Anonymous at Mon, 16 Sep 2024 17:51:24 UTC No. 16383543

IDK, I couldn't tell you. I couldn't hack it out with the intensity of engineering school because im just a dummy. I can attest to the boring after school part though, at least on the behalf of others I know intimately. I stayed in touch with all my friends despite dropping out and every time we talk they either complain about their boss or how dull the actual day-to-day is. Whether that's standard for engineers or my friends are just whiners is hard to tell.

Anonymous at Mon, 16 Sep 2024 17:59:11 UTC No. 16383554

>>16383543
what was so hard about it for you? did you enjoy the schoolwork?

Anonymous at Mon, 16 Sep 2024 18:02:37 UTC No. 16383559

>>16383554
Just sitting still and studying focused in for several hours on end was too tough for me to do at a baseline. As I said I'm dumb. My Psychiatrist wanted me to get tested for ADHD or some shit but that seemed like a cope because even when I enjoy something I am just not good at problem solving or retaining information.

Some of the concepts were interesting and kinda fun to play with but I just didn't have the brains for it, I had to essentially force myself to sit down in a dark room with zero distractions for 10 hours a day to keep up with the guys around me. The real kicker was realizing I still got worse scores than guys who hardly show up to lectures.

Anonymous at Mon, 16 Sep 2024 18:20:29 UTC No. 16383598

>>16383559
I like to sit down for hours if im enjoying the stuff, and I can usually get decently competent. maybe ill fare better, but who knows. I think my weak point is creativity...

What was the defining characteristics of the guys that did well, but ended up in boring jobs? were they always good at math/always knew that they wanted to do engineer/stem stuff (asian)? or were was there more subtle differences/people who you wouldnt expect to be good at or interested in engineering?

Anonymous at Mon, 16 Sep 2024 18:41:17 UTC No. 16383646

>>16383598
Most of them are honestly normal guys as far as I know. Most have a pretty keen interest in problem solving, like one dude I know unironically love making Ikea furniture and putting together little machines in his garage.

Anonymous at Mon, 16 Sep 2024 23:12:17 UTC No. 16383922

>>16383516
>Is getting a degree just a labor of love?
Yes

Anonymous at Tue, 17 Sep 2024 00:00:58 UTC No. 16383962

>>16383516
Oh, I'm sorry, I thought I was on the science and math board, not the "help me plan my life and choose a career" board.

Anonymous at Tue, 17 Sep 2024 00:24:44 UTC No. 16383983

>>16383962
its CLEARLY a fucking post about STEM majors, you fucking retard

Anonymous at Tue, 17 Sep 2024 00:42:53 UTC No. 16384004

>>16383516
Any STEM degree is decent if you care about it and get a real job in the field outside of academia

Engineering is the key to basic good pay

Anonymous at Tue, 17 Sep 2024 00:43:54 UTC No. 16384005

>>16383516
Those statement are crude oversimplifications at best and misleading at worse. Yes entry level CS is rough at the moment, but that also means that anyone without a degree has no chance at all (and in any event, no-one can be sure what the job market will look like in 4 years' time).
Maths degrees are seen as equivalent or sometimes preferable to CS degrees for CS jobs. You could also go into finance or any number of other things. It's absolutely not an "only study it if you want to teach it" subject.

With that said, it's probably true that you should only study STEM if you have a strong inherent interest in it, enjoy studying it for its own sake, and want to work in a technical field throughout your career. People who aren't really into it but choose it for financial reasons don't tend to do well.

Anonymous at Tue, 17 Sep 2024 02:54:39 UTC No. 16384112

>>16383516
>work sucks

There's always the option of becoming a cook or driver, if that's more your fit.

Anonymous at Tue, 17 Sep 2024 04:19:17 UTC No. 16384189

>>16383983
Doesn't matter what job you're talking about, go ask /biz/, /adv/, or /r9k/

We don't care about your career, we care about science.

Anonymous at Tue, 17 Sep 2024 06:20:56 UTC No. 16384264

>>16383516
>Physics
Unless you're really, really smart, don't do Physics (you can test the waters if you like, since it's always worth a try, but don't be down on yourself if you aren't a borderline genius like most Phycisists are since that's practically the requirement in many cases).

>Computer Science
The unspoken and ugly truth about Computer Science is that you need to do a looot of work outside of school to even get a job, and since you can't get a job until you have work to show for it, you have to spend hours upon hours of your own, unpaid time making chess programs and doing countless LeetCode exercises to remember all of them for the coding interview. My advice: if you go into Comp Sci get a Master's in Machine Learning. That's one of the few ways to seriously stand out mainly from school anymore, and even then you still gotta make at least one or two decent projects and grind LeetCode for coding interviews.

>Mathematics
Unless you're *super* into working on Theoretical Mathematics, you'll either end up working in Comp Sci or Engineering if you get a Mathematics degree (this is evidenced by the fact that you will essentially be getting a Minor in Computer Science over the course of your classes when getting a Mathematics degree). I will say, however, that having a double degree in Mathematics and either Comp Sci or Engineering definitely makes you stand out, but if you ever decide to go all in on just Math, you still have a decent shot of getting into computer graphics or some other math-heavy programming.

>Engineering
The career side of Engineering is probably the most boring, but boring means easy, and if you decide to go into Engineering you probably won't be complaining too much about having a boring job once you're making 70k+ a year right out of school after spending 8-10, sometimes 12 hours a day (including weekends at times), just studying endless engineering concepts (85% math, it's practically a math degree, minus the theory side)

Good luck

Anonymous at Tue, 17 Sep 2024 06:26:23 UTC No. 16384266

>>16384264
Is engineering really that dense for studying?

Anonymous at Tue, 17 Sep 2024 06:36:49 UTC No. 16384269

>>16384266
Every single Engineering student friend I know (I have many in the study), are addicted to at least one substance, mainly due to the stress of the field. Half of them switched majors outright. It is capital C Competitive, and capital D Difficult and it is not at all unusual to be sitting at your desk studying late into the night and realize that there are a number of hairs falling from your 20 year old head due to the sheer stress of the study needed to get into the field. I have a friend who is notably more intelligent than me (at least, in the realm of Mathematics in general), who switched to Business in his third year because he just couldn't take any more of the multiple semesters of 5-6 high-level Math and Engineering classes. I can't blame him, and frankly, I don't blame you if you can't make the cut either. Many, many students either don't have what it takes mentally, or they just get crushed/completely fried and exhausted by the weight of the study. Mind you, I go to a large school (not Ivy League), that's notably more rigorous with it's STEM studies in general, but this same pattern of Engineering difficulty applies to most schools, generally proportional to their overall rigor. I really don't want to scare you away from Engineering, as it can be (and almost always is) a fantastic career path with essentially unlimited opportunities for substantial real-world improvement, innovation, and career growth (at least, insofar as you are mentally capable). Just know that it will be a GRIND, but on the other side of that grind is a rainbow that leads to a pot of gold. That's the case with all of these majors, it's just that Engineering above all the others, even more than Comp Sci, is grindy as hell. But hey, at least you don't have to make programs on unpaid time and grind LeetCode like Comp Sci, haha

Anonymous at Tue, 17 Sep 2024 06:44:05 UTC No. 16384271

>>16384269
By the way, I should note that if you happen to be borderline genius, Engineering isn't necessarily so bad. However, you will be hard-pressed to find a single Engineering major of any kind that isn't almost constantly strapped for time during the school year. They will be the roomate that is the first out the door and the last to return back to the dorm. While you're partying, they're studying. Real cliche stuff until you actually experience it, then you realize it's real, and it's tough. But again, if you're super smart you don't have a huge amount to worry about. Even if you're just generally above average intelligence it will still be quite difficult, but doable. Above all with these STEM degrees it's time and energy investment, as well as mental stamina, all in addition to the base intelligence factor.