Inbetween Three Majors

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>I attend Virginia Tech and am torn between three majors: Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISE), Electrical Engineering (EE), and Computer Engineering (CmpE). According to USNews 2010, Tech’s ISE program is 5th in the nation (tied with UC-Berkeley), EE is 14th, and CmpE is also 14th. </p>

<p>Things I’m looking for in a career:
- I don’t care much about money; anything above $50,000 salary is fine
- Low/Medium stress
- Either good job security, high availability of jobs, or jobs that will still be hot in the future
- No more than 60-hour workweeks (unless the job is fun or pays extremely well)
- Don’t care about job reputation/popularity
- Job Satisfaction</p>

<p>Things I’m NOT interesting in doing:
- Lots of research / proofs
- Writing lots of papers
- Lots of presentations</p>

<p>What I’m good at right now:
- Math (perfect 800 on Math part of SAT, breezing through all required math classes)
- maybe Physics (I’ve only taken Physics 2305: Mechanics)</p>

<h2> - Programming</h2>

<p>Sure, I enjoy programming at the moment, but for CmpE:
- I can probably get a good software engineering job with an EE or ISE degree, without a degree in CmpE (true or not?)
- Not sure about the job security or availability in the future since a lot may be outsourced, and how employers prefer fresh college grads over older professionals<br>
- narrow job prospects (pretty much only programming, I don’t know if I will like programming for the rest of my life)</p>

<p>What draws me to Industrial & Systems:
- one usually enters management really early
- People with ISE jobs report great job satisfaction (true or not? I read this from lots of online articles and statistics)
- Occupational Outlook Handbook projects high growth/demand with IE’s (but can’t other engineers/business majors/MBAs take ISE jobs?)
- Doesn’t ISE tailor more to good jobs like consulting/banking? Or would I need to be at more of an ivy league school for that?
- ISE program is 5th in the nation here at Tech</p>

<p>Fears for Electrical E:
- Low job stability/layoffs
- Low job satisfaction, difficult/stressful jobs (true or not?)
- Low job growth/outsourcing (Occupational Outlook Handbook)
- Difficult college courses</p>

<p>If you could choose between these three majors at a school like Virginia Tech, which would you choose, and why?</p>

2

<p>Update: I’ve decided to scrap EE. I think CmpE would be a better choice than EE, but I’m still heavily stuck between ISE and CmpE.</p>

<p>I realize the above may be a bit much to read, so as a really brief summary: I want to major in something worthwhile. Although I’m <em>sort of</em> interested in software engineering <em>right now</em>, I’m not sure if I’d like to do that for the rest of my life. ISE seems like it has better growth (and no outsourcing), better jobs, and less limited job prospects. If you were at a school like Virginia Tech - where ISE is 5th and CmpE is 14th - what would you do?</p>

3

<p>I go to VT. I don’t think the whole 5th versus 14th thing matters really is going to make a difference. From what you’ve said it sounds like you’re heavily leaning toward ISE. Other engineers CAN take ISE jobs but you’ll have an inside track.</p>

4

<p>Do EE! Not only can you work in software like a CS/CE, but you can also do hardware. Your job prospects are huge and its a really fun major with a lot of cool projects and many different areas/concentrations. DO IT!!!</p>

5

<p>

</p>

<p>I think it’s young (low salary) and experienced (high productivity).</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>To be fair even hardware design is programming. Computer Engineers are perfect for Embedded systems. It’s a mix of:
-OS design
-HCI
–Ubiquitous computing
–Ambient intelligence
-image/audio/video/biological signal processing
-digital hardware design
–processor design
-communications engineering</p>

<p>The list could go on forever since the modern world is all about computers…The only areas in EE you would have a tough time getting a job, that do not require a Masters/PhD, are Power engineering and Analog hardware design. </p>

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<p>What draws you to EE/CompE? Is there anything in particular about the day to day work of any of the 3 professions that sounds interesting to you? With any of them your employer is going to be paying you for some valuable skill you provide him with. Do you see yourself easily obtaining these skills?</p>

<p>The best decision is probably the one you feel comfortable with. I guess that is to say, go with your gut feeling. No regrets.</p>