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- Thread starter Iamjoshlee
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Technology is a HUGE area. I think it's more important to ask what you want to do. Business? Designing? Engineering? Those are just a few examples and even they can be divided into many sub-categories. Math is also important in pretty much everything.
This is the question what I'm asking myself too. Right now I'm thinking of the business side since it provides the best employment (can't be outsourced).
This is the question what I'm asking myself too. Right now I'm thinking of the business side since it provides the best employment (can't be outsourced).
I want to stay away from business if I can. It bores me. I guess I would lean more toward design.
Numbers and science/tech preference are a good fit for those interested in engineering
I agree. It would be ideal to have an initial goal before you set out in college. Going there because everyone does after hs is pretty unwise financially
I agree. It would be ideal to have an initial goal before you set out in college. Going there because everyone does after hs is pretty unwise financially
I hope you're kidding. IT is not a major. Do you realize how broad an area that is? <sarcasm>Hey, why don't you major in academics?</sarcasm>
OP, if you're a freshman, you should know that it's going to take a while to nail down a specific major. You can also plan for your chosen major to change at least once.
Get your core classes out of the way, then start choosing classes that interest you and that you show an aptitude for. Only then will you be able to narrow the field for your major.
P.S. Academic advisers at your school will be more qualified to help with this than random forum members.
...and that's the worst advice here. Part of college is determining your interests and what you're good at. Very few people have a major picked at the start. Those that do often change before it's over.
Funny, I studied IT at University.
IT differed to the Computer Science course because the focus was more on social side of software development - talking to the clients, analysing their current systems and so on.
Medicine is far broader than IT..
I know if one desires to major in engineering, it usually takes 4 years to get through the curriculum due to how the pre-reqs work. One can't simply take a year or two to explore and then pick engineering and expect to graduate in 4 years.
I would argue that one should have a major to work towards once they hit university so at least they are working towards something. If they change majors so be it but if not, having working towards a degree is much better than going undeclared for the first 2-3 semesters with not having anything to show for your thousands (10s of thousands) of dollars spent.
And for the record, I had my major picked out from the start and I never changed. I know of many others that did the same so I would have to disagree with your last statement.
It's one thing to change directions in college and quite another to have no direction at all. College isn't a crapshoot, you should have a solid idea of what your goals are before entering so that you can weigh the pros and cons of attending different colleges. One college will have better programs in one area while others may have a lead in others. To suggest that all students go to college with no direction is the worst advise overall.
I suggest you go to your schools career center and talk with them. They can get you set up and help you pick you major. They have test you can take that can really help you out.
Never said it was solely that. But that is how it differed to the Computer Science equivalent.
Of course we learnt about general IT stuff, basic programming, networking, maintenance, servers, software development cycles. But so did the computer science folks, with it geared towards programming for them, and the IT version geared towards dealing with clients in an IT environment.
You have mostly general education courses throughout the first four or five semesters, which give you a basic idea of what certain fields have to offer, so remember those that you really enjoy and look at majors related to them.
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I know you said you'd like to stay away from business, but if your still having a hard time picking a major you may want to consider a general business degree. I am a senior business admin major and the opportunities for the variety of jobs available are endless. The major itself really isn't that hard compared to a lot of other majors out there. I was in your boat freshman year as well...Good luck with what ever you choose.
What you described was Systems analysis. A branch of computer science. An analyst's job is to determine the current system's capabilities, determine the client's needs through interview processes and business analytics and provide a specification for the new system to implement.
This is pure computer science, not IT.
There really aren't many "IT" programs at the college level. IT is a profession, not a field.
Not in my major! We started with core classes from the get-go. (Horticulture) Changing your major after just your freshman year could still cost you a semester or two in graduating because not every class is offered every year.
What have you been doing every summer? I worked a number of jobs through high school which helped me figure out what I wanted to do in college. I also took advantage of internships and summer work in college which refined my career decisions.
Finally, talking to college folks about careers is foolish. Of course their school/department is the best one for you. My brother became captivated by the "mystique" of the engineering folks from the moment he set foot on campus. Turns out he was way over his head, nearly failed out, and found himself much happier in the School of Technology. No one in Engineering was going to tell him that.
Sorry to sound a bit jaded, but it's not like college snuck up on you...
Isn't that what college is about, figuring out what you wanna do? that's why students are undeclared until they try things and get a sense of what they have passion for.
with that said, i always thought in a strictly academic sense, all majors are very similar, as most of what students should come away with is critical thinking. how to solve problems, things like that.
g'luck.
Personally, I think Electrical and Computer engineering (combined major at my school) would be a good place to start, since you know you like tech. If you like the software bit, then computer science engineering would be a better fit. I say start in engineering, because it's better to decide you don't like it and go to something else than decide you do want to do it and have to start taking the intro classes late and postpone graduation.
As a side note, if you're thinking about chemical engineering, pass on that, unless you really like chem and want a super hard major.
As a side note, if you're thinking about chemical engineering, pass on that, unless you really like chem and want a super hard major.
I would say he does have a direction. He has a general direction and from that list a good chunk of the stuff transfers between those majors just fine. They are all going to have a pretty heavy does of the same core classes.
That being the math and science classes. Heck it is not until their Jr year before they will get into classes that will not transfer between those majors.
They might eat some credit loss but not more than say 15 hours tops.
Reason being is the programming classes are going to transfer, the math and science classes are going to transfer. The higher level math that might not be needed for some of them is rarely taken before ones Jr. year any how. Those math classes would be Cal III, and defQ. Other wise all the other math transfers pretty well.
Computer Science at most universities is an automatic math minor. I think I currently have 21 hours of Math and the only "extra" math class I have for my CS degree oddly enough is Cal III.
Sorry I just had to point this out. He has a direction. Any losses he eats will be minor. I did a major change my first round 2.5 years into my program. I ate a loss of 18 credit hours. Mind you it was transferring between similar majors so not to bad.
Now with me working on BS number 2 in Computer science I needed around 60 credits hours for it. Those were the stuff in the major. I was 6 hours shy of pre Jr year stuff but was able to jump on just fine. I just had to take some summer classes to keep on track as I was lacking C programming but not that it was a big deal.