Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for the suggestions so far! Just sent the info to my DS. He is a junior so has a bit of time so we are trying to get in some more visits in the upcoming year (in person and virtual) to see what clicks with him.

I had no idea how regimented traditional engineering tracks are. And I agree with him that for the ones toured to I did not see him fitting in socially. He likes to geek out on a few things, but he is very outgoing and does not hang out at home on Friday nights studying just for fun. He does if it is needed, but likes having a balance.

Have you looked at Lehigh University? They have joint degree programs in both engineering and business and engineering and the arts and sciences. It is also pretty easy (or used to be) to create your own major. It is also a work hard, play hard school. Plenty of engineers who also know how to have a good time. Lehigh is very rigorous and very expensive, so be prepared for that. - An alumna

DC is studying Data Science at Davidson: https://www.davidson.edu/academic-departments/data-science

This complements any major, although he is focusing on math. Great program with amazing internship and research opportunities.

Anonymous wrote:Agree that he needs to
Go broader than just data analytics. It is hot right not but AI does a lot of it and will do more.

+2

I work in data analytics and am pivoting to something more client-facing. It will suit me better, yes, but the AI writing is on the wall and this will be one of the first areas to go.

OP here. Thanks for the suggestions so far! Just sent the info to my DS. He is a junior so has a bit of time so we are trying to get in some more visits in the upcoming year (in person and virtual) to see what clicks with him.

I had no idea how regimented traditional engineering tracks are. And I agree with him that for the ones toured to I did not see him fitting in socially. He likes to geek out on a few things, but he is very outgoing and does not hang out at home on Friday nights studying just for fun. He does if it is needed, but likes having a balance.

Anonymous wrote:He should look at Virginia Tech's major in Computational Modeling & Data Analytics. It is the undergrad major in their Academy of Data Science. There are multiple tracks to choose from in the major -- the general program or biological sciences, cryptography/cybersecurity, economics, geosciences, physics. It is housed in the College of Science so is less competitive than programs in the College of Engineering. My son is a junior in the program and very happy. As part of it he has also had the opportunity to be an undergrad research assistant on a variety of projects through the Databridge program which basically provides data analytics assistance to professors across the university and trains students on different analytics tools.

https://data.science.vt.edu/programs/cmda.html

+1
Great program.

Case Western’s new Dept of Computer and Data Sciences within Case Engineering offers a BS degree program in Data Science and Analytics.

Ohio State Univ offers a Data Analytics major within their College of Arts and Sciences, which can be clubbed with Math or Stats or Econ for a double major.

Their College of Engineering offers a BS in Industrial & Systems Engineering with a track/concentration in Data Analytics and Optimization.

Both solid options depending on interests, especially if you can add minors in domain areas like Bus, Econ, etc where analytics can be applied.

Agree that he needs to
Go broader than just data analytics. It is hot right not but AI does a lot of it and will do more.

University of Virginia ?

I work in data analytics and many of my colleagues have degrees in physics. This could be because data analytics didn’t yet exist as a field, but there is a lot of overlap in skills between the fields (coding for one). Anyway, he could certainly major in science and go into it data analytics and it might give him more flexibility and options.

Check NC State and University of Tennessee, as well.

Northwestern has a good program.

Data Science is less about taking something apart, and more about aggregating information pulling it together to discern insights. It’s a great field right now but some of the work will eventually be displaced by AI in the next 5-10 years. He should pursue Math, CS, Economics as a major with data science as a minor since the high level roles require stats, modeling, and some programming. It’s also definitely behind the scenes work, unless he goes into consulting where he might be involved in presenting information to a client, or in finance where it might be a middle office job… which is to say, he won’t be raking in 7 figures the way other career paths will in their late 20s, but if he was eyeing engineering to start this probably doesn’t matter to him if he likes to just tinker and geek out on stuff.

He should look at Virginia Tech's major in Computational Modeling & Data Analytics. It is the undergrad major in their Academy of Data Science. There are multiple tracks to choose from in the major -- the general program or biological sciences, cryptography/cybersecurity, economics, geosciences, physics. It is housed in the College of Science so is less competitive than programs in the College of Engineering. My son is a junior in the program and very happy. As part of it he has also had the opportunity to be an undergrad research assistant on a variety of projects through the Databridge program which basically provides data analytics assistance to professors across the university and trains students on different analytics tools.

https://data.science.vt.edu/programs/cmda.html

Looking for suggestions for colleges to check out that are well known for data analytics or applied math.

My son thought he wanted to do engineering but after going to some open houses he thought the programs were too intense & he did not mesh with the students. Still going to check a few more schools in the next tier down so he is not fully ruling that out yet.

He is strong at math and science and likes to figure out connections and to know why things are as they are - the kind of kid who takes a toaster apart to see how it works. 😉 His guidance counselor gave him some more career tests & data analytics was recommended and it sounds like something he would enjoy. He also knows if he decides to change his major or change it to a minor it would be a lot easier than changing out of an engineering program.