<p>I’m a second year EECS major. There were many times I wanted to change my major last year, but I decided to tough it out because I did sometimes enjoy it. However, I realize now it may not be worth it doing this for another 3 years if I’m not enjoying it 100%. The thing is, if I did change my major, I wouldn’t know to what to change. Also, I may have too many credits to be allowed to switch anyways.
Any advice? Motivation to “tough it out” some more, even?</p>
<p>Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I’m not sure about the academic question regarding credits, but…
My dad is an engineer and I know that he enjoys it 100%; however, I know that that kind of job requires so much time and so much effort, to me there is no use in sticking to it if you’re going to be miserable. The pay would be good if you “tough it out” in the end, but I’d MUCH rather find a decent, higher-than-normal-paying job (it doesnt have to be 200,000+ or anything, geez ppl) with a Berkeley degree, but in something that I ENJOYED. I had so many arguments with my dad about this, and finally we made an agreement that I didn’t have to do engineering, but I couldn’t do any of the “studies,” either (you know, like Poli Sci or Peace and Conflict Studies, lol). There ARE majors that are in between the two, it doesn’t have to be either dirt poor or engineer xD</p>
<p>Anyway, that’s my humble opinion, and in the end I settled on Economics. I’m interested in hearing other people’s opinions
EDIT: Is that the beginning of the year slump talking, or do you genuinely not enjoy EECS?</p>
<p>Majors that should be easy to change to due to overlapping prerequisites:</p>
<p>Math
Statistics
Physics
Astronomy
L&S CS (though you could just emphasize CS within EECS instead)</p>
<p>Other majors that have some overlap, but would require loading up on prerequisites in your fourth semester (assuming you have completed R&C A and B):</p>
<p>Business Administration *
Earth and Planetary Science
Economics *
Environmental Economics and Policy *
Operation Research and Management Science *
some other engineering majors *</p>
<p>Majors without overlap, but which you can take all of the prerequisites needed to declare the major in your fourth semester (assuming you have completed R&C A and B):</p>
<p>American Studies
Anthropology
Art History
Art Practice *
Comparative Literature
Ethnic Studies
English
Gender and Women’s Studies
History
Latin American Studies
Legal Studies
Linguistics
Media Studies
Peace and Conflict Studies
Political Science
Rhetoric
Sociology
Theater and Performance Studies</p>
<ul>
<li>= require applying to declare or change into, and needing some GPA</li>
</ul>
<p>What courses have you enjoyed the most and least so far?</p>
<p>I’m not entirely sure if it’s “beginning of the year slump” or not. I just know that I haven’t been completely satisfied with the EECS courses.</p>
<p>Which courses in particular have you not been satisfied with?</p>
<p>And which courses have you liked so far?</p>
<p>Well I found out I don’t quite like programming. Math, Physics, and Chem have been fine so far. I’ve also enjoyed the non-technical/humanities courses I’ve taken so far. Really though, the fact that I don’t really like programming is the reason I considered switching. It’s not that I’m particularly bad at it either, but I’m slow on the uptake.</p>
<p>Ok you don’t like programming. What about the EE classes you have taken? You can always focus on the EE side of EECS. You just have to take the CS 61 series then never take any programming courses again.</p>
<p>Are you liking EE 20N and EE 40? You can concentrate on EE within EECS and not take any more CS courses after completing the lower division courses.</p>
<p>Alternatively, you can major in math or physics if you like those subjects better than CS or EE. Or any of the numerous other majors listed a few posts above.</p>
<p>Haven’t taken any EE courses yet. I plan to take EE40 or EE20N next semester to see if I like it</p>
<p>What courses have you taken already?</p>
<p>If your alternate major in case you do not like EE 20N and EE 40 is math*, statistics, physics, or astronomy, then you stay in EECS for now; switching to one of those majors will be trivial if you decide to next semester. It would be harder to switch back in to EECS if you switch out now.</p>
<ul>
<li>Check the EECS and math departments about which to choose from Math 55 and CS 70, which are similar courses which you can only take one of.</li>
</ul>
<p>@OP You said that you are considering a different major because you do not like your present major 100% of the time. The cold hard reality is that while people will often say they like their major or their job it is very unlikely they like it 100% of the time. If you are looking for something you like 100% of the time you are bound to be unhappy because every major and every job are going to have aspects that are not always pleasant. Since you have no other prospects that you think you would like better and you like your present major sometimes you should probably stick with it because the realities of life are that that is often the best you can hope for.</p>
<p>Oooh… if you are engineer… and you want to change to another engineering major, I am pretty sure that the advisors will give you hell for it. They enforce the kicking students out after 8 semesters pretty seriously… If you are willing to transfer to a diff college (CNR, L&S, CED, or CC) then it’s a diff story</p>