I am a dual enrollment student from Florida, and I recently decided that what I really want to go into is engineering. I know you have seen millions of threads about the same topic I am about to explain, but I need to make sure I make the right decision picking my major next year.
I am not that good at math, basically a B student. I will be honest most of my HS life I did not study really at all. I am taking college algebra this semester at a local community college. I took the ACT once and got a 24 on the math section if that helps. I am really worried about Calculus and Diff. Eq, I think I can do it if I try extra hard and get a tutor if neccesary.
Also, I plan to attend UCF for college and since math is not my best subject, I was looking into Industrial, Civil, and computer engineering or science. Which one of those has the best job opportunities? They all seem interesting to me
Math is about having a strong foundation and then building upon that foundation. Students who have been through calculus and say they are bad because they really didn’t try are at a disadvantage. It’s because they’ve already negatively impacted their foundation. As long as you can add, subtract, multiply and divide and know order of operations, you’ll be fine. You are starting at the very beginning. Work hard. Have no excuses. See how it goes. Good luck!
Every field of engineering has more than enough math for it to be important for you to know it well - don’t discard a field because it has a little bit more than any other, because either way you’ll be spending a lot of time doing math.
Right now, my suggestion is simply to take algebra seriously, to build your foundation properly from there, and to never use the excuse that you “aren’t good at math” (because it really isn’t anywhere near as hard as that kind of mentality leads you to believe it is). Calculus and DiffEq are tough, but they can be done. And it’s important for actually understanding many concepts with engineering - it’s already a field with more than a bit of hand-waving; without understanding the underlying mathematics, a lot of the most interesting material will be lost on you.
The bottom line is that all engineering disciplines require math. Pick one that interests you the most, not one that seems to require the least math. You will be more motivated to succeed in difficult classes if you are more excited about the end game. Also, given that you already know you want to do some kind of engineering, there is no use getting overly worried about how difficult the math may or may not be. You might as well go into it with excitement and as much confidence you can muster and just give it your best shot, because you have to do it no matter what if you want to be an engineer.
