I’ve had this notebook of things I’ve wanted to create and sell since I was a really young girl, but I don’t know how to make them. Therefore, I thought I could go into engineering, because a) I want to learn how to make them, and b) I’m really interested in the concept of engineering and seeing how things work and fit together.
However, I’m really bad at math and science at least in comparison to other prospective engineering students. I’m definitely 100% more of an English and history person than a math/science person. I’ve gotten like mostly B’s, a few A’s and a few C’s in my math and science courses. That may have been primarily due to my lack of effort, but now my basics are weak because I never put in the time to cultivate them.
That’s why I’m hesitant about engineering. I’m also worried that I’ll get lazy and stop working and then I’ll fail.
Anyways, I’m considering industrial engineering, computer science, finance, statistics, IT, economics, and education. The last one is sort of the odd one out, but it’s just something I really think I’d enjoy and I would do it if it weren’t for the extremely low pay and lack of respect. I would love to teach high school.
So my goal is either to create my things and own a business or to learn how to create apps. I think I’d be really happy with both. Obviously I’m not looking to earn like $100000000, but I want to be able to make a stable income where I’m able to support myself and my family without worrying.
Thank you so much guys! Sorry for the extremely long post!
Lmk which major has the best prospects and if any of the majors combined would help me.
Would it be a good idea to not do cs in college and instead learn online how to code?
Last thing, I’m looking at UIUC as my #1 choice if that affects anything.
industrial engineering - this is about engineering industrial processes to maximize quality and/or efficiency. Not sure how this would help your goals to make things of your own design and/or apps.
computer science - this would teach you how to code, along with a whole lot of theory that would be overkill for making apps, as you’ve expressed an interest in doing.
statistics, IT, economics, education - not sure how any of these would help you achieve your stated aims. Just seems to be a grab bag of majors with good earning power and/or job stability. Could you elaborate?
BTW: if you want a “stable income” and a lack of “worrying”, starting your own business might not be the way to go.
If you are serious about programming it makes sense to do CS. No harm in getting started now though.
Math/science and literature/history are not opposing fields. There can be overlap, and just because you are better at one doesn’t mean you should count out the other.
Also, what kind of ‘extremely low pay’ are we talking? K-12 public school teachers usually start off between $35K and $50K depending on the location and type of school you’re in and your education. That’s not “extremely low.” That’s enough to support yourself as an adult and around the average starting salary for most humanities and social science majors. As time goes on your salary will rise, particularly if you leave teaching to go into administration (like principal work) or policy. There are also other positions within schools that pay more and give you some flexibility, like school psychologists or speech-language pathologists. And then there are positions in education that aren’t K-12 teaching, like educational policy.
That said, what you should major in will depend on what those things are that you want to create and sell. Do they require engineering knowledge? There are lots of people who sell objects or services that don’t require any engineering. If they do, there’s always the option of partnering with someone - maybe you learn the business side and make some friends/colleagues who know the design or engineering side.
That said, if you don’t like math and you don’t want to put the effort into it, why are most of the majors you are considering (industrial engineering, CS, finance, statistics, economics) math-heavy majors? Bs are absolutely fine; you don’t have to be a math genius to succeed in a math heavy major. But you DO have to like math and be willing to put in the work to succeed at it. If you’re not you’re going to be miserable in class AND you won’t be competitive for the lucrative jobs in those fields because they specifically seek out people with quantitative aptitude and interest. Simply having the major isn’t a magic pass for a good career; you need to develop the skills the major teaches.
Eh, it depends. Industrial design is kind of an engineering-adjunct career/major; depending on where you do it, it might require significant amounts of math and science. BUT it definitely won’t be as math-heavy as an engineering major, and can be a good alternative. I had an industrial design major as a summer student and she was definitely the kind of person who had a notebook of designs she wanted to create.