<p>I've been thinking about which major to pursue but I can't get my mind set on one. I might be a bit vague in my description but that's the way I'm seeing it.</p>
<p>I'll become a senior this September and I haven't really decided on which major to go for. I've been interested in computers, literally, since kindergarten, and was going for info tech or some other area close to it (computer engineering in general?) but I end up thinking about how I really don't want to be attached to a computer (it's the way I'm seeing it). Few minutes ago, I was looking for any other engineering major (civil, structural, mechanical) but I don't know which to focus on. </p>
<p>Any suggestions? (I'd be glad to provide more details to help.)</p>
<p>uclacee: Why would civil engineering be best?</p>
<p>aGGieENGiNeeR: Physics really fascinates me but I had to grasp majority of the curriculum on my own because my instructor didn’t put as much effort because of the rude classmates. The other sciences are just eh.</p>
<p>you can just put your major as “engineering undecided” and pick your official specific major some time late fresh/soph year depending on the school</p>
<p>you could try an electrical engineering major with a focus on some computers, liking physics seems kinda general for engineering (so like, what’s your favorite area of physics to study?)</p>
<p>@Alchemist: Why would you recommend those two?</p>
<p>@Lucky: I was deciding that but didn’t really want to waste that much time. Then again, I guess it would be better than to go into a major and dislike it, wouldn’t it? </p>
<p>Saying physics fascinates you doesn’t really help much. What part of physics? Mechanics? Electricity and Magnetism? That is the kind of stuff that would help more. Even that only really helps with determining a couple things, as civil and mechanical both use mechanics extensively and both use plenty of computers as part of the job. What kind of job do you see yourself having in the future? What kind of products do you want to help design/build/create?</p>
<p>actually, for a lot of schools you try out a few “intro to/fundamentals/101 of ____ engineering” before you pick the major. Like, I’m entering as a mechE and they still have me picking another engineering fundamentals class after my mechE one before I officially declare at the end of freshman year and the extra class just fills another requirement. I think MIT doesn’t let you officially declare till end of sophomore year. (I’ll probably take the extra as electrical&compE or materials, I’m not sure yet, but it’s not that big a deal)</p>
<p>anyway, yeah, it’s better to figure it out first before declaring rather than waste some time in a major you don’t want, and really until late sophomore year you are usually taking general engineering kind of classes most of the time</p>
<p>so just…give yourself some time, you’ll figure it out</p>
<p>@boneh3ad: I preferred the mechanics and electricity portions of physics. The others were okay maybe because of the fact I wasn’t 100% educated in it. In the future, I always saw myself as an it guy but I really dislike seeing myself with just a computer. And for the designing portion, I don’t know. Basically, the way I see it, I don’t want to be stuck with a computer and want to learn something MORE interesting. I was deciding Civil or Mechanical. </p>
<p>@Lucky: Yeah, that works out. Lets say at the end of freshman year, I decide to focus on a different major for the following year because of the given introductory courses. I begin to dislike the new, chosen course - I really don’t want to waste that time which I could’ve spent on something I would’ve been interested in.</p>
<p>Since you like Physics, why not try Engineering Physics? That major would possibly allow you to choose an engineering area that uses applied physics.</p>
<p>Now because my undergraduate background (a little bias here), how about some of the “computational” degrees that USE computers a lot for their work but are not “tied” to a computer (like you mentioned earlier). Those majors would be Computational Science, Computational Physics or Computational Engineering (usually a grad degree). You would get into all the computational aspects of stuff like fluid dynamics and other areas.</p>
<p>Well if you’re if you aren’t too sure what focus of engineering you want to do just yet just remember that for most engineering schools, once you’re in its not too difficult to switch majors especially during your first year, which gives you enough time to decide what you actually like.</p>
<p>You also might want to think about the actual careers in certain types engineering firm, if you’re interested in buildings/outdoor like areas civil and enviormental might be for you. But if you’re more of an inside, behind the walls kind of thing, electrical might be best for you, especially since its needed pretty much everywhere (trains, parks, buildings, power plants etc) </p>
<p>Don’t stress it too much if you know you want to do engineering, once you’re in engineering school, switching focuses aren’t that difficult.</p>