Mercy, San Jose,CA AddedThursday, October 27, 2016 at 4:22 PM How do you find the right engineering major without wasting time? I'm currently a 2nd year college student at San Jose State University. I'm in the electrical engineering program but I don't think I enjoy this major. At first, I thought I didn't want to do electrical engineering because I was struggling in Calculus and programming. I have now realized that I don't want to do electrical engineering but I do want to pursue a major in the engineering field. My question is, how do you find the right engineering major without wasting time. And if someone struggled with their engineering major, what did you do to ultimately accomplish the struggle. Related to Choosing a Degree, Electrical Reset Sort By Default Andrea Armani , University of Southern California Answered Thursday, October 27, 2016 at 4:22 PM Thank you for asking an excellent question that I’m confident many other engineering students also struggle with. It actually touches on a few different topics – many of which are the focus of a larger national debate about how undergraduates are trained to “be engineers”. To start, it is really important to recognize that your undergraduate coursework is simply laying a foundation and giving you a basic skill set. What you do with that skill set is up to you. For example, you mention programming. Many EE’s will have an entire career where all they do is program. Other EE’s will take a few classes in college, and (basically) never program again. Essentially, not every course you take will be directly applicable to your final career. However, conversely, your career direction must be based on your academic background, at least initially. This brings up an obvious question: how do you know you’re in the right degree program, if you don’t like the classes? Let’s start big picture: What do you want to do when you grow up? I realize this is a very hard question. So, perhaps think about the opposite – what don’t you want to do? You’ve already identified that programming is out. What other topics do you truly dislike? Similarly what types of engineering activities do you really enjoy? For example, do you enjoy building or designing things? What part of the process – specifically – do you like? Are there jobs with descriptions similar to your interests? What degrees do these people have? Perhaps look at job listings or look on LinkedIn or other networking sites. However, it is important to remember that even if you find your perfect degree program, there will always be that one course that you really dislike or that one semester when you really struggle. During this time, you need a strong support system or network. This can be comprised of friends, family, co-workers, and mentors. Really, anyone can be part of a support system because encouragement can take many different forms: ice cream after finals, career advice, study groups. But remember, the support system works best if the strength flows both ways.