Is it a bad idea to start out in engineering?

College Majors Business Major
1

<p>I am interested in both accounting and engineering but I am afraid engineering might be too hard for me. Which route would be better:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Start out in engineering. If your grades are really bad, transfer to another school and major in accounting.</p></li>
<li><p>Start out in engineering and change major to accounting at same school if grades are bad (but this is unlikely because you probably won't get accepted into the b-school if grades are that bad).</p></li>
<li><p>Stick with engineering even if GPA is bad (< 3.0)</p></li>
<li><p>Go straight into accounting.</p></li>
</ol>

2

<p>Take classes in both freshman year. Then pick whichever one you like more and stick to it.</p>

3

<p>^I agree.</p>

<p>I would also like to add that after college, as a career, an engineer can switch into a business career. For an accountant it is nearly impossible to switch into an engineering career.</p>

4

<p>As someone who has both an accounting and an engineering degree, I agree with terenc. To get the engineering degree, I needed 5 regular semesters and 2 summer semester. All my classes were technical. I was fortunate to have a wife who made a good salary. low tuition at a state university (over 20 years ago), and classes which fell exactly into place in my schedule. And believe me, it was intense. If you start in engineering, you can change to accounting by taking classes at your local community college.</p>

5

<p>But won’t I lose out on chances at the Big 4 and top firms if I try both out and I get really low grades in those engineering classes (which would mess up the GPA)? Is it worth the risk? And which school should I be applying to: engineering or business?</p>

6

<p>take up engineering if u are really passionate about it otherwise go to accounts …</p>

7

<p>Yes, ac33527, that is the risk. Engineering will be tougher, and if your GPA is below 3.0 or so, your chances at Big 4 will be reduced. You should tell us what college you’re at, though, since it depends on the school (more prestigious = more leeway).</p>

<p>Oh. I looked at your profile/past posts. It seems you’re a high school junior still. This is way too early to be deciding your career path. My advice: try getting an accounting internship over the summer (it’ll probably be excel spreadsheet work or something), perhaps through any family connections. Also try involving yourself in engineering extracurriculars/classes, like robotics, car shop, or industrial tech. Take classes in engineering (like computer science, if it is offered), and see if they are for you. Also, take a class in Economics?</p>

<p>Generally, if you are strong in science and math, you will do well in engineering, so tell us how strong you are at math/science.</p>

<p>You have a high SAT score, which tells me you have strong quantitative skills, but your low GPA makes me wonder whether you could handle the engineering workload.</p>

<p>Furthermore, many colleges don’t have you apply separately to engineering/humanities or business (all of the Ivies, except Penn, Columbia, and Cornell, for example). And even then it is not too hard to switch into engineering.</p>

<p>Also, there are many different fields in engineering. Which specific major(s) interest you. Not all engineering majors are created equal. For example, most engineering requires physics knowledge, except computer engineering/science.</p>