Junior in Engineering: Bio, Elec, or Mechanical

AI Thread Summary
Javier Olivares, a 26-year-old junior at the University of Illinois at Chicago, seeks advice on his academic and career path after serving four years in the U.S. Air Force. He is currently majoring in electrical engineering but has interests in various fields, including economics, politics, history, and bioengineering. Despite achieving a recent GPA of 3.1, he expresses concerns about his performance in math and physics and worries about the competitiveness of younger students. Javier contemplates switching back to bioengineering, which he has already studied, due to fears about job prospects in electrical engineering. He is also exploring hobbies like SolidWorks and 3D printing and is looking for project ideas to enhance his skills. The discussion emphasizes the importance of pursuing one's interests to foster motivation and success.
JavierOlivares
Messages
14
Reaction score
0
Hello. My name is Javier Olivares. I have been a lurker for sometime but decided to finally begin to be an active member. I really want to get some help/advice. I'm currently a junior at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I'm 26 years young where the VA covers my tuition from serving four years of active duty U.S. Air Force. My job titles for the Air Force where tech support for telephones and network admin/desktop support. I basically just got A+ certification and that's what my job had previously entailed. After the service, I had always wanted to do something with Math and Science, and I also always wanted to get a college education. I attended a somewhat prestigious High School for a Chicago public school called Lane Tech so my education background is somewhat moderate (enough fo me to take Calc 1 after a 7 year break freshman year).

After much flip flopping I realized I really do want to be an engineer but I have a dilemma. I keep finding things that interest me like economics, politics, history, physics, all the engineering fields, etc. Not a bad problem but tough when I keep switching around. I never pursued the arts nor will I like to (I have found a very profound interest in cryptocurrency but that's a different story). But right now I am an electrical engineering major. My grades so far have been pretty average where my math and physics not performing too well with a couple B's and a handful of C's. But I am confident in myself to know that I might not have been doing the best I could and can do much better. Last semester, I finally got straight As getting my GPA back up to a 3.1. I took 2 BioEngineering courses and 1 electrical engineering intro (and a GenEd). I really am writing cause I still get worried of my future. I've never known what I want to pursue.A lot of things interest me just not something I don't know how to focus on. I just worry about making a wrong turn now that I am 26 and the youth just keeps getting smarter and smarter it feels like. I hope to get some help in my the rest of my engineering courses but more important advice on what I could do to feel better about myself.
Cliff (Scroll here if above too long):
Recently thought again about switching back to BioEngineering but being afraid of not finding a job. I just feel worried that Electrical is too difficult for me to pursue as many people have said it's one of the more rigorous of all engineering. I even recently considered doing mechanical but who knows. Also, I have one month left before I head back to school any advice for projects that I can do myself or a hobbie please let me know. I been working on solidworks and 3-D printing but that's about it. I look forward to hear back from someone.


Also note I already have a semester of BioEngineering done but switch so switching back would be a faster graduation rate

Javi
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Thank you for your service in the USAF!

Go for what you like the most. You will work harder at it, and so become better.
 
Hey, I am Andreas from Germany. I am currently 35 years old and I want to relearn math and physics. This is not one of these regular questions when it comes to this matter. So... I am very realistic about it. I know that there are severe contraints when it comes to selfstudy compared to a regular school and/or university (structure, peers, teachers, learning groups, tests, access to papers and so on) . I will never get a job in this field and I will never be taken serious by "real"...
TL;DR Summary: I want to do a PhD in applied math but I hate group theory, is this a big problem? Hello, I am a second-year math and physics double major with a minor in data science. I just finished group theory (today actually), and it was my least favorite class in all of university so far. It doesn't interest me, and I am also very bad at it compared to other math courses I have done. The other courses I have done are calculus I-III, ODEs, Linear Algebra, and Prob/Stats. Is it a...
Back
Top