Engineering Student Identity Crisis

Soclydeza
Mon, 30 Jan 2012 20:34:05 +0000

So I started off as a biotech major, but switched over to engineering because I found that I love math and applied science and I feel that engineering is what I should be doing. I’m currently in general engineering (first 2 years) and have aiming my concentration at biochemical engineering so I’m still in the realm of what I was doing in the first place. I was lucky enough to make a few good connections outside of school with some people involved in the biotech industry and I kind of have my foot in the door for when I decide to start internships, which should be soon, and jobs once I graduate.

Here’s my dilemma; now that I’ve taken a couple of physics courses I find myself having a love affair with things like classical mechanics, E&M and all the math involved. I will admit that when I do the math involved in chemistry (I’m in General Chemistry 2 at the moment), I have no problem doing it but the math seems kind of bland to me. But when I have to figure out even difficult physics oriented math problems they kind of come to life, I can conceptualize it better. That’s not to say that I dont find Bio and Chem interesting, it’s just that I find more physics oriented engineering topics more interesting.

So that leaves me with a choice: should I pursue a more physics oriented disicpline, say MechE, EE or ASE which is more interesting to me (a plus side is I would like to pursue a discipline that I can apply to my own hobbies, not just work) but I’ll pretty much have to discard the opportunities I have now with a more biochem oriented discipline, or should I stick with biochem engineering and chase my current opportunities but give up the sides of engineering that I find more interesting?

I know the answer is obvious, but I figure I could get some input from some seasoned engineering students/grads. Thanks.