<p>...yet I signed up and got accepted into UCB's EECS program.</p>
<p>Actually, that above statement isn't true, its not that I hate engineering, its more like I don't feel like working my tail off. The only reason I signed up was because I felt like I was being cool by signing up for engineering and loking smart and stuff, and because my family is an MIT breeding ground--the majority of my cousins have a degree from MIT in EE/CE/ME, depending.</p>
<p>Any other jobs where I can get payed 50K an year for half the work? Or, should I just stick it out just to satisfy my ego? Yes, this is an advisory post.</p>
<p>Oh starman, I would never study something just for the money or prestige. You will be so unhappy if you do. First, you probably won't be great at it because your heart isn't in the work. Also, it won't be long before the influence of your family will fade and you will be left with your own decisions. You can be just as successful financially in MANY areas.</p>
<p>That said, you should know that you will probably study your butt off no matter what your major. The work you do in humanitites or social science or fine arts will just be different than that of engineering. If you like what you study, time will pass quickly and it will be a labor of love (corny, but true). If you hate your studies, time will stretch out interminably. Maybe you will like EECS and maybe you should give it a try, especially if you have no other identifiable passion.</p>
<p>If it isn't your thing don't do it. But don't not do it b/c you're afraid of the workload. Anyways it is not a good sign saying you hate engineering b/c of the workload and you haven't even started yet. And I agree with lkf, if you don't have any other passion, you should give it a try or try undecided. If you do like something else definitely do that.</p>
<p>And you will have to work in any major, it is just that engineering is harder and more. There will be no one saying anything different to that.</p>
<p>stick with EE for a semester... see how you like cs61a. if it kicks your ass, keep in mind that cs61b is harder. ;) you can always check out the other engineering majors... a lot of the freshman seminars are really awesome. i've heard great things about tongue's (ME) and devine's (MSE). don't take E92 though... nap time...</p>
<p>keep in mind that at berkeley, you can switch out of the college of engineering to L&S whenever you want but not the other way around. the only college you might have any trouble getting into is the college of chem.</p>
<p>re-evaluate your reasons for attending college, if you are not willing to study a lot doing something u like, u are just a slacker, won't amount to much. have some faith in yourself.</p>
<p>Maybe you are like my son. Bored and unmotivated in boring high school classes, but getting As. Maybe a challanging and inspirational college class will light a fire under you and find you much more willing to work.</p>
<p>Come on lets be real. If you got into Berkeley EECS you must have excellent grades in hs and great SAT scores. You probably worked your butt off to get accepted and i dont really see how you could be a slacker and get accepted into Berkeley EECS. Im sure you would fit in with all the other smart engineerings in EECS and make it through. Maybe youre just slacking off now because its senior year but once youre in a room with all those other genius engineers im sure itll motivate you to study hard again.</p>
<p>Sorry DJdooey, I dont' have incredibely stellar grades. You can search up my stats on the board, I'm just your average "smart" student kind of guy. </p>
<p>At any rate, somebody give me a nice breakdown of how incredibely hard EECS is. I read on the UCB website that on the first day of C61A, you have a placement test. </p>
<p>Looking at the example they give, the first thing that came to my mind was "O dear god, I am FOOKED." I don't even know what "recursion" means! My <em>extremely</em> limited programming skill is self-taught.</p>
<p>Perhaps I should do women's studies. Or underwater basketweaving! </p>
<p>Hey Starman,
As someone who has been exposed to the engineering field, I think I can offer some insightful information into your situation.
I was first brought to engineering by the recommendations of friends who were mining engineering majors. Now, mining engineering is an extremely lucrative career, as it has one of the highest paying salaries in the discipline, the employability rate is through the roof, and the potential for career mobility is always expanding.
Well, I became blinded by the glitter of the almighty dollar; literally, dollar signs were flashing in my eyes. Not long after their brief recruitment session, I spoke to the head of the department and he gave me the same speech. Money, job security, the works. So I signed up...big mistake!
It wasn't that I couldn't handle the physics/mathematics or anything of the sort. Actually, I was quite good in those subjects. The problem was that my heart was simply not in the work. The glits and glamor that first attracted me to the major quickly wore off. I absolutely hated the major. I was miserable, the work was boring, arduous and just simply did not fit me at all.
So, I left and became a philosophy major and you know what, I couldn't be happier!
The point with all this is that you should do some introspective analysis and found out who YOU really are. Don't rely on anyone else to tell you that; only you can do so.
As others have pointed out, don't go in to something for the money or prestige. Go in to something because you feel a calling (trite, I know).
Best of luck, buddy!</p>
<p>P.S. I don't mean any offense to any mining engineers reading this. I have a deep respect for mining engineering, as it serves as a cornerstone for our global economy and so are heavily dependent upon their work.
It was just not the field for me. Keep up the good work! :)</p>
<p>a lot of engineering jobs out there (cubicle jobs) don't require you to work 8 hours / day. You have a task / assignment and you do it, once you're done, you can sit and do whatever you want. Some times, when projects get delayed because of other components, you will either be assigned to something else quick to do or do nothing. Plus, coming straight out of school, people don't expect you to know much, you won't have tons of tasks to do the first couple months / year.</p>
<p>Hey ukscott I'm a junior in Purdue Engineering. I only started it because I had high test scores and had a very prestigious program with in state tuition. I hated the program from day one and knew I needed to do something else. </p>
<p>However I have no idea who I am and don't have any passions or anything that I like. Therefore I have no idea what to switch to, so I just continued on with engineering. </p>
<p>you got accepted and that's a good thing
treat it as an option, not as a compulsion to attend
and completely forget about the ego
cuz a year down the line, or later in life, you won't even feel cool that you went to a great program
what you'll care about is that you're happy and you enjoy what you're doing</p>
<p>If you know what your passion is, by all means go ahead and follow it.</p>
<p>If you hate engineering yet don't have any idea what your passion really is, just stick with engineering.
I honestly don't really enjoy, but don't hate engineering either. For me it's only a way to pay for my expensive hobbies.</p>
<p>Does nobody else think this thread was supposed to be poking fun at engineers? I know it’s old, but still, surprised at the lengthy advice some people were giving.</p>