Question for all you college kids

[Metallic]

Do you like your major? Do you actually enjoy the classes that are specific to it? I'm an engineering major and I'm finding it more and more difficult to care at all about what I'm learning. Technically, the major I chose isn't what I plan to do, which is most likely my problem, but shouldn't I care somewhat? Even other upperclassmen that I've talked to have said it just gets worse and worse every year. I don't understand that. Why are we all putting ourselves through a major we hate?

I just want to know if it's normal to want to bang your head on the wall because your classes are so awful. Am I supposed to be passionate about this? I feel like I care less and less as I get farther into college especially because my major isn't really.. what my career is going to be. I swear if I have to read another problem about heat exchangers or turbines I'm going to shoot myself.

[SilentLoner]

I'm double majoring in biological anthropology and criminal justice, and I love both majors. I enjoy most of the classes, but a handful of required classes are a drag (req. math, some labs, supporting courses). Sometimes its the subject or the professor is lousy. But I enjoy them very much overall.

Engineering is a tough major. I know engineering majors at my school, whenever they tell people what they're majoring in they get a sympathetic "ouch" look or comment on how much math that must involve. And yeah I would imagine difficulty only increases in the subject. A lot of students I know either hate the major but keep going because its a solid career field with good money, or are deeply passionate about their engineering field and can talk for hours on the topic (I have a crush on a guy who does that lol).
But if that's not what you are planning to do, then its probably a bad match for you. If I can ask, what kind of career do you want?

[Metallic]

Well I've dreamed of working within nanotechnology, specifically the medical side, for years. They don't offer that as an undergrad so instead I looked into engineering majors that could prepare me for it. At the time I never thought, "Oh what could prepare me for the medical side of engineering?" and instead just looked for whatever gave me experience in nanotech. Chemical Engineering offered a concentration under nanoscience, which, at the time, I didn't realize really meant that you only get two nanotech electives total, which isn't helpful at all.

I really wish I had thought to go into biomedical instead (at least reading their curriculum sounds extremely interesting to me whereas CHE's looks awful), but since I didn't my GPA has now dropped because of CHE and I don't meet the requirements to apply. I might just apply anyways and see what happens because we get to answer essay questions and I can explain what I'm going through, but I don't know if it'll even help.

It's sad. I LOVE math and science classes. I love nanotechnology and learning about biomedical stuff, but chemical engineering is just god awful. All we ever talk about is reactors or heat exchangers or certain amount of moles of different substances going into mixers or furnaces and ughh. I don't know how people can enjoy this stuff, but I sure don't and I don't see how it is relevant to what I want to do at all. I just wish that I had to take CHE courses my freshman year when we had the ~freshman retake policy~ because these courses have screwed up my GPA and I'm so far into school that I feel like I'll be wasting so much money to redo my sophomore year. Ughh.

I'm really leaning towards switching, but I have no idea what else I could do other than biomedical.

[anomalous]

I just graduated with a degree in the hard sciences this spring (I actually don't want to specify out of privacy concerns simply because it's a relatively small field, lol). I know exactly what you're going through, though; even the courses within my major were painstaking, for the most part.

I've always been a very unmotivated student, and have generally hated and avoided studying/homework. In high school, I told myself, "it'll change once I get to college and start taking courses in what I like." Not so. Then throughout undergrad, my new excuse was, "I'm only miserable because I have all these gen-ed's distracting me from my real classes." Now I'm starting grad school in the fall, and let's face it... I'm still going to hate my classes, even though they'll all be within my major - something I've been passionate about since I was a young kid. I guess it's partially the rigid structure and system of evaluations (a.k.a., tests) that suck the fun out of everything, and partially that most math and science professors are very research-minded, and as a result are so focused on abstract theory that the applications get neglected when they teach.

FWIW, I absolutely loathe chemistry too. Took AP Chem in HS, and I still consider it the most revolting class I've ever dealt with, even after completing my undergrad. Fortunately, my field is far more focused on physics, which I at least find tolerable.

[RoninDistance]

Originally Posted by Metallic

It's sad. I LOVE math and science classes. I love nanotechnology and learning about biomedical stuff, but chemical engineering is just god awful. All we ever talk about is reactors or heat exchangers or certain amount of moles of different substances going into mixers or furnaces and ughh.

Oh God, I know I'm an uneducated loser, but I'm suddenly glad I dropped out of ChemEng all those years ago. That does sound awful and not at all what you would expect from a Chemical Engineering degree, that is described by some as one of the most flexible engineering majors. Anyway, if you hate it so much, why not go for a hard science degree instead? I assume chemistry, physics, or some specialized field of biology would be as good a gateway into the world of nanotechnology as an engineering degree. Maybe major in one, do a minor in another. Your GPA shouldn't be as much of a factor as in engineering school and you'll probably enjoy the courses more. Good luck.

[Ospi]

I am actually graduating from my Engineering degree on Tuesday next week and I can say for me it has been an extremely rewarding 4 years. However I really did go through periods where I didn't think I was good enough or smart enough for this line of work but the difference is that in order to do my passion I simply need this degree and that was enough to make me work hard and improve my results.

I think if you are studying something as difficult as engineering you really need to want it because it really is a very tough degree with a super high work load, a lot of commitment and also the ability to work well with others in teams.

So if it is not your passion then I can understand the lack of motivation however the other thing with engineering courses (sure it is the same there) is that the first year or two are very general and more or less cover the basics, it's only the final couple of years where you really branch off into the specifics. So if you really do enjoy the biomedical stuff etc then either stick it out until you start specialising or at least try to get your marks up to a level where you can switch to biomedical engineering which will be more up your lane of interest.

[HustleRose]

Yes!

I'm majoring in Modern Languages and Literatures, and minor-ing in Gender Studies.

I really feel like I'm learning things I'm interested in, and also things that will be useful to me in the future. Hell, I like it so much that I can't wait until Summer is over so that I can take my Chinese Calligraphy class... =|

[Metallic]

Originally Posted by anomalous

I've always been a very unmotivated student, and have generally hated and avoided studying/homework. In high school, I told myself, "it'll change once I get to college and start taking courses in what I like." Not so. Then throughout undergrad, my new excuse was, "I'm only miserable because I have all these gen-ed's distracting me from my real classes."

I was pretty unmotivated in high school, but I'm pretty smart so I was able to make decent grades without doing much work. College obviously isn't like that and I really wish my parents had pushed me to have a better work ethic like all my friends had in high school. I think I'd be able to work through my difficult classes better that way. Also the general ed classes are actually what save me because they're so easy to me. Give me chemistry 101 or calculus any day and I can do amazing. I find it so easy, however, my specific major's classes I do not. So frustrating!

Originally Posted by RoninDistance

Anyway, if you hate it so much, why not go for a hard science degree instead? I assume chemistry, physics, or some specialized field of biology would be as good a gateway into the world of nanotechnology as an engineering degree. Maybe major in one, do a minor in another. Your GPA shouldn't be as much of a factor as in engineering school and you'll probably enjoy the courses more. Good luck.

I've thought about switching to a hard science before, but I don't know. Engineering was great for me because it combines all of those sciences together instead of just focusing on one, which is what I'll need. I'm a nerd. I love chemistry and physics and even find biology fairly easy so I don't know. I've looked up other majors and I think biochemistry might be alright, but I don't know. It does look a lot easier though, but would I still develop the skills to pursue a full on engineering degree in grad school?

Originally Posted by Ospi

So if it is not your passion then I can understand the lack of motivation however the other thing with engineering courses (sure it is the same there) is that the first year or two are very general and more or less cover the basics, it's only the final couple of years where you really branch off into the specifics. So if you really do enjoy the biomedical stuff etc then either stick it out until you start specialising or at least try to get your marks up to a level where you can switch to biomedical engineering which will be more up your lane of interest.

See I figured, "Oh I'll just wait it out and I'll have better classes junior and senior year," but looking at the curriculum that's not the case. I dreadddd junior and senior year because the classes sound so awful and it probably shouldn't be like that. I need to get my GPA up to even switch to biomedical, but I don't want to waste any more time or money.

Originally Posted by HustleRose

Yes!

I'm majoring in Modern Languages and Literatures, and minor-ing in Gender Studies.

I really feel like I'm learning things I'm interested in, and also things that will be useful to me in the future. Hell, I like it so much that I can't wait until Summer is over so that I can take my Chinese Calligraphy class... =|

That's fantastic! I'm so glad to see that you actually love what you're doing. I wish so badly that I was like that. I hate feeling like I'm going no where because I can't stand what I'm doing.

[Metallic]

Hm maybe I'll switch to biochemistry. The description says:

Biochemistry is the science in which the principles of chemistry, biology, genetics, mathematics and physics are focused on investigations of biomolecules, organelles, cells, tissues and organisms. It provides the basis for biotechnology and molecular biology techniques ranging from biomolecular computation and modeling to regulation of gene expression. Biochemists study the discrete characteristics of every organism and biological process. Biochemistry prepares students for careers in many areas of science, medicine, agriculture, and industry.

If I can't get into biomedical, then perhaps this would be more of a step in the right direction. Plus it basically follows what I've already taken so I wouldn't be too far behind. Heck. The description for biochemistry sounds way more amazing than the one for chemical engineering, which says things like, "Chemical engineers are focused on minimizing the generation of environmental pollutants, and manufacturing the product inexpensively, safely, and in sufficient quantity and purity to meet the needs of the consumers and the requirements of regulatory agencies." Ick.

[Traci]

I'm majoring in psyc and I love the classes. It is very fun and intresting to learn about. I just don't know what I'll do with it later, heh.

[Hadron]

I'm in college (although not the type i think the OP meant). I definitely wouldn't change the choice of subjects i have chosen for the current year. I mean, the career i'm planning to embark on requires me to follow a pretty rigid/straightforward path. Nonetheless, though, I have chosen to do maths at quite an advanced level. I know i wouldn't really require it at such a level for the particular field i'm interested in. It may offer a slight advantage in terms of having a better looking CV. But really, i'm just doing it for fun .

[bezoomny]

I'm a classics major, and I adore my classes in my major. Sometimes they're incredibly hard, mind, but I still come out knowing that I learned a few things that I never knew and will likely never forget. Each semester I get better and better at Latin and Greek, and at analyzing literature in its context. It's thrilling, really. I don't even have to think about 90% of Latin grammar because it's become second nature. And it's fascinating to watch my opinion of the Greek language go from fear, to confusion, to a murky understanding. Fascinating to me, anyway.

I think the key is genuinely liking your major and not just doing it because "it'll get me a job when I graduate." Of course, I think my view might only make sense for lib arts majors, because we don't really need to do the sort of crazy prerequisites that you have to go through if you really want to be a doctor or a pharmacist or a psychiatrist or something.

[LostPancake]

Originally Posted by Metallic

Hm maybe I'll switch to biochemistry.
If I can't get into biomedical, then perhaps this would be more of a step in the right direction. Plus it basically follows what I've already taken so I wouldn't be too far behind. Heck. The description for biochemistry sounds way more amazing than the one for chemical engineering, which says things like, "Chemical engineers are focused on minimizing the generation of environmental pollutants, and manufacturing the product inexpensively, safely, and in sufficient quantity and purity to meet the needs of the consumers and the requirements of regulatory agencies." Ick.

Yeah I think you should do that - biochemistry would be a great preparation for nanotech - you get a really good feel for what little molecular machines can do. I nearly minored in it but didn't finish all the labs. It's really fascinating.

[yellowpaper]

Yeah, I hate the work I do for my major, currently biology, though I'm still considering changing it to something related. And no, I don't like my major.

[VivaLaVida]

I actually just graduated from a major school with a degree in civil engineering. I'm not going to lie, it does suck and suck bad. Wait until you are a junior and senior and while your non-engineering friends are socializing and having fun times, you are having to do some dumb assignments and basically have very little social time. Definitely not good at all for the SA thing. In fact, I probably would have never realized the whole SA thing had it not been for being so stressed out because of school.

[utopian_grrl]

I'm a political science major and there are times when I wish I would have chosen differently. There are some classes that are interesting and others that are so boring I feel like dropping it. The only reason that I chose the major is because it's the most relevant to my career. All the other poli-sci kids in my class clearly have more interest in the subject than I do, but as long as the course don't affect my grades and learn some interesting things on occasion, I can suffer through.

I wish I could have been a history major with a focus in medieval to early 20th century Europe but I don't think being a history scholar is for me.

But, if your major isn't remotely related to what you want to do in the future, I'd advise changing it. It's better to spend an extra year in college than the next 40 yrs slaving away at a career you despise.

[rockst4r]

im majoring in Accounting because I like math but as I started taking the course i realize its not much to do with math, but im sticking to it cuz they make good money ;] - - its not sooooo bad, but its not something im PASSIONATE about..... i have only take the first course. . .maybe i'll like it more or less as time goes on...

[TheDaffodil]

I'm just starting college in the fall. I decided to major in English. I've always done well in English classes and I like the subject. The program at the school is actually really flexible, too. I'm hoping I can stick with it though. I've had a lot of problems with school for different reasons. I don't want to preform badly, especially since there's actually money involved.

[Writer of Fictions]

Originally Posted by TheDaffodil

I'm just starting college in the fall. I decided to major in English. I've always done well in English classes and I like the subject. The program at the school is actually really flexible, too. I'm hoping I can stick with it though. I've had a lot of problems with school for different reasons. I don't want to preform badly, especially since there's actually money involved.

Yay for another English major! I was getting intimidated by all the Chemistry and Engineering majors. I have always wanted to major in English primarily because I knew that it was what I was fairly good at. My classes are quite interesting, so it helps.

I hope for the best for you TheDaffodil, and once you get sucked into the world of English, it's hard to go back.

[pita]

I'm an English major and I (finally) love it. I had a rough start at first due to anxiety and depression and all that stupid stuff, but it's really the only thing I love to study at school.

Do note that it took me like 6 years to figure this out.