Just graduated engineering, kinda lost and looking for advice

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

Hi,

Backstory about me:

I recently just graduated from Penn State University with a degree in Engineering Science and a minor in Engineering Mechanics. To clarify, since this degree isn’t a common one, engineering science is an honors interdisciplinary degree. You essentially have a course or 2 per semester that provide interdisciplinary work and then the rest of your course are what you want. You also have to research and write a thesis. So in my case, my degree falls in line with a mechanical engineer more than anything else and my thesis was “Optimization of friction and wear for resin materials”. My GPA was a 3.0, I had an ME internship in summer 2019, and I also completed a capstone project. Since COVID19 pretty much screwed everything up, I am currently unemployed.

My main concern:

While I search for jobs, my biggest problem is my lack of interest or passion for the field. I picked ME because I do enjoy problem solving and I enjoy physics/math. Now that my college career is over, I almost regret majoring in it and have zero motivation to enter the field but I have student debt so I need to. Honestly, taking all the coursework has bored me to death of the material. I enjoy design (like CAD and such) but I don’t like designing machines and things i’m just not interested in. Im proud to have engineering degree but I don’t think I picked the right one necessarily.

I feel that I would enjoy programing and computer science. Its a field in high demand and I love a lot of the companies that have open positions. How can I enter the field for the cheapest cost? I don’t want a lot more debt. I just feel lost and really would like some advice. Computer skills/programs that I know are below. Thank you!

MatLAB, Mathematica, SolidWorks, SolidEdge, Ansys, LaTeX, Revit, AutoCad, NI Multisim, NI Ultiboard

2

If you simply want to be a programmer, learn how to code. Take one of the many courses out there, and maybe even pay and get certified.

Alternatively, you could either get a second bachelors in CS, which usually would require two years of higher level CS courses, since you almost certainly have the math perquisites.

You could also get a professional master’s in CS, but that is more expensive, and it’s not always easy getting a master’s-level position without work experience in the field.

3

Take a look at edX.org. There are lots of free/inexpensive courses on CS, artificial intelligence, data science etc. You can get Micro Masters certificates as well as Professional Certificates and the courses are taught by top colleges or companies.

For example:
https://www.edx.org/professional-certificate/ibm-applied-ai
https://www.edx.org/professional-certificate/harvardx-computer-science-for-artifical-intelligence
https://www.edx.org/professional-certificate/dartmouth-imtx-c-programming-with-linux

4

Wow that is perfect! thank you for sharing that with me!

5

You have a degree. You like to code. I bet you’ll find a job - good luck!