<p>I figured this would be a pretty good place to pose this question... what's the best way to go about deciding which field of engineering to go into? It seems kind of inefficent to take a class in each one and see... Those of you who know what kind of engineering you want to go into, how did you decide? I just have no idea...</p>
<p>Mostly (once at MIT) people talk to current students in each of their prospective majors and discuss required courses and such. There are also formal choice-of-major fairs and open houses available -- information on that is available [url=<a href="http://web.mit.edu/firstyear/2010/choiceofmajor/index.html%5Dhere%5B/url">http://web.mit.edu/firstyear/2010/choiceofmajor/index.html]here[/url</a>], since this year's freshmen are making their major choices right now.</p>
<p>Can you narrow it down at all? I mean, chemical engineering is pretty different from aerospace. :)</p>
<p>Well, yeah - I mean, I'm not even sure I want to do engineering; I just want to keep my options open. I'm mostly thinking mechanical or electrical, and possibly chemical. Or maybe just physics!</p>
<p>But those major fairs/open houses really ease my mind - thanks!</p>
<p>same here. I want to do biochem or chemical engineer or math or a bunch of other majors...</p>
<p>Biased answer: Just do physics. You know you really want to.</p>
<p>Unbiased answer: See Mollie's post. If you really like meaty physics, you can be a NukeE. The NukeE's (all 20 of them?) are fond of reminding me they get to do physics and get paid for it. They can suck it</p>
<p>Warning: Before I got here, I looked through the freshman guestbook on the admissions website. I saw a kid who's profile said, verbatim, "I plan on quadruple majoring in chemical engineering, biological engineering, electrical engineering and computer science, and aerospace engineering." I hope it was a joke. Please don't be this kid.</p>
<p>Course 16 + Course 18</p>
<p>Anyway, at college you have the option of taking a wide array of electives that'll earn you credit....</p>
<p>And it is also totally okay to go into freshman year having a list of possible things you might want to major in. Plenty of people do this, and they end up getting it narrowed down. And if they don't, it's okay to remain undecided through your sophomore year, or to declare a major and then change it later if you change your mind.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, many of the people who are omg 100% sure they want to major in something right now will change their minds by the time they turn in the choice of major form.</p>
<p>I think the first two years are meant for exploring and dabbling a lot (and also maintaining a good GPA) and the last two are meant for digging deeper into ur major... Am I right, Mollie?</p>
<p>I think it's actually the last two years that are more conducive to maintaining a good GPA. :) I've seen data (although I am unable to find the document at the moment) that says that median GPAs at MIT go up every year -- the median GPA for seniors was a 4.4, but the median GPA for sophomores was more like a 4.0.</p>
<p>Anyway, the first year at MIT is something of a background year, since most people are taking the GIRs. Sophomore year is usually for introductory courses in your major, and junior and senior years are for more in-depth courses. </p>
<p>I don't know that people usually dabble per se -- there are some majors which offer 9-unit introductory courses (16.00[/url</a>], [url=<a href="http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Mechanical-Engineering/2-000How-and-Why-Machines-WorkSpring2002/CourseHome/index.htm%5D2.000%5B/url">http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Mechanical-Engineering/2-000How-and-Why-Machines-WorkSpring2002/CourseHome/index.htm]2.000[/url</a>], and I think I heard there is going to be one for course 6) to entice people to declare the major. There are also [url=<a href="http://web.mit.edu/firstyear/2011/countdown/orientation.html%5Dpre-orientation">http://web.mit.edu/firstyear/2011/countdown/orientation.html]pre-orientation</a> programs offered in many majors to allow incoming students to learn what goes on in a major. But students won't generally take an entire introductory sequence of classes to decide on a major -- the activities they use to decide usually aren't classes.</p>
<p>Thanks for such useful info.... It's obvious that GPA increases year after year as one gets proficient in coursework... I think striving for all A's is a good thing as it really boosts problem solving skills... a very important factor at a place like MIT where psets are thankfully challenging and analytical...</p>
<p>I don't think I'm gonna change my major anyway, it'll be 16+18 in any case... though I've to get in first.... A lot depends on that! :)</p>
<p>Oh man, my GPA increased so much from freshman to sophomore year. It was quite shocking, actually.</p>
<p>I hate math classes, basically.</p>
<p>Whoaaa... I should schedule a party at the end of sophomore year in advance...</p>
<p>To the titular question: Electrical ;-)</p>