Indeed, being willing to look into mechanical engineering in a department with aerospace electives may allow you to have a wider range of colleges that will be good fits for you (affordable, admissible, academically suitable, otherwise suitable). It may also be a good thing later in that aerospace employers readily higher mechanical and other engineers, but other employers might be less willing to higher aerospace engineers. This could be an issue if the aerospace industry is in a downturn.
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Some employers will want to see your college transcript which will include all your classes and most denote if you have a minor or concentration. You will also put that information on your resume and on your LinkedIn.
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The problem is I want to be forced to apply for aerospace jobs out of college rather than settle for mechanical ones so I will have a career path in the aerospace industry.
All kinds of engineers work in the aero industry. You will not be limited if you major in mech e with an aero minor. The three most successful people people I know in the aerospace industry all majored in mech e as undergrads.
My D was a chem e with a polymer and material engineering concentration and worked on a project her senior year for Lockheed Martin.
My advice is to stay flexible. You donât want to go into debt for your undergraduate degree and you have lots of solid instate options.
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I am not too worried about my future academic grades (aside from SAT score), but I have no idea what will happen with all the classes I have not taken. Many people have taken AP and dual enrollment classes I missed, and it isnât a very competitive school anyway. I am more worried about competing with actually successful people from other schools.
I probably will have to take on some sort of debt as I donât expect aid and I do not qualify for merit scholarships. From what I have seen most people applying to engineering have above a 1500 and 4.0, so I am behind by a lot.
You are at least five years away from applying for jobs right now. Who knows what any industry will look like in the next few years. @ucbalumnus gave you good advice. You still have plenty of time to figure things out.
I suggest not putting the cart before the horse. You sound like a student who will knock it out of the park in college. Honestly, once you are in college, what you did in high school doesnât matter all that much. Focus on what you can do now to give yourself the best chance of getting into the best college for you, based on your finances and goals.
I donât know if anyone has mentioned ABET yet, but I believe almost any ABET accredited engineering program is going to lead a job. You do your best in college and find good experiences related to your career path once in college.
I get the sense that you feel you must have your life figured out now. Trust me, you donât. Cut yourself some slack and make sure you spend a bit of time this summer just having fun. There is plenty of time for adulting later 
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On these forums, it seems like everyone has a 4.0 (unweighted) / 1600 / 36 or something close to that, but real life is not that way.
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If the aerospace industry is in a downturn when you graduate college, then you may have to look in other industries at that time, though you may be able to move into the aerospace industry later.
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Doesnât your first job define your career path? Would I be able to get an aerospace job with just mechanical work on my resume?
Your first job will absolutely not define your entire career path. Many people pivot industries! If anything the mech e degree will make you more versatile.
And yes, you can get an aero job with âjustâ mech e work on your resume.
You are getting ahead of yourself though. Focus on your high school grades, test prep, and your ECs. Thatâs the best thing you can do to get prepared for college.
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I know real life isnât that way, I am shocked at the lack of effort people put into schooling at my school, but in reality, I am not competing against them, I am competing against the people here.
And..? If you expect anyone to say, âguess you should forget it thenâ, thatâs not going to happen here.
You can definitely go to college and have the career path you are interested in. Itâs great that you are thinking about all this now because by the time you graduate from college, you will be well ahead of the game. That isnât the same as saying you should spend the next 5 years worrying about your future though.
You do your best with what you have and what you can realistically achieve in the next couple of years. Please let go of the mindset that your fate is sealed at the age of 15 or 16. It 100% isnât.
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Aerospace companies employ all kinds of engineers - electrical for designing and controlling onboard systems, mechanical for spacecraft design, etc
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Please be a little more open minded about jobs when the time comes. That will be to your benefit.
As noted, engineers from multiple disciplines work in aero, not just those with aero degrees.
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Perhaps use LinkedIn and look into the backgrounds of some of the engineers at the aerospace companies you are interested in. I suspect (although I am not an engineering expert) many will not have aero specific degrees such as mechanical.
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I thought this was like A2C 
In all seriousness though, if I think I canât achieve something and others confirm it, I get the satisfaction of knowing I am right, even if it is bad overall.
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I guess you can remember this then, years from now, as you punch in at Lockheed MartinâŠ
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Outside of Texas, consider Wichita State, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri S & T, Mississippi State, ⊠you can find others on the ABET website.
Several of these schools offer substantial automatic merit to Texas residents.
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It took me a while to get the joke, thatâs a good one. Thank you for believing in me.
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