I’m currently a Junior attending UIUC for Computer Engineering after transferring from a community college (All gen eds completed). I hadn’t taken any engineering classes other than math and physics until I started attending UIUC last fall. In short, I’m not doing well in my classes and I think it’s because I do not have an interest or passion for the material. I go to office hours for help, but nothing seems to stick. I’m currently taking: Discrete Structures, Computer Systems & Programming, Analog Signal Processing, and a filler course that doesn’t take much time. None of my classes are going well. It’s my second time taking Discrete and I’ve been getting more help than last semester but it’s just so difficult that I’m not sure I’ll be able to pass it. And to think I have to take an Algorithms course which scares me. I met with an adviser yesterday but they were not helpful and basically told me, I had to make the decision to stick with it or not. Overall, I am not happy unless I get time to just hangout with some friends and I lie awake at night wondering why I’m doing this to myself.
Advice is appreciated, thanks.
Why are you taking these classes? To get a job in the field, of course. If you don’t like it now, how are you going to survive doing it 8 hours a day (or more); 5 days a week (or more); 52 weeks a year (or a few less with vacations and holidays factored in), and for 30 years.
You have to figure out if your dissatisfaction is from not having enough free time (by your standards) or a real dislike of the field.
If really don’t like it, give up now and find something you do like.
Computer Engineering is in a nutshell 1/2 of a Computer Science degree and 1/2 of an Electrical Engineering degree. It sounds like you are not too into the Electrical Engineering side of it, so you may consider switching to Computer Science. Yet if you mention you don’t like Algorithms, then Computer Science is definitely not right for you.
In my opinion, if you are in the engineering fields especially EE, CE, or CS, you should be doing that stuff outside of class. You should be working at an internship, being part of a robotics club/programming team, or doing your own personal projects. I knowingly sacrifice some of my study time in order to work on my electronics projects because that’s what I feel prepares me most to be a good EE. At the very least, you should be reading articles and watching videos on what’s going on in the field. If you find you don’t have an interest outside or inside the classroom, then that should be a red flag to consider a change in your major. I’m not trying to be elitist about engineering but the worst thing you can do is delay that decision even further and then find out you don’t want to pursue your major.
I’m very lucky that I wanted to be a CE/EE my whole life, but believe me I know many brilliant people who have made radical degree changes like Biology to Computer Science, or Computer Engineering to History. I once knew a guy who was a Mechanical Engineer who struggled so much with math that I felt bad seeing him suffer even after trying to help him. He eventually wisened up and switched to Business which he has a natural ability for. He went from a field where he was struggling even to keep up and had no interest in, to a field where he is skilled at.
Most importantly, do not give in to the pressure from parents or friends to stay in computer engineering simply because they want a son with an engineering degree or a friend they can call up to fix their computer for free.
So yeah that’s my $0.02