seesys

For the first 3 years of my collegiate career, I jumped from major to major, always staying somewhere within the math/science arena, but never quite able to find that one true interest. Last summer I took the time to reflect and realized that I was not going to find that perfect major, and I would waste valuable time (and money) if I continued to pursue that train of thought. Thus, I switched back into the major which had admitted me on 5 separate occasions during my "musical chairs of majors" period, structural engineering.

As of now I'm finishing my 4th year, and on Friday I'll have to decide on classes to take next fall. The dilemma that I face is that, I'm not sure being a structural engineer, or even working in a technical field, is what I want to do when I graduate.

Let me make it clear: I enjoy studying the courses within the major; right now I'm taking solid mechanics, which has theories that I think are quite interesting, and the SolidWorks/SAP 2000 programs I use for my conceptual design course are crazy in the way that I can pretty much (with all due time) draw any object.

Learning these new concepts and ideas, great. Implementing them, applying them to real life problems, ehhhhhhh not so much. I'm definitely not the brightest guy when it comes to technical things; in fact, I've never had any interest in engineering until I got to college and saw that I didn't want to study anything else. I would say that I was born with the soft skills; the ability to communicate, interpersonal skill, and natural charisma are all things I'm known for.

I'm considering changing my degree from the specific structural engineering to engineering sciences. The difference is that I don't have to choose a focus sequence (i.e. civil structures, renewal, earthquake, aerospace). Instead, I take any 7 technical electives I want, instead of the normal 3 (a focus sequence has 4 courses). Also, the engineering science program is NOT ABET accredited.

Is it wrong to enjoy studying engineering, but not work in the field? I don't want to do grad school in the field; I don't see myself working in the industry, and I actually can see myself having lots of different careers. I've never felt that just one specific career defines what I want to do. My dad (a PhD civil) believes that if you don't enter the industry after graduation, it is too tough to get back into it because you will have forgotten much of the information you learned in undergrad.

But if I don't plan on being in the industry, is that such a bad thing? In my eyes, I think a switch would be healthy for me. I'd stop worrying about the future so much and concern myself with enjoying the present, a nice relaxed college life. The only thing that is bugging me is the ABET accreditation issue; my gut tells me to just choose a focus sequence and take those required courses. Who knows, it might help in some other way. My brain though, says recognize that I prefer to have the flexibility to choose the courses that interest me among all those available.

The courses that I choose for fall pretty much determine whether I plan on going the SE route or switching to ES. It would be nice to have this settled by then. Much appreciation to those who offer any kind of advice.

mydegisunacred

Engineering science is not a major to choose if you are wishy washy about the technical field. It is also a major where grad school is almost necessary, as intermediate level chemistry/physics courses and a medley of engineering electives don't make you particularly employable. I suggest you finish your current degree and then let the versatility of an engineering degree land you the position (technical or nontechnical) that you want when the time comes.

collegemom16

Maybe you should become a PHd. and teach.

YOU

How about mechanical eng, which is broad too.. and you can work in banks/industries with a ME degree..

jai6638

or if you are not into the technical stuff, how about Industrial Engineering which focuses more on the processes and would get you jobs in management as opposed to technical stuff?

GolfingMom

I would stay with the structural engineering major. It sounds like you would be a very good in Program Management- having the technical background but using your soft skills. Maybe you could use 3 open electives to take some management courses.

aibarr

Real quick... Lots of possibilities outside of just steel and concrete with an MS in structures, which only takes a year. I'd choose either aerospace or civil structures as a concentration and then seriously consider investing 1 or 2 years in a pretty good masters degree, either in structures or an MBA... From there, you can go into submarine/boat/airplane/rocket/building/bridge design with the structures MS, or (and this seems like more your cup of tea) with an MBA, you can go into management.

Your concentration in college doesn't define your future, either! Pick something that's interesting to you... But an ABET-accredited degree will allow you the option of civil structures later on, so picking something accredited will shut fewer doors, methinks.

Good luck! PM me if you want to talk about more of the things you can do with a background in structures...

seesys

Great responses.

#2 I didn't think about it that way. Thanks!

#3 I do enjoy teaching actually, and could see myself teaching a college level course. I think I'd be more engaging than some of my professors, and make lecture fun. Only problem is, dragging myself through all that work is not something I can honestly say I want to do, especially since my interest in the field isn't as strong as one would like.

#4 I have looked at ME, but switching to that would mean graduation in 2.5 years. Right now I'm on pace to finish my SE in 1.5 years, and if I end up going into a different field altogether, it may not be worth it to invest that extra year, when I could gain work experience.

#5 UCSD does not have industrial engineering. We do have management science under the economics department, but that would mean another year tacked on to my schooling.

#6 The 3 open electives have to be chosen from a specific technical list. The list is pretty much any upper div course in SE, ME, and 3 courses from urban planning.

#7 I've read almost ALL your posts on this forum aibarr, since you are pretty much what many of my peers will soon be, work/education wise. While I agree with you that there are lots of fields outside of just steel/concrete, the bigger problem is that I'm not really into design at all. I don't think about things I'd like to design or building models I'd want to implement. The MBA option is always a strong sell, and it doesn't necessarily mean I have to enter management of an engineering firm, it can be any firm.

Specialization wise, if we had transportation courses, I would go that route. I hate traffic and I would love to work on ways to get rid of vehicle overload combustion. Today I was sitting in traffic on the way to school and it was probably the 20th time I internally lambasted UCSD for not having a civil program.

The problem is that, ~95% of the students here choose civil structures (design of steel, RC, PC, seismic design). Thus, the department tends to focus its resources on that specialization. If you check out the focus sequences ([link]http://structures.ucsd.edu/?page=academics/undergrads/course_offerings[/link], you'll see that Renewal and Aerospace share 2 courses, and the 4th class for the Geotechnical Focus is not even offered next year. Not to mention the fact that one of the Renewal courses was supposed to be offered this year but did not happen. Thus, it's kind of hard to pick something else, knowing that a course I need might not be there. And since I have no preference over which focus, I'd rather settle with civil structures and ensure that I'll be able to take all the courses.

After all this, I'm definitely going to stick with the accredited SE. As for what happens after college, at the very least my engineering degree, as other have mentioned, will give me a broader base of careers to choose from. If industrial or transportation were offered here, that would be nice, but I don't see why I can't go into those fields after a couple years, should I choose to stay technical.