<p>I'm a highschool senior doing uc app.
I'm interested in majoring in either math or engineering..
My father, who is a mechanical engineer, wants me to go into engineering field..
He recommends me electrical, but some of my peers say it will be too hard for me.
I had interest in aerospace, but I heard government doesn't support space industry as it used to be.
I don't really know what I want to do.. I'd be happy to work at NASA or Boeing..
I'm also interested in energy efficiency or running business for limited natural resources..
My ultimate dream is serving missionary work as an engineer.
Or should I just major in mathematics (my best subject..) and see wide range from finance to technology field?</p>
<p>What kind of engineering will be in greatest demand in ten years? I don't know what to choose
I'll be either going to UCLA, USC, or Berkeley (Stanford if lucky)
Help~</p>
Do you see the irony between these two statements. Maybe if your peers think EE is too hard for you, you don’t have a strong chance at these quite competitive schools (Stanford especially); no offense as I have no clue about your stats. Both Math and EE are good majors, though very different. College math is very different form high school math and can become very abstract; the math in EE is simpler (complex numbers, calculus, diffeq, linear algebra, maybe some abstract algebra).</p>
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Not sure how many of these positions are out there.</p>
<p>My husband has done missionary work in the Dominican Republic as an engineer. There was an unfinished church/community building that needed an economical roof designed for it. He had to pay for his own expenses. It was quite rewarding, but I don’t know if it’s possible to get paid for work like that. Other missionaries we know have had to raise their own support. One friend who did it was an attorney who gave up practicing law and became a full-time missionary. He has five kids!</p>
I don’t get it?
I think turning dungs into a fuel is very good business (a Boston park is doing it - an MIT art graduate implemented it). Beside that, if we collect enough dungs, we can actually power up all the fabrications labs that AMD, Intel, and MS have! The amount of dungs is quite limited </p>
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One I can think of, even as a student, is the “Engineer Without Broader” initiative. You can search it on Google. It’s one of the most well-known initiatives where engineering students traveled to a foreign place (usually a third-world, or under-development country) and implement a solution for whatever the given problem was. For example, setting a water pipe and tank for a village, where the water resource comes a river, or a lake, about “some hours” of distance from the village.</p>
<p>EWB is usually populated by civil engineering students. But anyone is welcome. I have seen problems where EE is required. There are some environmental engineers too (even though some CE concentrates on water system, but environmental also does a similar track with water).</p>
<p>Another one would definitely be the UN mission. It is not necessarily a “missionary” which is usually the Christian type. If you wished, there are various Christian organizations out there!</p>
<p>
I met you online so I can’t evaluate your strengths at all. SAT and GPA can tell us your ability as an exam taker, and a student, respectively. But they don’t tell us whether you are a good engineer or not.
I have to admit that I am not a smart person when it comes to science and math. I am a slow learner compare to some of my peers. But am I a good engineering student? Will I become a good engineer? If you are interested in the subject, and you can implement something outside your classroom (maybe some years later), and that you are a responbile and a hard working student, you are a good engineer. </p>
<p>Perseverance is what majority of people lack of today. Don’t be discourage by what your peers say. However, should you take their comments into consideration before making a decision. You still have some months, or a year or two (if you wished -___-) before declaring a major. </p>
<p>You should speak to your father and see what kind of works he performs. Ask him why did he choose to become an ME, instead of EE, or CpE, or Civil Engineer, etc.</p>
<p>Math is a cool major, and is very useful. You will be amazed by the things that a math major can do these days.
But just don’t pick a major because we said so.</p>
<p>Well if you’re considering majoring in math, probably the easiest engineering field for you would be EE. It would be very difficult to become an engineer if you majored in math, so the obvious route for you if you want to be an engineer is to do an engineering degree. Electrical/Computer Engineering/Science would probably suit you best if you’re good at abstract concepts in math.</p>
<p>Want a job that pays well right after college?
Go for engineering.</p>
<p>Want to be in school for 8 years to get a job that pays well?
Go for math.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in math, all engineering disciplines require you to take a lot of math classes. EE is your best choice. Engineering is THE best field to go into as an undergraduate.</p>
<p>Although some folks may argue it’s “legitimacy as engineering”, the area of software engineering has always welcomed math majors…all you need is 4 years.</p>
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