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  #16   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 10-12-2010, 08:26
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Al Skierkiewicz Al Skierkiewicz is offline
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Re: Looking for a college major

Brandon,
If I were you, I would truck down to the college placement or career office in your school and tell them you are unsure about your future. There are tests that can help you decide what you are really, deep down, interested in. When speaking with an entrance counselor at Bradley a few years ago he told my son "Our average entering engineering student has a 25-27 on the ACT with a 27-29 in math and 23-25 in English." If you need to go to community college for financial reasons that is fine. If you are worried about grades, then you need to ask to be sure. The perfect school is the one where you will be happy and learn.
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Unread 10-12-2010, 09:17
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Re: Looking for a college major

It sounds like you want to do Electrical Engineering in a Programming track (rather than a hardware track). Any major is going to have some classes that won't be terribly exciting for you, but you'll probably find use for most of them. For two robotics classes in college I made sure to get a programming track EE on my team. They were able to take care of the electronics and programming in each robot with good proficiency. Check out other colleges too, different colleges will have different EE-related tracks that may be more what you're looking for.

To be honest I never would have considered Cooper Union on my own, I just checked it out because my Mom was bugging me about it, I applied and considered it my 4th or 5th pick school. Turns out it was a perfect match. Go figure.
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Unread 10-12-2010, 11:08
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Re: Looking for a college major

You may also want to check out Engineering Technology programs. These tend to be a bit less theoretical and a bit more hands on. Many students find these programs to be a better fit.
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Unread 10-12-2010, 13:53
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Re: Looking for a college major

WPI has a Robotics Engineering undergraduate and graduate program with concentrations available for mechanical, electrical, or software.
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Unread 10-12-2010, 15:48
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Re: Looking for a college major

My recommendation would be to try not to specialize too early. At this point, robotics may be what you're most familiar with, but there's a lot of things out there. Get a degree in Computer Science, and try out a variety of classes. If you find something else you're interested in college, that's great. If robotics is still something you're interested, get a masters degree from a university that has specialties in robotics (eg Carnegie Mellon).

In the long run, your undergraduate university won't be as important as your graduate university, so you can make your mom happy and stay close to home.

I went to a community college for money reasons, and then transferred to a private school. Overall, I saved around $30k. My student loans are almost payed off, compared to many of my coworkers who still have a long way to go.

Last edited by Joe Ross : 10-12-2010 at 15:51.
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Unread 13-12-2010, 12:32
JamesBrown JamesBrown is offline
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Re: Looking for a college major

For what it is worth.

I have the same interests academically and professionally as you do. I am at RPI for Computer Systems Engineering (Usually just called Computer Engineering at other schools) I love the program and have had tons of opportunity to do Robotics programming. I will be graduating in December and already have a job doing "Embedded Systems Design and Robotics Control Programming" for robots that inspect nuclear power plants. Basically I will be working with high level electrical hardware (FPGA's) and Low level control software.

I started as a pure Computer Science major but found the classes to be too abstract for my liking. However that may vary by school, my schools CS department tends to hire professors with concentrations in more abstract parts of CS like pure Algorithm Design.

The best thing you can do is talk to students and professors at the schools you are looking at. As others had mentioned it is also a good idea to avoid a very specific concentration. While I was fortunate to find a job doing exactly what I wanted to do you can't always count on that. I also applied to Software engineering positions and had offers to fallback on if I didn't get the job I wanted.

It may be looking into Automation, Embedded Systems, and Embedded Control, all of these things are essential the same as robotics but are the terms used in industry. For example the lab I worked at at RPI was the Center for Automation Technology, which may or may not show up in a search for robotics programs.
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  #22   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 14-12-2010, 13:32
SteveJanesch SteveJanesch is offline
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Re: Looking for a college major

Hi Brandon,

In addition to seeing what's available at your school's counseling office now, I suggest going to a few universities with ECE or ME departments and talking to people there. Most universities have open houses several times a year, but to really get a handle on things, call the main phone number for the department in question and say "Hi, I'm interested in studying [something] at [your college] and would like to talk to someone in the department about your program." It's a great way to learn about the school, the major, and how you might fit.

While doing this for my own kids over the last three years, I learned that (as others have said) the things you've described are probably a good fit for the Computer Engineering department, if it's separate from the EE department (assuming there's no Mechatronics or Robotics program). One challenging thing about controlling things with software is that it helps to know about the mechanical properties of the things you're controlling, the electromechanical properties of the sensors and actuators, and the electrical behavior of the controller, and the math that ties it all together. It does smear into ME and EE programs a little, but you'll probably find that the math and physics foundations are the same.

Since you're staying local this fall, you've got more time to explore your options before deciding on a university. It sounds like you enjoy a variety of things and that's great. The most important thing is to find something you enjoy doing in an environment where you're comfortable. And even after you've made your initial choice, you're always free to change majors. I took a non-traditional route - I started out as an ME, switched to EE, then transferred schools, later on worked for a semester, and graduated in five years. I've been doing circuit design for the last 25 years, I think it turned out okay.

Really, talk to people in the departments of the schools that interest you. You'll learn a lot.

Cheers,
Steve
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Unread 16-12-2010, 01:01
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Re: Looking for a college major

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen of REX View Post
Computer engineering is halfway between being an electrical engineer and being a computer science major. Looks like it fits your interests, and I believe it is fairly common.

Also here's some shameless promotion for my university if you're interested.
Yes, computer engineering is like being an electrical engineer and a computer science major. It's common.
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Unread 16-12-2010, 02:22
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Re: Looking for a college major

Reported.
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Unread 16-12-2010, 04:34
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Re: Looking for a college major

My major is e-commerce,at first,i really didn't like it at all,but now,when i about to graduate,i think it's a good major,and i love it!
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  #26   Spotlight this post!  
Unread 16-12-2010, 17:13
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Re: Looking for a college major

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Originally Posted by Josh Fox View Post
Reported.
Whos reported?

Not me I hope O_O

I think CS sounds good, maybe with a minor or something. I still have some looking around to do.
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Unread 17-12-2010, 10:56
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Re: Looking for a college major

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon_L View Post
Whos reported?

Not me I hope O_O

I think CS sounds good, maybe with a minor or something. I still have some looking around to do.
I reported the user orezzoli, his signature contained links to advertising/sales sites.
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Unread 18-12-2010, 02:49
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Re: Looking for a college major

Although this is a reply to Brandon, this applies to all. If you are considering STEM majors, take into consideration what problems you want to solve in your careers and not just focus on what major. Gain a solid foundation with programming, biology, chemistry including organic chemistry, physics, math, etc. Problems are becoming more complex and multidisciplinary that the foundation needs to be broad and deep at the same time.
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Unread 18-12-2010, 22:41
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Re: Looking for a college major

I entered college as an English Literature major. I now am a high school teacher and community college instructor in physics, robotics, and American Sign Language...

So take that for what it's worth...
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Unread 11-01-2011, 02:20
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Re: Looking for a college major

Just choose what you like!
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