Dreams of Aerospace Engineering out the window, where to next?

College Majors
1

Hey everyone,

I’ve had a dream for quite some time to be an aerospace engineer. I have a natural knack for math, and have received A’s through calculus 1. My professors have actually suggested I consider a math major, but I don’t know about all that.

Anyways, after taking physics, I’ve realized that engineering is not where I want to be. I spent countless frustrating hours (sometimes 60+ hours in a week studying physics) to get nowhere. I’ve received help from professors, tutors, etc. and for whatever reason, I just couldn’t get it. And then when I could, I didn’t enjoy it. It just seemed tedious to me once I understood various topics. I spent a lot of times in tears and frustration in this class, as well, and suffered in some of my other courses as a result.

But, I literally have no other interests, well, I have interests, but not passions. I enjoy math, I enjoy biology, and I enjoy chemistry (at least up till o. chem, I haven’t taken beyond that). My main goal in life is to simply get a degree that will lead to a paying job. I’m 27 years old, and still don’t have an undergraduate.

I’ve considered med school with friends, but I don’t know if I’m ready for that commitment.

I’ve considered accounting, but I don’t feel that I could be passionate about it.

I definitely enjoy my math courses, but I don’t see myself majoring in it, unless I want to teach. Teaching would be fun, but it’s not my forte. My classmates tell me I am good at explaining material, but I am too introverted and shy to teach. I’d think of myself more as a tutor.

I’m just really lost, I don’t know if this is just me venting, or what. But I really need some suggestions. What does one pursue other than engineering or finance/accounting in order to make a decent living after college?

I’m not opposed to higher education. As I’ve said, med school is a legitimate consideration, I just need more time than make a rash decision on such a commitment. Honestly, I wanted to major in biology in the past. But, I was persuaded against it by numerous people. Not to mention, the majority of the people I met who had bio degrees were either going to med school, or they were managing retail stores.

Any help would be nice. I’m just really lost and discouraged right now.

Thanks for reading.

2

Besides teaching, math graduates may go into finance, actuarial, or computing jobs (of course, after having taken appropriate elective courses). Do these interest you?

3

Actuarial and computer programming interested me for a brief time. I tried programming on my own, and while it was fun, I couldn’t see making a job out of it. Then again, my knowledge of what it’s like working in those fields are rather limited, despite having direct access to someone in my family who works for Google. My girlfriend thinks that’s the direction I should go. I really just don’t see it as being fulfilling. Or enjoyable, and I’ve heard it’s a problem with that field in general. Most computer programmers I know have recommended majoring in something else, but learning programming to further your knowledge of that field. Anyways,I had once considered it as an alternative because it’s possible to work in the aero industry with said skills.

Actuarial, on the other had, while it interests me, I’ve heard post-college can be rather brutal in getting promotions and it’s really based on ones intellect which I consider mine to be low-moderate. I just seem to understand certain logic puzzles in math classes, for whatever reason. It clicks for me, and I enjoy it. I’ve always done math for fun to challenge myself.

Anyways, I guess your point being, there are more options to teaching then math, so it is a worthy contender. Thanks for your response. I’m just really despondent and negative right now.

4

Become a biology teacher. Science teachers are needed.

5

^^^ Physics or chemistry would be better. Many pre-meds who major in biology and decide not to go on to med school end up teaching biology. In many areas, it’s surprisingly difficult to get a job as a biology teacher. (On the high school level, at least.)

6

I think it’s a common misconception that you have to “follow your passion” or whatnot to have a fulfilling career. But you don’t. You just have to pick something that you reasonably enjoy and that pays enough to support your lifestyle, whatever that is. So pursuing some interest that leads to good job outcomes is great.

A math major leads to a lot of potential careers aside from just teaching; there are lots of websites out there that have lists of careers you can do with a major in math. So if you like math, that is a great major to settle on for now. You can always figure out the details later when you are a bit closer to graduation.

7

I recommend you reserch research statistics and mathematical economics as applied math fields (as mentioned) are in demand and interesting to many people.

You could even investigate an agricultural science degree or forestry degree.

Meet with a college advisor and figure out how you can wrap up an undergrad degree as quickly and economically as possible. My BIL spent YEARS and YEARS in school and never finished his degree. He is a nice man and works hard but this failure to FINISH his degree has had major life repercussions.