MSE vs CS vs CE vs everything else

[mysterytome]

How do I determine what I want to do with my future?

I recently finished a BS in aerospace engineering. Long story short, I realized during my undergrad that it was not something I wanted to pursue as a career but didn't come up with any concrete plans on what I did want to study and ended up sticking it out until graduation. My grades weren't great, and I attribute this primarily to my lack of interest and excess amount of time spent on other things (programming projects, some independent and some with teams, none of which turned into anything significant).

Lately I've been looking at grad school, but my grades and lack of research make that possibility extremely unlikely, at least for now, so I've turned my attention to a second bachelor's degree to improve my profile. The problem I'm having is that while initially I was certain about what I wanted to pursue (material science), after spending a lot of time investigating my options I'm much more uncertain than when I started.

How can I determine what I really want to study?

Material science/chemistry:
Chemistry was my favorite subject in high school. I'm really interested in a lot of the stuff covered on http://www.sixtysymbols.com/index.html" , and I'm particularly interested in semiconductors (their use in integrated circuits) and future advances in those areas when we eventually reach the limits of silicon.

I don't have a reason for not studying chemistry as an undergrad, other than maybe the perception that I'd be stuck becoming a chemistry teacher. As for material science, it's just not something I was aware even existed until late in my undergrad studies. I'm also somewhat concerned that my goals wrt material science are too narrow and that if I fail to meet them, which is always a possibility, I'll be stuck doing something that I really do not enjoy like strength testing or less glamorous non-electrical material research.

Computer science:
Computer science has always been somewhat of an obsession of mine. I learned many programming languages, both high and low-level, in my own time during high school. I realize programming is not computer science, but I have always had an understanding of logic and have spent a lot of time reading about theory over the past few years (lambda calculus, curry-howard correspondence) and am currently working on developing a functional programming language on the side.

My main reason for not studying CS was because I viewed it as something that was too easy (I could easily ace any undergrad CS course) and as something where I'd just be another programmer on a huge uninteresting project which is just rehashing the same old design principles we've been using for 20+ years without any true innovation or breakthroughs, and which will be forgotten in 5 years when everyone moves on to someone else's software.

Computer engineering:
This would seem to combine some of my interests in computer science and electrical engineering. I've spent a fair amount of time building digital circuits as a hobby and it's something that's interesting to me, though I don't know that it's something I enjoy enough to pursue as a career, especially if it's on projects that aren't very glamorous (i.e. that aren't CPUs or cutting-edge network hardware).

Other:
I've been interested in just about everything at some point, from anthropology to oceanography to particle physics. The more I think about pursuing a specific line or work the harder it is to accept that I'll be giving up all of the other possibilities. As a side question, how do you deal with this?

 

[lurky]

Other:
I've been interested in just about everything at some point, from anthropology to oceanography to particle physics. The more I think about pursuing a specific line or work the harder it is to accept that I'll be giving up all of the other possibilities. As a side question, how do you deal with this?

I am exactly the same way. I like too many things, am decently capable of doing all of them, and therefore can't really settle on anyone thing. I have, therefore, decided that I will spend a lifetime of changing what I do. I started out studying computer science, then switched to math, then stats, and then graduated with a biology degree. Now I'm studying engineering. The need for $ is going to eventually drive me to actually get a job, but I suspect I'll keep doing this "what do I feel like doing next" thing. I plan to satisfy the constant craving to try new things by pursuing hobbies and never, ever quitting school (will keep part time evening classes going, or heck maybe even grad school if I can find a place that'll take me). If I ever become bored with engineering, then I'll just switch yet again. I figure why fight the need to change every now and then? Just go with it. They keep telling us that we need to be mobile in this economy anyway. (what I'm *actually* doing is satisfying my one true desire, which is to learn as much as I can about everything) This is how I cope - I just accept that I am this way.

 

[mysterytome]

I don't think I'm necessarily the permanent student type. It's not that I got bored with aerospace, just that it was a rash and ill-informed decision. When it came time to finally choose a major, which came after just one AE course and 2 years of general courses, I didn't really take the time to seriously consider whether it was something I wanted to do for a living. I spent much of my final two years looking at other options but without a concrete decision was advised to stick with the degree rather than, say, dropping out and taking the time to come up with an answer. In retrospect that was a mistake, but what's done is done.

I should probably be more clear on my goals, which may not be evident from my first post. I'm really interested in integrated circuits and computing, and an ideal career would be something like being a part of a microprocessor design team or working in R&D to aid future advances in computing (process shrinking, materials research). The main source of indecision for me is the reality that these goals are quite lofty and it's more likely that I won't reach them than anything else.

My interest in most of these fields (excluding CS) is focused in the direction of microprocessors and not in other aspects of those fields, so if I can't work with microprocessors my only options are going to be doing things I'm not thrilled with (a harsh reality for many people, but one I'd like to avoid if possible). I couldn't see myself working in metallurgy or polymers or whatever branch of materials happens to be hiring just because I don't have a wide breadth of interest in the subject as a whole (though I am interested in specific things like optics and quantum dot research). The same goes with computer engineering to the extent that I'm familiar with it; working on microwave control circuits or Blu-Ray players just doesn't appeal to me, and those seem like the kinds of things I'd be doing if I couldn't land a job at, say, Intel.

The reason I'm putting CS on the table at all is because it's something I am already familiar with and there is a somewhat wider variety of things I could see myself enjoying in the field than with the others (though not to the extent that I'd enjoy my first choice, working on microprocessors). There's some chance that I could tie in CS with some of my other interests. And then at the very least it's the kind of thing that has a lot of geographic mobility, so even if I hate my job I can live somewhere nice. I suppose that's a cynical way to look at it, but these are mostly things that I've never put much thought into that have really come to light since graduation.

Edit: Electrical engineering is on the table too, but with similar issues as the others. Power generation and RF are interesting, but I wouldn't want to be designing RC cars. I suppose the common thread with all of these is that I'm more about end results than the field as an end in and of itself, except maybe with physics, but I can't see experimental physics or tenure track in my future.

 

[lurky]

Well, I'm obviously all for more schooling, but have you considered avionics?

 

[mysterytome]

Aviation really isn't my thing. My primary focus going in was propulsion, but once I got involved in that I have no desire to work in the aviation industry.