So confused on what to major in

College Majors Science Majors
1

<p>Just a forewarning: This could possibly end up being a long post.</p>

<p>I'm going into my freshman year of undergrad at Central Michigan University, a mid-sized liberal arts college. Now, I'm pretty much sticking with this college for a few reasons: it's location, and most importantly, my full ride there. </p>

<p>Now the problems start when I look at their undergrad majors. You can look here to give me advice on the major I should start: Academic</a> Programs | Central Michigan University</p>

<p>I thought I'd like to be a doctor, but the sheer amount of schooling put me off. I've decided on getting a degree that I can get in the 4 years I have, not need further education (a Bio major) and has relatively nice starting salary (~60k). </p>

<p>Central is known for being a teaching and arts college, not a science and technical college, and I definitally dont want to be either of the former. I've always been good at science and with computers, I'm a decent math student, I've taken up to pre-calculas and I'm generally a B student in math. I'm in math 130 this coming year. I'm not an artistic guy, that's for sure. I never truly struggled in highschool. </p>

<p>I've worked with computers for over 6 years now, and I can tear one apart, put it back together, install software, hardware, remove virii, and just recently learned a bit of web design, plus some. This has a blinking green light for a Computer Science major, but I just don't see myself sitting in an office day after day programming code. I'm the kind of person who like to do things hands on, and see my results quickly. That, and I'd like to be able to get a job locally, and it seems like most of the CS jobs are with big name companies, none of which are around here.</p>

<p>I guess my problem is I like too many things. I'd like to someday start my own business in whatever I do, so I've decided on a business management minor from CMU no matter what my major. That's the only thing I've decided on for sure, because no matter what, it'll be useful. I'd like to have a career that helps people, sort of a mix into the healthcare field I guess, but CMU doesn't offer a biomedical engineering major, and I'm not sure if I could handle the engineering courseload. I thought about the various engineering majors CMU does have (electrical and mechanical) but I truly don't know what kind of careers those lead to.</p>

<p>My thoughts on choosing a major may be premature, what with not even having started freshman year, but with everyone asking me what I'm going to college for, class advisors not knowing where to place me since I dont have a major, it's gotten frustating and worrysome, and I'm not a person to worry. </p>

<p>Just some advice or really, anything from an outside perspective would be great. I posted this in the science major catagory since I figured I'd get the most logical responses, but I'm expecting a bias anywhere. </p>

<p>Thanks</p>

2

<p>Well.</p>

<p>I checked CMU’s CS undergraduate program, and it looks a little shaky. There are some good courses in there but there are some troubling tendencies… few math requirements, little computational theory, etc. Programming and applications will only get you so far… I would not recommend the CS major at CMU.</p>

<p>After looking around I would recommend the Mathematics and Computer Science program.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.cmich.edu/Admissions/Academic_Programs/Science_and_Technology/Computer_ScienceMathematics.htm[/url]”>http://www.cmich.edu/Admissions/Academic_Programs/Science_and_Technology/Computer_ScienceMathematics.htm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>It is basically a beefed-up version of the CS program, and with the additional background in math you probably have broader career opportunities… </p>

<p>Statistics you might also like. The program looks good to me… and some people have a knack for it. If you were to do this, however, I might recommend a minor in CS or something.</p>

<p>[Statistics</a> Major | Central Michigan University](<a href=“http://www.cmich.edu/Admissions/Academic_Programs/Science_and_Technology/Statistics.htm]Statistics”>http://www.cmich.edu/Admissions/Academic_Programs/Science_and_Technology/Statistics.htm)</p>

<p>The upshot of this is you can tell people you will be doing “math” and your focus is either going to be “computers” or “statistics”. That should make it easier for people to understand where you’ll be and what you’ll be doing.</p>

3

<p>P.S. Don’t worry about being a B math student in high school. College is different. The stuff you learn is interesting to you.</p>

4

<p>P.P.S. If you’re worried about starting salaries you might want to check out the BLS OOH. Check at least the following careers for descriptions, education requirements, job outlooks, starting salaries, average salaries, and breakdowns by location:

  • actuaries
  • computer software engineers and programmers
  • database administrators
  • information technology specialist (or something like that)
  • statistician (and related)
  • mathematician (and related)
  • engineering (electrical, computer)</p>

<p>See what looks good. I can almost guarantee that “computer software engineer / programmer” is going to have one of the highest growth rates and sheer number of jobs until 2018 according to the BLS OOH. National average starting salary is in the $60k/yr ballpark. For that, at CMU, your best option is going to be do the “mathematics and computer science” program and get some intern experience or something. There should be plenty of software/CS jobs within a half-hour commute of where you want to live, provided you’re not way out in the boonies.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for your quick and thorough reply. Yes, the CS program is a bit lacking to say the least, I thought that when I first looked at it. How much would you recommend something like Electrical Engineering? From job postings I see, many of them require a degree in CS, IT, or Electrical engineering. How much is the overlap really between the degrees? </p>

<p>CMU works very closely with Dow Corning and Dow Chemical, what with the headquarters being 20 miles away. This means internships and co-op opportunities in many fields. How important is it that I try to get one of these? Is it often that employers look first at work experience and then at the degree? Or is it the other way around?</p>

6

<p>First off, as much as I hate to admit it, EE is a fine degree. It’s not the best degree in the world if you want to be doing strictly computer stuff, but if you don’t mind electronics then it is alright. Realistically, you’ll make less money and <em>maybe</em> have fewer local / overall opportunities, but that is the price one pays sometimes for doing what they want to do. You might find EE more to your liking / easier because it will not go into the abstract kinds of mathematics that your CS/Math degree would. It’s pretty much going to calculus and applied differential equations three meals a day as soon as you get in major as far as math is concerned.</p>

<p>There’s very little overlap in general, but I have not checked the EE curriculum at CMU. I will say that you will want to confirm that the EE program leads to a BS, not a BA, and that it is ABET-EAC accredited. This is a non-issue with a major like “math and CS” but with engineering you really want to be safe. It should say somewhere prominent on the CMU website whether or not the program is accredited. Note that some otherwise reputable universities don’t accredit some programs, and realistically this is going to make employers wonder.</p>

<p>While in school, concentrate on school. If you get some summer internships, or a co-op thing, go for it, but make sure you do well in school. You’ll have all the time in the world to do well at work later. Pragmatically, at least one internship is probably not a bad idea before you hit the world of work. It’s certainly not as big of a deal as people would lead you to believe. This goes for both EE and CS/IT.</p>

<p>So just check for the accreditation and I always recommend consulting the BLS OOH. And yeah, look into internships, but don’t obsess over them.</p>