<p>I am in my Junior year at Keene State college.
I am majoring in Sustainable Product Design and Innovation with minors in Management and Computer Science.
Keene State seemed like a great place at first, seeing I didn't do exceptionally well in HS. I got a 3.3 GPA with no AP or Honors classes and played 3 sports for EC's. The program I am in right now seems like its taking baby steps. We are learning how to machine, when in reality most of these jobs will be taken over by robots when I graduate.
I am stressed out and really wishing that I went to a CC for a few years and then tried to get into a respectable engineering program.
I am in classes such as CAD/CAM using Mastercam, Materials: A life-cycle view, 3D Design, Sketch, Draft & CAD. I have always been worried about money.
I feel as if this major is only going to set me up with a job around 20-30k a year after paying 80k for 4 years of college it doesn't make sense to me.
I feel as though I am not being challenged enough and could probably have taken on a more difficult program.
I am not very good at math, I struggled A LOT with PreCalc.
Not very good at science either.
I am working my way through this major maintaining a 3.9 GPA.
Should I just stick it out for the last two years and prepare myself for a graduate program at a more recognized univ?
This is a dilemma!
Please help me out thanks everyone</p>
<p>I understand the financial worry. And you are right it doesn’t make sense to spend 80k on a degree that only pays 20-30k… I would really research what jobs are out there for that degree, and what the career growth progression is like. What is the pay like in 5, 10, 15 years?</p>
<p>Yes, engineering would pay more, and you could finish the degree in the same time…but, you said you had a lot of trouble with pre-calc and science. We use this, and a LOT more advanced maths, in just about every class. One thing you may want to look into is Engineering technology. The pay is better than 20k and the math is less rigorous. If the career prospects for your degree are limited and you see an advantageous way to correct this, I would do it. If not, there is always grad school.</p>
<p>The description for my major is:
[Academic</a> Programs: Sustainable Product Design and Innovation](<a href=“Bachelor’s Degree Programs < CourseLeaf”>Bachelor’s Degree Programs < CourseLeaf)
Its just I am taking a lot of model making classes and some basic drafting classes like learning how to draw and I wonder if this will really be needed in the future.
I feel like it is most definitely too late to switch so I am minoring in CS and Management so I could possibly go to grad school for something different.</p>
<p>Why not just switch to CS completely if you like it?? It is definitely not too late because you are still in your undergrad. I already had a bachelors in a non engineering field and then had to come back to get a degree in engineering. It would have been A LOT easier if I would have switched during my degree. CS is definitely a great paying job.</p>
<p>I am trying to gain more knowledge about CS. The program at my school is not accredited. Also, the major I am in, Sustainable Product Design and Innovation is the only major of its sort in the US. I am just confused as what I should do.</p>
<p>It’s typical for college students to be confused about future path. A lot depends on the program and the college. Make an appointment with a campus career counselor who knows about the Keene factors.
[Keene</a> State College | Academic & Career Advising](<a href=“http://www.keene.edu/aca/]Keene”>http://www.keene.edu/aca/)</p>
<p>Be very skeptical of counselor’s advice. See at least 3 counselors before you make a decision that will determine your life’s career. Math is essential to engineering and if you can overcome that struggle you will be well on your way. Precalc could arguably be just as hard as all three of the calculus sections by the way.</p>
<p>Your CS program is not accredited by whom? If you are talking about ABET, then thats ok, most aren’t. But if its not accredited in general, then I am not sure.</p>
<p>My career counselor advise was mostly geared toward getting info on opportunities with current major.</p>
<p>OP - Do your research before considering a switch to engineering. I’m an an engineer and have met a lot of engineers and engineering students. I don’t recall any of that struggled in pre-calc or an hs math. Ok, some didn’t have A’s because they skipped the homework (“boring”) or did and failed to turn it in. </p>
<p>Do you recall your math SAT score? Most engineers seem to score over 600 in Math… often in the 700s. (But my recent experience is with DS applying at top engineering schools. So maybe I’m wrong on this as a general rule.)</p>
<p>Focus on studying what you like. The major you’re now on may be that, if you like it. But keep in mind what are you going to do to pay the bills, which have to be paid. But it’s not like one has to get a job in the area that one did a degree in (just see what liberal arts majors are doing and why they study liberal arts nevertheless).</p>
<p>One may do a compromise by doing a major which leads to well salaried job prospects, but it’s almost guaranteed that either 1) one will not finish the major or even the first year or 2) will end up disliking the work it prepared for, if there’s no real interest in the subject. Something like hard sciences is just too much to soak up without a real interest, because it takes too much effort. So I think you should have the motivation prior to considering hard sciences or engineering. CS is sort of a middle ground, because it can be had with less or more hard science or less or more software technology topics, and accreditation is not generally seen as necessary in the industry (the chops are more important). The pool of computing related jobs is also extremely large.</p>
<p>Sustainable Product Design and Innovation sounds like a pretty entrepreneurial program to me. You could be opening your own shop or something or work as a industrial designer. But I would expect that there’s quite a huge business opportunity in “sustainable products”, so if you have ideas and enjoy it, then it should be fine? But of course it’s not as straightforward as more straightforwardly pragmatic degrees like engineering, more like innovation, like it says.</p>