Need Help/Advice

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - Berkeley
1

<p>Yeah, vague title, but I'm just extremely confused about what I want to do in the future and need help. This is going to be extremely long, but even if no one reads this or just skips to the end, venting somewhere helps since I don't know who to talk to, and don't have anyone who I can talk to and be completely honest about how I feel (I end up making some fluff excuse for everything...yet for some reason I'm more comfortable putting this out where the whole world to see? idk).</p>

<p>I've been saying I want to double in math/biz and perhaps go into investment banking, but I'm not sure if that's what I really want anymore. I'm not sure if I'm just feeling discouraged by the curve of econ 1 and ugba 10 and want to take the "easy" way out, if the people I talk to (phys/math/eng majors) are influencing me, or if this really just isn't for me. I feel like everyone else already knows what they want to do, and have something they're passionate about, and I'm just failing at life and going with what I think is "easy" and will give me bajillions of monies (investment banking :/) - I feel like my mind is stuck in elementary school mode or something, only I had a better idea of what I wanted back then...and thinking "everything is so cool!" doesn't help either :/ I didn't want to go pre-med since I felt like after that I would be "stuck" as a doc and same for engineering, etc, and I thought biz has a lot more room for advancement, or something like that...I don't even know anymore...actually, now I'm thinking it just had to do with the money. Yeah, that's probably it.</p>

<p>I think the concepts we learn in econ and stuff are cool and all, but I hate reading. That's why I got away from english/philosophy/etc asap. I'd much rather just do math problems, but when it gets technical and proofy, that turns me away too (maybe because I haven't done too much of that and have no idea what I'm doing?). Then again, I may just be lazy. I remember having fun in a HS programming course, but it was easy and just BASIC and C++. I was thinking of switching to EECS, but I heard it's really hard to transfer, and I have 7 courses to take (Physics 7A/B, 4 of: CS 61A/B/C, EE20N, EE40, and 1 additional tech course) by next spring, so I wouldn't be able to continue trying more biz/econ courses if I do, and I want to avoid science - I think - but that may just be me being lazy, but I'm not sure of that either. I did think phys was fun in high school, but there's this essay to write. What do I say? I fail at life, can't make up my mind, and don't like getting B's in courses with easy material and cutthroat people so I'm going to give up before I take actual courses?</p>

<p>For those of you who actually read through this, how should I start figuring out what I want to do/what I like? I don't know if I'm just being lazy and giving up, because if that's the case, if engineering is insanely hard, who knows if I won't get lazy with that too? CAN I EVEN GET INTO COE? If I just say screw all this and go only applied math, will I be cutting off a lot of options? Can I still go into banking later I that is what I actually do like? </p>

<p>I can type this stuff out forever, but probably need someone to talk to :( At the rate this is going I'm just going to break down and start crying and crawl into a hole or something....and I don't even remember the last time that happened...like 5 years ago when I though my grandma would die....</p>

<p>wow...I feel better after that....it's like an essay...hehe</p>

2

<p>You mention EECS… would you be interested in EE or CS?</p>

<p>If you want to do CS, be aware that L&S CS is currently not a capped major.</p>

<p>Applied math, math, and physics are also not capped.</p>

<p>And here are the class of 2011 career survey results:
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/AppMath.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/AppMath.stm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/CompSci.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/CompSci.stm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/EECS.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/EECS.stm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/BusAd.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/BusAd.stm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Econ.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Econ.stm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Math.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Math.stm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Physics.stm[/url]”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Physics.stm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>How are you doing in econ1? I got a B- for my last midterm… and apparently the extra credits from the iClicker pts are added on top of our final grade… if that’s the case, you should do better than expected right?</p>

4

<p>Don’t romanticize the life of being an engineer doing ‘practical real world’ problems. There’s a reason why engineering students are stereotyped as the ones living under a rock. If I have to repeat college, I would do business instead of engineering just to avoid those monster problem sets and to actually get some sleep and to hang out with normal people. Even though I’m an engineer, I honestly do not know what I’ll be doing in the future so you’re not alone.</p>

<p>Have you actually worked at an investment bank for at least one summer and saying that you don’t like doing business/econ?</p>

5

<p>Be wary of “grass is greener” thinking, whether for engineering or investment banking.</p>

<p>[Warning:</a> Banking May Be Hazardous to Your Health - WSJ.com](<a href=“Warning: Banking May Be Hazardous to Your Health - WSJ”>Warning: Banking May Be Hazardous to Your Health - WSJ)</p>

6

<p>I think it’s the grass is greener thinking that’s getting to me. At this point I honestly feel like I would rather live under a rock and do math/code for hours rather than read another page of whatever I have to read (UGBA reader/econ reading). I guess it has something to do with reaching the end of what I want to do, as opposed to “ok, I’ve read, I understand…now what?”</p>

<p>I’ve actually been romanticizing business by thinking “oh, well the entire world runs on business, all that sciency stuff is really just in the background, and I don’t want to be stuck there. I mean, what’s the point of coding and stuff when what we do is based on how the economy works,” but now I’m thinking I’ve been horribly wrong and that everything has it’s own part to play, and I really don’t know where I stand in it all, and have no idea how to find out. </p>

<p>Yeah, I got a B too, but if everyone goes to lecture and gets the clicker points (most of my section), what difference does it make if the class is curved? </p>

<p>I haven’t worked at an investment bank (don’t take many freshmen :/), but that’s the problem. I want to try other options out, but if I do, I’m stuck! I won’t know if I like something unless I get more into it, but by that point, it’s too late to switch.</p>

<p>Thanks for the links ucbalumnus. It seems like econ/biz are similar, the others fall somewhat together, and applied math is right in between - so I should keep math for now while I decide on the rest?</p>

7

<p>My GSI said that the final grade is not curved… so I’m not sure… she said only exams are curved, but final grades will not and extra credits will not be accounted for by any curve… did your GSI say that final grade will be curved?</p>

8

<p>Math skills are relatively rare among the general and college graduate population, so they may be advantageous in some contexts, including finance, economics, computer science, statistics, etc… So if you like math and are good at it, continuing with math would not be a bad thing.</p>

9

<p>Yeah, my GSI mentioned something about the top 15%-20% ish per GSI getting an A? idk though =___= maybe he meant the tests only?</p>

<p>I would like to think I’m good in math, but I haven’t hit 55 or upper div yet, so we’ll just have to see? I feel like a lot of my success has been based on getting good teachers/GSIs. </p>

<p>That being said, if I switch to CS, I wouldn’t be able to declare until junior year 1st semester since I can’t finish 61c in time. </p>

<p>These are what my schedules would look like if I switched to CS:
sem 1: Math 54, CS 61A, EECS 42 (and the recommended P/NP 43 seminar?), + idk :confused:
sem 2: CS 70 (or math 55?), CS 61B, + idk again :confused:
sem 3: CS 61C (declare?), other math and CS courses</p>

<p>And if I did EECS (seems suicidal):
Sem 1: Physics 7A, CS 61A, EE20N, math 54, R&C B (since lit doesn’t count anymore =_=)
Sem 2: Physics 7B, CS 61B, EE40, math 55 or CS 70? (can this be “an additional tech”)</p>

<p>Any advice on how to figure out what I like/want to do before it’s too late and I’m stuck in a major I don’t really want to do? That’s my main stumbling point here…</p>

10

<p>I think you need to spend a summer working something remotely close to investment bank and then compare it to the experience in school. You have this summer before you decide to switch to CS or remain in Econ.
If you hate econ/business b/c of reading and harsh grading, you won’t have that when you work. I’m saying this b/c I myself worked at investment bank last summer (as an engineer) and I thought it was a good real-world business experience. In fact, one of the best jobs if you know you don’t have the brain to do continuum mechanics but just have the sense to earn lots of money and have good relations with others.</p>

11

<p>Note that the catalog says that CS 61C has prerequisites of “61A, along with either 61B or 61BL, or programming experience equivalent to that gained in 9C, 9F, or 9G.” Meaning that you can take CS 61B and CS 61C simultaneously after CS 61A if you know C, C++, or Java, if it really matters that you can declare the L&S CS major a semester earlier. Or if some community college near where you are in the summer offers a CS 61B (or, rarely, CS 61A or CS 61C) equivalent course, you can use that to speed up your progress. Or take CS courses in the summer at Berkeley.</p>

<p>You could take Math H54 next semester if you want more of a taste of what upper division math may be like.</p>

12

<p>That could work out…I have done some work in C++ before, and was pretty good at the stuff we were doing (rather basic though). </p>

<p>Just out of curiosity, would I lose anything if I stick to math major and just take random courses that would interest me? Like CS or finance, etc? Would there be a way to let employers know that I have experience in things like that?</p>

13

<p>^Meep, I believe you can list relevant upper division courses that you have taken on your resume (assuming they are relevant).</p>

14

<p>Ok, things don’t seem as messed up as I thought they were. I’ve just randomly been feeling overwhelmed by all the choices I didn’t know I had, and can’t choose because I have NO IDEA what I actually like doing. </p>

<p>@upmagic, you were able to get into IB as an engineer? So even if I don’t do business, I could still go into that/other businessy things?..I’m just feeling so bummed out by all of this. Like even though I did awful on the last UGBA test (Q1) I really didn’t care. On the other hand, getting -5 on my math midterm made me mad (i.e. I actually cared). This has never happened to me before - I mean, I’ve always cared about these things, so it was weird that I didn’t care! It made me wonder if I really like business as much as I thought I did/might. How do I actually get experience that soon though? Will anything related to finance work?</p>

<p>I have basically finished all the biz prereqs (except for stats) and wanted to get ahead by taking core/econ 101A+B. Do you guys think I should just use the next semester to go through with the engineering path and see if I like it? Maybe engineering math and statistics, with random biz/finance/econ electives along the way?</p>

<p>But I guess this is the main question: ** how do people find out what they like doing before getting stuck in something they don’t really enjoy? **</p>

<p>Thanks guys, you’re all so helpful :3</p>

15

<p>I will never find out what I like doing.
I don’t particularly enjoy what I’m currently doing like some of the nerds around me.
But if I work hard enough, I can pull off acceptable grades and move on.
J.Cole puts the whole situation accurately; “don’t overthink, just hope it’s right.”</p>

16

<p>Really? That’s pretty depressing :confused: I just don’t want to keep hating life like I have been…I want to do something that’s actually interesting…not just cram a bunch of info into my brain and spit it out for tests and forget about it right after. </p>

<p>Does upper div UGBA change?</p>

17

<p>Very few people get to do things that are really interesting. In nearly all cases, to earn a living you have to do things that you would not do unless you were being paid for it. You should come to terms now with the fact that you will spend the next 45 years doing boring, tedious and stressfull jobs because you have to. You may want some sort of psychic rewards for your labors but all you can realistically hope for is a paycheck.</p>

18

<p>Yeah…but even then there are some boring, tedious jobs I wouldn’t do even if I were paid. Some even non-boring jobs I wouldn’t do - like I wouldn’t want to be a doctor or lawyer no matter how “interesting” or well paid it may be…well at least I don’t think I would. I’m feeling like at the rate I’m going, I’m going to end up in a job like that (i.e. something I end up despising and would make me want to run off a cliff). </p>

<p>That and I (at least) want to spend the next 3 years of my life doing something that I like more than what I’m doing now - before going into some stressful job.</p>