Advise me about college

[ShazK]

I know that I shouldn't be relying on anyone on internet forums for decisions like these, but some guidance and advice would be nice. This is a thread mostly about making decisions.

Alright so, I'm an upcoming senior in high school and I need to narrow down my college options. I live in Massachusetts and I've already visited several colleges around Boston, plus Brown, Columbia, UPenn and Swarthmore and I'm going to visit some more later this month. I do relatively well in school and did good enough of my standardized tests and such too.

So far the only thing I'm sure about is the size of the school... I don't want to go to a really small liberal arts college or a big state college, so middle size is about right for me as you can tell by what schools I've been looking at so far.

One of my biggest problems is deciding whether or not to apply to engineering school or just a college of arts and sciences... I mean, I like science and the idea of engineering is attractive to me, but I'm not 100% sure that is what I want to do. Earlier last week I was talking to some adult I know who is a doctor and we were discussing college and such... and he did engineering at Tufts after halfway through his sophomore year because he had enough creds to graduate then (at this point he did not know he wanted to be a doctor, that part is irrelevant) and he said that his opinion is that engineering school is a big waste of time unless you're sure that you want to be an engineer. He suggested that liberal arts would be a good experience and that I could get a degree, for example, in physics, and go into grad school to be an engineer if I decided too... I'm still unsure. I like the idea of engineering school (biomedical seems especially cool to me).. but I'm still not sure. I suppose that many schools give you a chance to take a decent amount of electives if you're in engineering school? Maybe? It's all so tricky. Though I guess I do know several adults who went to med, law, and business schools after engineering... hm.

I figure, though, that I could apply to engineering and if I did not like it switch out after my first year and still graduate on time, right? Easier out than it.

How many schools did you guys apply to? I wan't to figure out how to eliminate some off of my list of where I'm applying, but it's hard for me to figure which to cut...

So... yeah. It's mostly about engineering or not, but other stuff is quite important and I'm a very very bad decision maker.

Oh, by the way, will the fact that I know diddly about comp sci matter (oh the irony, me posting this on AnandTech)?

 

I'd advise you to go for a liberal arts degree (I'm a political science major at a Big-10 school), but only if you're SURE you're going to go to graduate school. There aren't many jobs out there for liberal arts majors unless you've got an advanced degree (MA, MS, PhD or JD).

 

[Wonderful Pork]

I went to a big school, and the first year was basically the same for everybody; need to take english, math, etc. After you select your major is when it becomes more specialized. So you can kind of choose a bunch of different majors in the first 2 years. If you are thinking about becoming an engineer, I suggest applying into the engineering school as it is usually easier to transfer out than it is to transfer in. All that means is if you take calc 1 it would still translate over into the liberal arts school, whereas if you just took Algebra 1 (hypothetically) in the liberal arts school it wont count for anything in the school of engineering.

 

[Mo0o]

You can try applying to Duke's engineering program then if you dont like it, switch out into it's liberal arts programs. Both are pretty good. If you're intrested in premed it's a good path, we have one of the best BME programs around

 

[Amplifier]

Depending on the college, there may or may not be much difficulty leaving an particular program. So we'll be unable to help you in that regard.

Here's the advice I can give you if you're indecisive as a freshman.

Focus on math early on. This will give you time to decide whether or not to pursue engineering while putting you in a great position regardless of what you decide. If you end up staying an engie you'll have a huge edge mathematically and if you change majors then your math skill will still help you.

I started out as CS before I moved to Financial Economics. My freshman year was weighted heavily in math. Having almost a minor in math made learning more advanced topics in Econ easy(ish). Later on I took some physics classes and noticed the same affect. Math skills make almost every subject easier.

-Amp

 

[ShazK]

Hm, thanks a lot so far. Especially that advice you gave me Amp, that helps me out a lot. And yeah, Mo0o, I'm gonna visit Duke sometime this month, I read a good amount about their BME program.

 

[Yossarian]

engineering sucks, don't go to school for it.

<--engineer

 

[ShazK]

Oh. Why?

 

[Otaking]

Originally posted by: ShazK
Oh. Why?

I wonder if you can answer your question 10 years after you graduate with an engineering degree.

Why don't you just go into college undeclared your first year, get your pre-reqs over with, and then decide?

I went from Pharmacy -> Undeclared -> Piano -> MIS -> Linguistics.

And I finished there.

 

[Gibson486]

Engineering blows!!!

<----On 2nd engineering coop.

The doctor is right, it really is only for people who love it. It may not be a good idea to drop out of engineering and move on to a different major because half the credits will not pass.

 

[zainali]

engineering classes ==== not a lot of hot girls. i mean there are a few girls and only a few of them are good looking.

 

[RedCOMET]

Originally posted by: Yossarian
engineering sucks, don't go to school for it.

<--engineer

I'm a wannabe engineer at the moment. gonna be a junior. All i can say is that I knew people that swicthed to college of arts and science(liberal arts) after a semester of the freshman eng program at University of Pittsburgh. The freshman year at Pitt is 2 semester of Chem, Physics, and Math( Calc 1 and Cal2).

Do it if you think/know you're gonna love it. Every now and then i still have my doubts if this is the right choice for me, but I still stick with it and like w hat i'm doing.

 

[ShazK]

Bleh. My dad seems to get the idea that it will be useful, that I can go on to whatever graduate school and use it and that if I have an engineering job, some companies will help pay for my school.

I'm gonna have to talk this one over with some more people.
Indeed.

 

[astralusion]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
You can try applying to Duke's engineering program then if you dont like it, switch out into it's liberal arts programs. Both are pretty good. If you're intrested in premed it's a good path, we have one of the best BME programs around

qft...and the cool engineers have their own dorm now if they want it...though i must say i didn't appreciate the construction

 

[rocadelpunk]

the problem with engineering I think at most schools is that you won't see an actual engineering course still end of sophmore/junior year...depends on the program of course and how many credits you're going in with.

But for most you'll have to do a chemistry series/calculus series/physics series/ + general ed courses/first and or second english courses/intro engineering courses

I wouldn't go into engineering if

a.) your dad wants you to
b.) b/c of money
c.) Working 10x harder than all of your friends doesn't appeal to you


among other things.

 

[TStep]

If your undecided, I think most of prereq's for engineering and sciences will cover those required for business and arts. I don't think the opposite is true (at least it wasn't 20 years ago at Penn State). Check into it. That probably buys you 1 1/2 to 2 years to decide.

<------engineer desperately trying to win the lottery.

 

[serialkiller]

Engineering is tuff, and potentially could be a waste of time.

I did petroleum engineering for 3 years then I realized I hated the major and the dusche bags in it, maybe it was a texas thing but it was very cut throat. I ended up graduating with a bachelors of science in mathematics (concentration in scientific computations) with a minor in computer science and japanese. You have to be really dedicated to do engineering. Classes will be harder then most majors, you will be studying all day long, the college I went to (UT @ austin) had a policy where you HAD to take 15 hours per semester..... 15 hours of engineering courses sux major donkey balls.... and yes there are hardly no females... even if you do end up with a female in your class its one of those behemoth looking ogres that stare at you making you feel very uncomfortable while you try to concentrate on your hard courses.

A good advise would be to start somewhere very general like liberal arts or business so you can decide what you want to do while taking fairly easy courses. It kinda blows to do horrible your first year as an engineer and then try to transfer into another school... your pretty much kinda screwed.... but if you get into an easy major first you have a better chance of pulling off better grades so you can transfer into a school you really want to get into... get it?

plus you gotta keep in mind you are going to have alot more activities to do in college.... sports, fraternities, university events, girls, play CS all day, etc..etc..etc... anything could happen your first year... its the most unstable year of all your college years in my opinion...

Getting into engineering is almost close to ditching alot of your social life.... unless your some kind of genius who just attends class and doesnt study and still gets a 4.0 average.... those people make me sick... so sick i want puke my whole insides out on their naked body.... but anways...

Bottom line, you need to be very dedicated in order to engineering..... i hope that helps.... =)

 

[Willoughbyva]

Yeah I would go in with the option of going into engeneering, but also have the flexability of switching out. Also different schools offer different experiences in what your school life will be like. Don't forget that college is also a big social thing and enjoy it. It was the best time of my life, except the last year or so. I still haven't finished. I need 5 classes to get my degree and hopefully I can start back in the spring.

Perry

 

[Mo0o]

So basically the moral of the story is, since you're on the fence, apply to a school with both a strong engineering program and a liberal arts programs. Enjoy and maybe see you at DUke.

 

[GoSharks]

Originally posted by: zainali
engineering classes ==== not a lot of hot girls. i mean there are a few girls and only a few of them are good looking.

True for the tradition specialities in engineering, but not so much in BME.

And i started into my "engineering" courses fall of sophmore year. (not counting the introductory BME design class i had freshman year).

And nobody cares if you dont know any CS. I had to take one programming class and that was it.

If you are considering Duke for BME, you must also consider Johns Hopkins. We are #1 after all . Feel free to ask any me questions that come to mind.

 

[Mo0o]

Originally posted by: GOSHARKS

Originally posted by: zainali
engineering classes ==== not a lot of hot girls. i mean there are a few girls and only a few of them are good looking.

True for the tradition specialities in engineering, but not so much in BME.

And i started into my "engineering" courses fall of sophmore year. (not counting the introductory BME design class i had freshman year).

And nobody cares if you dont know any CS. I had to take one programming class and that was it.

If you are considering Duke for BME, you must also consider Johns Hopkins. We are #1 after all . Feel free to ask any me questions that come to mind.

Lol touche, i was gonna mention JH but i didn't wanna lose him to the enemy

 

[archcommus]

Alright, not to hijack, but I myself am entering college this fall (classes start in 19 days) as a freshman in electrical engineering. I hear pretty much from everyone that it will be tons of work, very difficult, and that you have to love it to do it. Makes it seem like you'd be nuts to go into this field. Thing is, I really think I do love it, and that is why I am sticking with my decision.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

Originally posted by: archcommus
Alright, not to hijack, but I myself am entering college this fall (classes start in 19 days) as a freshman in electrical engineering. I hear pretty much from everyone that it will be tons of work, very difficult, and that you have to love it to do it. Makes it seem like you'd be nuts to go into this field. Thing is, I really think I do love it, and that is why I am sticking with my decision.

The true test is if you still love it when your friends are doing something fun and you're off to the lab/library/office hours to figure something out. I'm not naysaying, I'm just telling you how it is.

BTW, graduated with BSEE in 04. It really is awesome doing stuff that you find interesting, but it can be VERY disheartening at times. Just keep trucking through.

 

[cchen]

Originally posted by: archcommus
Alright, not to hijack, but I myself am entering college this fall (classes start in 19 days) as a freshman in electrical engineering. I hear pretty much from everyone that it will be tons of work, very difficult, and that you have to love it to do it. Makes it seem like you'd be nuts to go into this field. Thing is, I really think I do love it, and that is why I am sticking with my decision.

There's no way to know if you love it until you actually start taking EE classes. I had the same mentality going into college, and well, I hate engineering now.

 

[mchammer187]

BSEE 04

don't do it expecting some glamorous job
don't do it for the money
don't do it if you don't want to work very hard
don't do it because you think it is a "better" major than someone elses


best thing you can do is really find out what you want to do (not be) with your life and then go with it