I’m closing in on my first college degree in science (associates). After I graduate i’d like to continue my education to eventually earn a bachelor’s degree. The issue I have is I can’t decide between computer science or mechanical engineering. I know i’m more than capable of doing both. The tough thing is both interest me and I just can’t decide which is best for me.
An important thing to note here is that my soul purpose for going into engineering would be to work for a biomedical company. Biotech is what initially sparked my interest in engineering. I enjoy biology and math. The concept of helping create technology to better people’s lives sounds like a dream job to me. Other jobs in engineering I could probably tough out, but my main interest lies in biomedical. To get there I was thinking of going the mechanical engineering route, as it’s already offered at my school. I don’t know if it would be foolish to learn engineering with my hopes set on going into biomedical. A quick job search on indeed and I see a fair amount of openings in my area. I live in NJ. I’m close to some major cities.
On the other hand, i’ve loved computers and video games since I was a child. I’ve always been the go to computer guy among my family and friends, and so I seem like a perfect candidate for computer science. I’ve done a little bit of programming in my teens, but not a whole lot. I remember I did enjoy it to an extent. I’ve really enjoyed the math i’ve learned so far. One thing too that attracted me to computer science is the great work/life balance CS majors keep telling me about. Like being able to work right from your laptop on projects anywhere. The variety of jobs for computer science just seem so much more abundant as well.
I could easily see myself doing either, or both for portions of my life. I’ve heard that engineers can often end up in a CS field or as a programmer but you won’t really see a CS major become an engineer. One idea i’ve had is to just get a job in either one, then once i’ve established myself financially, ease myself back into school to learn the other discipline.
It’s almost like a cliche where computer science is like the major I just SHOULD be in. The one i’ve always been naturally fit for and would be crazy not to pick. Yet in the back of my mind i’ve always been dreaming of a career in medical technology.
You seem equally passionate about both. Have you looked into colleges where it would be possible to double major, or do a major and a minor?
I say go for Engineering and get a minor in CS. As you said, transitioning to CS is doable, but not the other way. If you major in CS, you will always have the “what if?” thought, but little way to go back. Since you have the passion for both, this would be a tiebreaker for me.
I have to some extent, but that’s something I think i’ll look into with my counselor. Time and cost is a bit of a factor here. An absolute dream for me would be a major in mechanical engineering and a minor in CS. It just happens to be that with the amount of math I have under my belt, I could probably finish a bachelor’s in CS within 2 years or so (VERY VERY tempting). My current math and science courses would carry over nicely. I’m not sure about the ME though. I’ll seriously look into this with a counselor this week though. And yes I honestly just sincerely love almost all aspects of math and science. It’s a tough choice!
Finishing a BS in CS in 2 years, while tempting, will be tough because of prerequisite structure, and will feel very rushed and heavy. The math is orthogonal to the CS path, which unless I am mistaken, you are starting at step 1 on at the college level.
With a BS level degree, the chance that a CS graduate working in a biotech company is higher than the one of a biomedical engineer. Biotech companies need a lot of software engineers.
To explain things a bit further, I attend a 2 year college that offers the first 2 years of the bachelor’s CS program of another school (rutgers university). When I earn my degree in science I should have up to calc III done and all the pre-reqs done for the 2 year CS program offered, which could shorten it by a year. So maybe i’m looking at more like 3 years, but certainly not 4.
That’s very good to know. Although in a biotech company i’d much rather be the engineer. While in say, a computing company i’d rather be the software dev.
Good info, that is certainly more doable then - I still make the same case I made in post #2 though.
@thetruthbetold71, have you taken any courses in Mechanical Engineering or CS yet? Taking the courses might give you a better idea of what you like better. You might be able to take courses in both CS and ME regardless of which one you declare as your major, but some schools do restrict access to courses in some majors.
You should ask the school if you can take courses in those departments without being in the major.
I haven’t taken any engineer or CS courses yet. I’ve only programmed a little high school and dabbled with engineering type problems from my physics books. My school does allow me take courses outside of my majors. I think in my mind i’m trying to leave both career options available to me somehow. By both options I mean engineer and IT/comp sci type careers. My big question is how much of a disadvantage I would have in IT/programming/CS related careers if I went with mechanical engineering.