<p>I'm a planner. I hate being unsure of my future, and while I know that the markets change and anything can happen, I still am a little nervous about what I see now. There are so many more job openings in CS and CompE than MechE, which is a little discouraging. I would rather do MechE, but I don't want to be out of work. I want to be able to have the flexibility to move to another place if I don't enjoy where I'm at, and I worry that MechE won't be flexible like that as much as CompE or CS.</p>
<p>For example, I like the idea of being able to work for the government. At USAJobs.gov, I did a search for "mechanical engineer" and "computer science" and got about 7x the amount of hits for computer science. And a lot of the mechanical engineer results were bringing back petroleum and general engineer hits. Is this really the kind of market I have to look forward to?</p>
<p>I'm interested in hearing from both MechE and CompE/CS people to see what you all think about your choices.</p>
<p>The computer science results seem to have shrunk a little since I last checked, but still significantly higher. I would still like to hear comments about all three.</p>
<p>Mechanical engineering is a very broad degree and you can do just about anything with it. Almost every engineering firm needs a mechanical engineer. Do whichever one interests you more. CompSci is also very difficult and if you really don’t like it, college will be 4 years of torture for you.</p>
<p>Yeah, I’ve heard that about MechE. The only thing that worries me is that the supply will be greater than the demand, so the ability to move wherever I want to won’t be as easy as something in technology. Right?</p>
<p>If you really prefer MechE then I’d strongly advise you do that. CS can be both difficult and dull for someone whose heart isn’t in it. And besides, by the time you graduate, the job market could very well be completely different, so basing your decisions on today’s search results isn’t necessarily wise. In any case, I tend to think that you’ll have much better odds as a high-quality MechE than you will as a half-hearted CS.</p>
<p>(source: I’m a CS major, and enjoy it, but just in my first 6 months I’ve seen quite a few people who didn’t really like the subject struggle to succeed.)</p>
<p>For someone who is equally “good” (say there’s an objective measure of good) at CS and MechE, CS would be more employable. It is unlikely you, or anyone else, is equally good at the two. Someone who is average at CS might have a slightly easier time than someone who is average at MechE, but someone who is bad at CS will have a harder time than someone who is good at MechE.</p>
<p>Also, your career will start in 3 or 4 or so years and will continue for 40+ years. Things change. Things were dramatically different 10 years ago and will be dramatically different in 10 years. You can’t predict that CS is a better or worse choice than MechE in the long run.</p>