<p>Hello everyone, I'm starting the application process and I wanted to know what path I should take in college. First a bit of background information, I have a good GPA and all of that jazz, and im planning on attending at least a fairly high ranked school in engineering. I want to get my masters/PhD in either Aerospace or Robotics, but I wanted help on what undergraduate degree path I should take. I WAS going to major in Aerospace with a minor in electrics, but then decided that if I majored in mechanical it would leave more room for me to switch between either aerospace or robotics. So my major will more than likely be mechanical. I wanted to know about minoring though. If I take a minor that is either Computer Science or Computer Engineering, would that help me if I go into Robotics as a graduate degree? I want to be well rounded in both mechanics and electrics, and I want to focus more on the programming/game design aspect of electrics, not so much the hardware, although knowing a bit about this wouldn't be bad. So basically I'm pretty sure that I should major in mechanics with a minor in either CE/CS, but I just wanted to know if my ideology is correct... would this lead me to getting into robotics? Or am I missing something? I'm pretty sure mechanics to aerospace wouldn't be bad. Also what would be better CE or CS? Sorry for writing so much and thanks for any advice that can be given. (:</p>
<p>Your plan sounds very reasonable to me. Mechanical engineering allows for decent amount of versatility and that minor in CE will help to hone your skills a little more towards the programming aspects of robotics. There are plenty of success stories of people following a similar path as you have decided upon and completing a B.S. in ME and then a M.S. in Aerospace. You should also try and do some research into Systems Engineering.</p>
<p>Both mechanics and mechanical engineering (they are related but different) can easily lead into aerospace. Mechanical engineering would be the better of the two for robotics.</p>
<p>I am curious though, why do you feel you need a minor? You can certainly do either of those careers without a minor. You shouldn’t have to do intense debate about a minor. It should be something that you want to do.</p>
<p>The last thing is you shouldn’t automatically assume you will do a PhD. A Masters is hard enough to assume anything about, but a PhD is an entirely different animal. You don’t even know what ou want to do for undergrad yet and you have a LOT of time before you get to that point. Worry about one thing at a time. Start thinking about graduate study after sophomore year.</p>
<p>Thanks bonehead. And I’m not worried about my minor, (I know it comes off that way) but I really want to do something that involves programming and the like. more of software and not hardware, and I want to know what would give me the opportunity to get more into that kind of work. And yea I hear you about the PhD lol. And I’m pretty much doing Mechanical Engineering for sure (: It gives me much more leeway for what I want to do later on. it would be good for both of my options that im considering ya know?</p>
<p>Well if you want programming beyond the basic that an engineering degree requires and your school offers it, I feel like minoring in computer science would be te way to go. It may or may not give you a tangible advantage in aerospace, but it would certainly have it’s advantages in robotics.</p>