<p>Why is that? I can see that EECS has practically unlimited freedom in course selection (inside and outside of EECS), but is this to say that numbers of MechE's are decreasing every year? I also think the fact that there are lots of lower and upper div requirements in MechE can scare ppl off, plus the fact that MechE's can pretty much only take 2 engineering courses outside of their major (that is, if they petition). Can someone in MechE at Berkeley tell me why they prefer MechE? Not that I'm trying to make it look bad I just feel like I've never gotten a solid opinion from a MechE.</p>
<p>Ppl chose meche, because they really like meche.ppl switched to eecs because they like eecs AND the job opportunities. In a typical career fair, more than 80% of the companies look for eecs(because we r so close to silicon valley). An average starting salary of berkeley eecs grad is highest among all eng majors. Again, it’s the temptation of huge potential of silicon valley</p>
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<p>CS is red-hot right now - and it’s attracting people who previously would never have given second thought to CS. I know tons of people without any programming experience who are saying they want to major in CS/EECS.</p>
<p>Were there many people you met that were specifically trying to switch to doing EE? I imagine it’s mostly a function of wanting to do CS specifically.</p>
<p>Better job opportunities, higher salaries, hotter chicks.</p>
<p>ME is a very overlooked major in Berkeley as I have seen it, mostly due to it being overshadowed by EECS at the prospects of the nearby Silicon Valley, as one of you mentioned. I know I am answering my own question but only to prove a point that was stated to me earlier. While EECS is a great major and I think many fit great there, there are also many who may consciously or subconsciously want to switch into EECS for reasons of job prospects or it being so “lucrative” right now. If you have any doubts about doing EECS please reconsider whether even a little piece of you is doing it for those prospects, because you will not be happy in the end if you are not doing something that u truly want to do. Think of it this way, if you’d be happy doing EECS knowing that your pay would always be the salary of a teacher, and that what you do is satisfying beyond anything money can provide, then I believe you should go for EECS. If you have other people behind you telling you to do EECS and u have any doubt about it, please talk to me. It is not the end-all-be-all of engineering and in fact may change it’s status and allow the rise of other engineering majors, which many others are doing great right now, don’t let the crowds decide your direction. You’ll find ultimate satisfaction away from anything money can offer.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about it. People tend to find out very quickly that they aren’t cut out for EECS (perhaps as soon as 61a) and you can easily switch from EECS to other majors.
I do think job prospects is a legitimate concern, especially since it’s more than just high pay; it sucks to not be able to find a job, which is the case for many people, even some engineers.
While CS does seem a little too trendy (facebook, google, amazon) at the moment, I really can’t imagine the field as a whole contracting significantly. It’s not like the dot-com bubble where people were throwing money at every half-viable idea. Computation is becoming more important in other fields, including sociology, cog sci, and biology. The ability to program is useful in all fields of engineering (or life in general). Even more significantly, the golden age of statistics is yet to come, and all sorts of exciting things are happening in the realm of theoretical CS.
Even in terms of interest, all these opportunities means that you have some leeway in deciding what kind of job you’d like.
On the other hand, there’s petroleum engineering. In the future, the demand is going to be insane. But that’s about it.</p>
<p>I will admit though, staying up all night coding can turn from fun to extremely not fun. I ended up switching out of EECS my sophomore year because of that. But I didn’t consider it a disaster/waste of time.</p>