Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 10:25     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:why wouldn't you want your son to get an engineering degree if he is saying he wants to? weird


Because there isn't an engineering degree. There are a number of engineering degrees and he has to pick.


Generally does not need to decide on which engineering degree until end of freshman year.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 10:24     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
Quantitative Economics is very different from engineering. It is math heavy and often it is rigorous. Many people who study this end up in investment banking or venture capital.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 10:02     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
Anonymous wrote:why wouldn't you want your son to get an engineering degree if he is saying he wants to? weird


Because there isn't an engineering degree. There are a number of engineering degrees and he has to pick.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 09:43     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:My kid committed to a D3 with no engineering major. Plans to major in physics and then grad school in engineering.
That doesn’t make sense. Do you know anyone who’s done that? I’ve been an engineer for 25 years.
It doesn't make sense. It's prioritizing sports over his future, but to each his own.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 09:06     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
A few schools have offer a major which combines engineering with finance/business. Look at these programs if being a full-time engineer is not attractive as a career.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 08:50     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
There are so many careers for people good at math and physics. Like thousands.

Can you narrow it down for us a bit OP? What does your kid actually like?
Do they like working with their hands? Designing things? Figuring our theoretical math and physics problems?
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 08:45     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
Anonymous wrote:My kid committed to a D3 with no engineering major. Plans to major in physics and then grad school in engineering.
That doesn’t make sense. Do you know anyone who’s done that? I’ve been an engineer for 25 years.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 08:40     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
I'd also be prepared to pivot when you go into school. I knew plenty of people who started in engineering and transferred into other colleges, but I did also know someone who started in the music school and transferred into engineering.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 08:00     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
Anonymous wrote:Student answers “engineering” whenever asked his preferred major, but I think it’s his default understanding of what one does if they’re good at math / physics. Can anyone suggest other majors such a student should consider?[/quote
What type of engineering do they mention? Some overlap most with physics others with chemistry. All have a lot of math. Some are heavy on programming.
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 07:55     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
^same is required of physics majors as well
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 07:54     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Physics majors are very employable in the current environment. Wall Street, defense, aerospace, the intelligence community, Silicon Valley… the list goes on. Physics majors tend to have the deepest quantitative skills of any major. The kind of math and computer science used in physics lends itself to the more intellectually complex algorithms in machine learning. A BS in physics can typically lead to multiple job offers.

This sounds completely made up. The engineers at my undergrad took more math classes, progressing further, than the physics majors.

Physics majors will also be paid less than a student with an engineering degree.


It's common for physics majors to delve into math subjects like real analysis and Lie algebra. Did your engineering friends take these?


DiffEQ, linear, real analysis are required for engineering majors ar Ds ivy. Looks fairly standard pulling up other rigorous school curricula
Anonymous
Post 09/16/2025 07:50     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
Anonymous wrote:Physics majors are very employable in the current environment. Wall Street, defense, aerospace, the intelligence community, Silicon Valley… the list goes on. Physics majors tend to have the deepest quantitative skills of any major. The kind of math and computer science used in physics lends itself to the more intellectually complex algorithms in machine learning. A BS in physics can typically lead to multiple job offers.


Thus
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 21:07     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Physics majors are very employable in the current environment. Wall Street, defense, aerospace, the intelligence community, Silicon Valley… the list goes on. Physics majors tend to have the deepest quantitative skills of any major. The kind of math and computer science used in physics lends itself to the more intellectually complex algorithms in machine learning. A BS in physics can typically lead to multiple job offers.

This sounds completely made up. The engineers at my undergrad took more math classes, progressing further, than the physics majors.

Physics majors will also be paid less than a student with an engineering degree.


It's common for physics majors to delve into math subjects like real analysis and Lie algebra. Did your engineering friends take these?

My undergrad had an advanced math class that came after the standard math series that was a catch all of different advanced math topics that are helpful for engineering. Unfortunately the title is something like "advanced math for engineering" and it doesn't have a syllabus online. Not super helpful as a message board example. But Case Western has clearly posted their degree requirements, so I'll use it as an example.

CWRU's physics major stops at Diff Eq: https://share.google/3agXTvKBMkG0SaoS5

CWRU's Electrical Engineering degree also only requires Diff Eq but additional math classes, including Linear Algebra, are recommended as technical electives: https://share.google/PBTrbplJ4qZFjk005
Anonymous
Post 09/15/2025 20:31     Subject: Alternatives to engineering major?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Student answers “engineering” whenever asked his preferred major, but I think it’s his default understanding of what one does if they’re good at math / physics. Can anyone suggest other majors such a student should consider?


If not yet a senior, student should be looking now for a summer internship with a local tech firm, a local givernment lab that includes engineering (e.g., NIST, ARL, NSWC), or a local tech-oriented contractor (e.g., Lockheed, Northrup Grumman).


How does one find these internships?


Put together a 1 page resume now. At the very bottom, clearly state either US Citizen, US Permanent Resident, or whichever visa makes the student eligible for employment in the US.


Keep watching various company websites for summer internship openings to be advertised and then apply.

In a normal year, the government lab internships will get posted at USAjobs.gov for a week or two in the fall. Different labs will have different dates. Often a given lab only will accept applications for about a week. This might not be a normal year, so also maybe try to improvise.

Also look at:
"https://www.navalsteminterns.us/seap/"