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Switching majors and transferring schools..big decision

D

dredg

Member
Well I'm don't enjoy what I'm doing. I am just starting my second year of computer engineering and I hate my computer engineering class. I don't hate it but I don't like it. I can't see myself doing this for the rest of my life. I love computers but the programming and physics is too much. I'm dropping my computer engineering class and finishing the rest of the year. I am switching my major to History and transferring to a school that has better Liberal Arts and Social Sciences department. I hope to get my Phd in History. I loved my World History, US History, and US Government classes in high school. I am currently taking a sociology class and I love it. I love college life too. I know the money won't be as good in this field but atleast I'll be doing something I like.

Any History majors? Do you enjoy it?

It's a very big life decision but I think it's for the better. Has anyone done anything similar? Any comments?
 
Originally posted by: dredg
Well I'm don't enjoy what I'm doing. I am just starting my second year of computer engineering and I hate my computer engineering class. I don't hate it but I don't like it. I can't see myself doing this for the rest of my life. I love computers but the programming and physics is too much. I'm dropping my computer engineering class and finishing the rest of the year. I am switching my major to History and transferring to a school that has better Liberal Arts and Social Sciences department. I hope to get my Phd in History. I loved my World History, US History, and US Government classes in high school. I am currently taking a sociology class and I love it. I love college life too. I know the money won't be as good in this field but atleast I'll be doing something I like.

Any History majors? Do you enjoy it?

It's a very big life decision but I think it's for the better. Has anyone done anything similar? Any comments?
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:
 
i dont know but in my school the programming is not much for Engineering. example: computer science major has to take CSCI (programming) 111, 121, 122, 221, 222 while Computer engineering major only takes CSCI 111.
about the Phys, you are right. together with Math, Phys is one of the core courses of engineering. i think physics and engineering are two majors that have to take the watever highest level physics courses available in the school
 
Originally posted by: dredg
Well I'm don't enjoy what I'm doing. I am just starting my second year of computer engineering and I hate my computer engineering class. I don't hate it but I don't like it. I can't see myself doing this for the rest of my life. I love computers but the programming and physics is too much. I'm dropping my computer engineering class and finishing the rest of the year. I am switching my major to History and transferring to a school that has better Liberal Arts and Social Sciences department. I hope to get my Phd in History. I loved my World History, US History, and US Government classes in high school. I am currently taking a sociology class and I love it. I love college life too. I know the money won't be as good in this field but atleast I'll be doing something I like.

Any History majors? Do you enjoy it?

It's a very big life decision but I think it's for the better. Has anyone done anything similar? Any comments?
Click to expand...

" Look to you left gentlemen look to your right those people beside you will not be graduating with degrees in engineering"

Sure switch, I just like hearing stories like this. (Yes I am a huge asshat).
 
Do what will make you happy. Having a $120k/yr job that you hate isn't as good as having a $50k/yr job that you love.
 
Originally posted by: dredg
Well I'm don't enjoy what I'm doing. I am just starting my second year of computer engineering and I hate my computer engineering class. I don't hate it but I don't like it. I can't see myself doing this for the rest of my life. I love computers but the programming and physics is too much. I'm dropping my computer engineering class and finishing the rest of the year. I am switching my major to History and transferring to a school that has better Liberal Arts and Social Sciences department. I hope to get my Phd in History. I loved my World History, US History, and US Government classes in high school. I am currently taking a sociology class and I love it. I love college life too. I know the money won't be as good in this field but atleast I'll be doing something I like.

Any History majors? Do you enjoy it?

It's a very big life decision but I think it's for the better. Has anyone done anything similar? Any comments?
Click to expand...

good decision, youre only gonna be good at what you like to do.
 
You might want to invest in a subscription to the USnews rankings. It could be a helpful reference. Although i know transfering is harder than getting accepted straight from highschool and that if you want to go to a really good unviersity you better have to killer credentials to back itup.
 
Originally posted by: Chaotic42
Do what will make you happy. Having a $120k/yr job that you hate isn't as good as having a $50k/yr job that you love.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup: That's my idea too. If all I cared about was $$$ and job security I wouldn't be doing CS.

I hope you can become a professor, teaching in high school though... now that would suck.
 
Originally posted by: Yossarian
what do you plan on doing with a history degree? become a professor?
Click to expand...

If this is your decision, be warned that your chances of doing so are almost zero. Now if you read a reference like
http://www.historians.org/pers...1999/9905/9905pro1.cfm
and conclude that hey, only 64% of history PhDs are employed as professors, that's better than 3 in 5, you're missing one of the biggest problems of academia today.

You may be employed as a new PhD, but you're likely employed in a short term, part time position as an adjunct professor, even if your PhD is from an Ivy League school. If it's not, you're in trouble, as the Ivy League produces many times as many PhDs as it needs for its professors. Adjunct teaching in most universities pays $400-1000 per credit hour and you're are generally limited to teaching two classes. At 3 credit hours each, that's $2400 per semester at the lowest rate or $7200 per year if you teach during the summer. That's not a living wage.

So you do what most adjuncts do and try to teach at three to five universities and end up making a survivable wage at the expense of working 80 hours a week. Ten years or so later, you burn out or drop out to find a job that you can support a family on because it's not worth it any more.

Read the Invisible Adjunct (http://www.invisibleadjunct.com/), a brilliant column from an adjunct history professor, with lots of great references to other people's experiences in adjunct teaching. Start with her column on why not to get a PhD in history:
http://www.invisibleadjunct.com/archives/000004.html

If you really love history, go for the PhD, but do it with your eyes open about what your real job prospects are.
 
if i were you, i would just do computer engineering. you say you dont hate it but you dont like it? i went thru many CS classes i thought sucked. but there were also others that were interesting. take the hard road now bc it will pay off in the end.

getting USEFUL SKILLS will give you more power to find something that you enjoy doing. esp with computer skills, because you can really take those to any other career.

people say do what you love for a living. i say do what you can tolerate to make a lot of money, then use that money to live a happy life.

if you really cant see yourself doing it the rest of ur life, what DO you see yourself doing? unless you have a PASSION for something (enjoying HS classes in a subject does not mean that should be ur career), i wouldnt switch.

just my 2c

edit - i should clarify some stuff. 120/yr you hate is worse than 50/yr that you love. i agree with this. BUT i really think its more like 40-50/yr is much better than NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND A JOB. that will be the position you will be in.

being in your second year also influenced my reaction. if this was your first year, i would say go for it. how are you doing in your classes. if you arejust barely getting by, then you should prolly switch. but from what it sounds like, you are doing fine.

also, industry != school. esp in the computer field where there are SO MANY opportunities
 
edit - i should clarify some stuff. 120/yr you hate is worse than 50/yr that you love. i agree with this. BUT i really think its more like 40-50/yr is much better than NOT BEING ABLE TO FIND A JOB. that will be the position you will be in.
Click to expand...

Yes. You likely won't get a full time job. If you do, asst prof positions in history typically pay 20-30k/year when you start.

being in your second year also influenced my reaction. if this was your first year, i would say go for it. how are you doing in your classes. if you arejust barely getting by, then you should prolly switch. but from what it sounds like, you are doing fine.
Click to expand...

Another good point. Early CS and CE classes are boring IME, as they're mostly prereqs for understanding the interesting material in your senior and to some extent junior years.
 
Originally posted by: dredg
Well I'm don't enjoy what I'm doing. I am just starting my second year of computer engineering and I hate my computer engineering class. I don't hate it but I don't like it. I can't see myself doing this for the rest of my life. I love computers but the programming and physics is too much. I'm dropping my computer engineering class and finishing the rest of the year. I am switching my major to History and transferring to a school that has better Liberal Arts and Social Sciences department. I hope to get my Phd in History. I loved my World History, US History, and US Government classes in high school. I am currently taking a sociology class and I love it. I love college life too. I know the money won't be as good in this field but atleast I'll be doing something I like.

Any History majors? Do you enjoy it?

It's a very big life decision but I think it's for the better. Has anyone done anything similar? Any comments?
Click to expand...

My friend did something similar. He switched for a very theoretical-based Engineering program and went straight ot Poli-Sci/Economics.

He's enjoying it much more now since this is what he's really interested in..and he too wants to go post-grad.

 
<3

study what makes you happy. making 100K/year isn't a necessity to living a good life.

besides, what you major in during college doesn't set your life course in stone. I majored in English Lit... after graduation, I worked in marketing for awhile, but now I'm in IT.

I've been thinking about combining the fields by picking up a Masters degree in Tech Writing.
 
I also love computers so I began college as a computer science major, but I couldn't stand programming so I switched to economics...that was one of the best decisions I ever made. You should consider switching to economics, which is still part of social sciences. It'll give you a much better job market than history or sociology.
 
Originally posted by: dredg
Well I'm don't enjoy what I'm doing. I am just starting my second year of computer engineering and I hate my computer engineering class. I don't hate it but I don't like it. I can't see myself doing this for the rest of my life. I love computers but the programming and physics is too much. I'm dropping my computer engineering class and finishing the rest of the year. I am switching my major to History and transferring to a school that has better Liberal Arts and Social Sciences department. I hope to get my Phd in History. I loved my World History, US History, and US Government classes in high school. I am currently taking a sociology class and I love it. I love college life too. I know the money won't be as good in this field but atleast I'll be doing something I like.

Any History majors? Do you enjoy it?

It's a very big life decision but I think it's for the better. Has anyone done anything similar? Any comments?
Click to expand...

Go with what seems best to you, but keep at it. One of my cousins was a year away from finishing his computer engineering degree, but dropped out... not a good decision IMO, he could be making twice as much if he had just stuck with it. If you love history, by all means, study HISTORY. I like history myself, but I'm thinking of doing medicine...
 
It's not about you, it's the consumer. 😀

Also, try operations research. A lot of people who can't handle computer engineering switched to OR
 
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