any (if employed) and none if you wind up in the wrong place/time and are really stubborn about changing. I’ve joked to wife/family that in some respects, engineers are well-educated high-paid migrant labor. </p>

<p>4-What the said jobs above, please rank them in order of “free/family time available”. </p>

<p>Impossible -too many variations in job specifics. When it’s crunch time on delivering a proposal or project or product, it’s crunch time. While dated (mid 1970s), “Soul of a New Machine” remains valid, IMO, as a window into the life of an engineering team getting a new productr developed.</p>

<p>5-Please rank in order of amount of human-human interactions.</p>

<p>Also impossible - engineers work in teams, customers are people, and ability to elicit requirements, describe and present information, work well in a team, known when to get help, mentor, understand and meet commitments, all depend on people skills. An engineer who is develops their skills in this area and is technically sharp is worth their weight in unobtanium.</p>

<p>6-What must I consider to choose between engineering and medicine (Neurology)?</p>

<p>Do you like solving technical and organizational problems or healing the sick? I guarantee your interests and passions will change between now and when you’re deciding on a major a year or 2 into college. </p>

<p>7-Is engineering tedious and boring?
Sometimes. All jobs and careers have periods of mindless grunt work. And sometimes you just have to “eat the elephant” they’ve placed in front of you (one bite at a time) knowing 2 more are being lined up behind it. It’s also VERY rewarding when your product, project, (etc.) ships, goes into use, or you see something related to it in the news and say to yourself “I had a hand in that.”</p>

<p>8-Any other things I should know of consider when choosing a major? </p>

<p>Chill. You’re in HS now, correct? If you think STEM, engineering in particular, is your passion, go for schools with solid reputations and programs. Worry about major is secondary - while some majors are not found at some schools (aero/astro may be part of mech e, naval/ocean engineering is also unique), at the undergrad level, it does not matter as much. I believe some schools (Stevens, WPI) don’t grant majors or discourage specialization at the undergrad level. </p>

<p>I guarantee you will change you mind about majors. I was convinced I was going to be a hardware EE (computers or RF). Considered materials science, CS, EE (again), before gravitating to Aero/Astro. Almost abandoned engineering following a co-op experience (realized 9 months later it was the location, company, and specific work, not the field that was the problem). Started in commercial aerospace, moved over to info systems, today my work is better described as business processes and systems engineering/integration. I could not have predicted where I wound up, but it was for the most part a fun ride and I wouldn’t change it.</p>

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<p>What kind of jobs can a major of biomedical engineering get? Is it a stable field? How about the salary of said jobs?</p>

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<p>KamelAkbar, can I get a ratio?</p>

<p>Thanks for all that info. I never knew a lot of that.</p>

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<p>They basically do research in government, pharmaceutical companies, or design medical devices. They design/research anything from artificial tissue to x-rays. Their job is often done by mechanical engineers since BME is a relatively new field. It also often requires a graduate degree. The job prospects aren’t great and the salary is comparable to other engineering fields. It’s hard to judge such a new field’s stability. There’s no reason to think a BME grad could design an x-ray machine better than a MechE grad.</p>

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<p>HereWeGo2 Thats really insightful. Thanks.</p>

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<p>I am a Senior and I was forced to apply Undecided to my top choice college because I could not make up my mind on a major.
Now I am finishing some last minute applications for 2 other colleges and am still caught in between Computer Science and Neuroscience.
Any experiences with either?</p>

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<p>For employment statistics, Google the BLS OOH and check the A-Z index for careers… Engineers, Computer Software Engineers, etc. Lots of good information, and better information is coming out soon.</p>

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<p>Computer Science and Computer Engineering programs are known for their
grueling labs so you’re going to get a lot of pressure in getting your
degree.</p>

<p>In my office, we have free tea, coffee, coke, mountain dew, and a lot
of other drinks so software engineers have all of the caffeine
available to them whenever they want it.</p>

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<p>I don’t have a whole lot of insight into what major you should choose, but please don’t just assume your wife is going to be making 65k mid career. Unless you have a specific person in mind who has already decided on their career path, don’t put a limit on women. I’m not normally a feminist, but when it comes to career/schooling I can’t stand stuff like this. I’ve been the only girl in my math/science classes for too long.</p>

<p>As for any bit of info I can muster, I’m planning on majoring in CS, and in my research I have seen that it is definitely a pressure/caffeine-driven field. If you don’t want that, I suggest otherwise.</p>