<p>Make it very plain to him that you have absolutely no intention of going into engineering! My dad had the same ambition for me, but I’ve managed to explain to him that my true love is math or computer science. He maintains I ought to go to a school with engineering, but that’s because I should work with engineers if I’m in CS. I think he still hopes I’ll reconsider, but he has gotten to the point that he’d certainly pay for UChicago if I choose it, and he won’t push me towards engineering. If you’ve found something that you’d do without getting paid that you can actually get paid for, you’re in good shape. There may be a demand for engineers, but only for ones who actually care about their work. </p>
<p>Is he in engineering or another science, or did he want to be one but didn’t have the opportunity? I think my dad’s desire to see me in engineering stems from his own love of it, and his hope that I could find it as satisfying. I don’t hate engineering, but seeing me work on a CS project or a math challenge has convinced my dad that I have found a passion, even if it isn’t his.</p>