- #1
jbrussell93
- 413
- 38
Let me just start by saying that engineering is a great field and I respect what engineers have done/are doing for society. Hopefully by the end of this (very long) post you will understand the position I am in and will be able to share your thoughts as to what I should do and what my options are. I am currently a freshman in biomedical engineering but I'm starting to second guess my decision. In high school I became interested in physics and the interest has only intensified over the last couple of years. Becoming a physicist has almost become a distant "fairy tale" for me... I fantasize about being a physicist and studying physics for the rest of my life, but I know that this is probably not the most realistic vision due to the current conditions of the job market.
I chose engineering because I knew that it would contain some physics but also be a marketable degree regardless of whether or not I ultimately decided not to go to graduate school. My original goal was to keep my options as open as possible while studying something that I enjoy. In high school, I didn't have the opportunity to take any calculus and therefore was afraid of jumping into a physics program. Well, last summer between senior year and 1st year of undergrad I decided that I wanted to try to learn calculus. I bought a cheap calc book off amazon and began reading and to my surprise, something clicked! I became obsessed with reading this book and found the concepts to be so elegant and clear. I was dedicated to learning the material to the point that I would read for about 10 hours a day, just reading and doing problems, for a couple of weeks. Because of this, I ended up doing well in calc I (top grade in the class of 400 ) and I currently have the top grade in my calc II class. Now, I know that this isn't really saying much because it's just intro calc and I am not some super genius, but I am VERY dedicated to learning this stuff. And I have come to realize that anyone can learn pretty much anything if they are interested enough to spend the time to immerse themselves in the topic. For instance, I am currently trying to get ahead in some basic linear algebra (with guidance from my calc teacher) with a decent amount of success so far...
Coming into university, I was unsure if I would really like college enough to continue on to graduate school. This was another reason I wasn't sure if I really wanted to pursue physics because I knew a PhD would likely be the only route. Well, having almost finished my second semester of college, I feel like this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I never want to stop learning. I basically spend every hour that I'm not in class studying... My friends think I'm pretty weird but I have no problem with studying for 10 hours straight. When I finish my homework, I begin reviewing or starting working ahead. I am starting to realize that I'm not so interested in engineering and its applications, but rather learning and discovering. This realization has caused me to wonder if engineering is right for me. And as far as research goes, I am currently in a computational neuroscience research lab but just starting so I can't say much about it yet. I can say that I did research in high school and it is what sparked my interest in science in the first place!
Anyway, so all was well and good until this semester. I am taking my first engineering class. It is an engineering graphics class using AutoCAD and I absolutely hate it! I am doing well and have an A, but it is so bland compared to math. I don't want to base my whole opinion about engineering on one introductory engineering class but it has made me think a little bit. One thing that has really turned me off of engineering is the lack of interest from my fellow classmates. Many of them have absolutely no interest whatsoever in what they are doing. They simply want the degree so they can watch their banks account fill up... Which is not necessarily a bad thing just sad if that's the main intention. In contrast, all of the physics majors I have met are VERY interested in their studies and are excited to learn the material. I fell as though I would thrive in this type of environment.
So basically I wrote this whole thing for the sole purpose of hearing some outside thoughts about the situation that I'm in. I gave this outline of my recent thoughts and experiences so that you all would have a clear picture of what I'm going through. Hopefully your opinions will also help others who are in my shoes as well. Sorry about the very long post but I also use writing as a sort of therapeutic tool!
Anyway, I appreciate your help.
I chose engineering because I knew that it would contain some physics but also be a marketable degree regardless of whether or not I ultimately decided not to go to graduate school. My original goal was to keep my options as open as possible while studying something that I enjoy. In high school, I didn't have the opportunity to take any calculus and therefore was afraid of jumping into a physics program. Well, last summer between senior year and 1st year of undergrad I decided that I wanted to try to learn calculus. I bought a cheap calc book off amazon and began reading and to my surprise, something clicked! I became obsessed with reading this book and found the concepts to be so elegant and clear. I was dedicated to learning the material to the point that I would read for about 10 hours a day, just reading and doing problems, for a couple of weeks. Because of this, I ended up doing well in calc I (top grade in the class of 400 ) and I currently have the top grade in my calc II class. Now, I know that this isn't really saying much because it's just intro calc and I am not some super genius, but I am VERY dedicated to learning this stuff. And I have come to realize that anyone can learn pretty much anything if they are interested enough to spend the time to immerse themselves in the topic. For instance, I am currently trying to get ahead in some basic linear algebra (with guidance from my calc teacher) with a decent amount of success so far...
Coming into university, I was unsure if I would really like college enough to continue on to graduate school. This was another reason I wasn't sure if I really wanted to pursue physics because I knew a PhD would likely be the only route. Well, having almost finished my second semester of college, I feel like this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. I never want to stop learning. I basically spend every hour that I'm not in class studying... My friends think I'm pretty weird but I have no problem with studying for 10 hours straight. When I finish my homework, I begin reviewing or starting working ahead. I am starting to realize that I'm not so interested in engineering and its applications, but rather learning and discovering. This realization has caused me to wonder if engineering is right for me. And as far as research goes, I am currently in a computational neuroscience research lab but just starting so I can't say much about it yet. I can say that I did research in high school and it is what sparked my interest in science in the first place!
Anyway, so all was well and good until this semester. I am taking my first engineering class. It is an engineering graphics class using AutoCAD and I absolutely hate it! I am doing well and have an A, but it is so bland compared to math. I don't want to base my whole opinion about engineering on one introductory engineering class but it has made me think a little bit. One thing that has really turned me off of engineering is the lack of interest from my fellow classmates. Many of them have absolutely no interest whatsoever in what they are doing. They simply want the degree so they can watch their banks account fill up... Which is not necessarily a bad thing just sad if that's the main intention. In contrast, all of the physics majors I have met are VERY interested in their studies and are excited to learn the material. I fell as though I would thrive in this type of environment.
So basically I wrote this whole thing for the sole purpose of hearing some outside thoughts about the situation that I'm in. I gave this outline of my recent thoughts and experiences so that you all would have a clear picture of what I'm going through. Hopefully your opinions will also help others who are in my shoes as well. Sorry about the very long post but I also use writing as a sort of therapeutic tool!
Anyway, I appreciate your help.