I'm about to go to college: I need advice

[francistm]

Hi!
I'm 17 years and I'm from Europe, I'm going to college in september to the course electrical and computer engineering. And this is what I really love:
The pure science of electricity, I love building alternators for generating electric power, I also build electric motors and so, I love electromagnetism! It is something that fascinates me, I also want to learn how to build a tesla coil to understand some more about high voltage. But what bothers me, Is that I don't know exactly what I'm going to learn in this 5 year period in college, and I see myself working in some field of electromagnetism or try to invent a new "tesla coil" (this is just an example of course). Can someone clear me out? Thanks in advance!

 

[berkeman]

Hi!
I'm 17 years and I'm from Europe, I'm going to college in september to the course electrical and computer engineering. And this is what I really love:
The pure science of electricity, I love building alternators for generating electric power, I also build electric motors and so, I love electromagnetism! It is something that fascinates me, I also want to learn how to build a tesla coil to understand some more about high voltage. But what bothers me, Is that I don't know exactly what I'm going to learn in this 5 year period in college, and I see myself working in some field of electromagnetism or try to invent a new "tesla coil" (this is just an example of course). Can someone clear me out? Thanks in advance!

Welcome to the PF.

Congratulations on your course of study, and the wonderful adventure you are starting on.

I have a couple of pieces of advice -- just take them as offered advice, and not the gospel truth. First, I would stay away from the Tesla coil stuff, since there is not much traction to be gained there in real EE work. Second, I'd recommend that you start to learn about microcontrollers like the Arduino and PIC and other uCs. That will give you a lot of leverage on projects that you can build on your own to learn more about EE, and will give you an advantage over your other EE students when it comes to applying for internships and jobs later on.

Enjoy the ride!

 

[francistm]

Welcome to the PF.

Congratulations on your course of study, and the wonderful adventure you are starting on.

I have a couple of pieces of advice -- just take them as offered advice, and not the gospel truth. First, I would stay away from the Tesla coil stuff, since there is not much traction to be gained there in real EE work. Second, I'd recommend that you start to learn about microcontrollers like the Arduino and PIC and other uCs. That will give you a lot of leverage on projects that you can build on your own to learn more about EE, and will give you an advantage over your other EE students when it comes to applying for internships and jobs later on.

Enjoy the ride!

Thanks a lot! I actually already own an arduino :) But in college, will I learn the things I mentioned above and also electronics?

 

[CWatters]

The college should tell you about the syllabus before you choose which course or even which college. The syllabus can be different at different colleges.