Which University Course Should I Choose for My Interests and Career Goals?

[[KOD]Redfox]

Hi,

I am form Great Britain and would greatly appreciate any advice that you could give me on which course to study at university.

I am currently studying for my A2's in Physics, Maths and Chemistry so I will be heading off to University next year hopefully. The problem, however, is I am unsure which course to apply for or which one will benefit me the most.

I have created a short list of these 5 courses:
Physics
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Electronic and Software Engineering
Computer Science
Aerospace Engineering

Ideally I would like to do the masters in the courses as I feel I would be able to cope with it.

Basically what i would like advice on is the type of career I would be likely to have from each of the courses. Aswell as things like the availability of jobs and average pay.

I have an interest in all these courses. I would try to say what specifically interests me but it's hard to say. I know that I enjoy knowing how things work. I also have a keen interest in Computers, I built my first one when i was 15 and enjoy learning about them. I could see myself getting a sense of satisfaction after writing successful code. I also enjoy the manufacturing of microprosessors side of things. Managing and building a powerful server farm could also be interresting

As for aerospace I think i would enjoy working on a team to design, build and test a rocket or some other flight machine. An un-maned solar powered reconnasance plane for example.

With regards to Physics I would find working on renewable energy exciting and increasing the efficiency of systems. I am also interested in nuclear and particle physics.

I hope that helped to show sort of where my interests lie, as i said it's hard for me to describe.

If anyone would be able to offer any advice that would be gretly appreciated, maybe if you have taken one of the courses yourself. Also I know this forum seems to be American based so I hope there won't be too much of a difference in the education systems?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[lagwagon555]

With physics, you would need to study some kind of higher degree in order to get into the field. Some people who studied physics go onto work as computer scientists, in electrical jobs etc but there are far better courses you could apply for, if that was your goal. If you want to become a research physicist, you will need to complete a PhD. Even then, salaries are typically lower than other highly skilled positions.

Electrical/electronic/software engineering gives you a lot of employment opportunities. You can earn quite a large salary, and can go to work straight from BE/BEng/BSc. Also, engineers seem to be on every countries list of jobs that need filling, so emigration will be easy.

Computer science is very similar to software engineering (at my university, it's practically exactly the same course, with one or two different papers throughout the entire course). I'm not sure what the situation is there, or which degree is more helpful. Might be a good idea to talk to your university about this.

Aerospace engineering means you will be working in the aeronautics/astronautics field. The degree is kind of limiting in this manner, it could be better to do an undergrad course in mechanical engineering, then do a masters in aerospace, so you don't limit yourself as much.

That's my two cents anyway, hope that helps!

 

[yasiru89]

Electronic engineering is wonderfully flexible, it provides the framework for computers and precise equipment to everything from aviation control systems to particle accelerators!

 

[[KOD]Redfox]

Hey guys,

Thanks very much for the replies, I appreciate your help.

Just to let you know, I have sent my applications away and "Electrical and Electronic engineering" and "Electronic and Software Engineering" were my top 2 choices.

Thanks again,
Matt