Which one is better career: Computer Science, computer engineer, IT, or Electronics Engineering Technology?

[MelonBite]

Which one offer better stable job growth, ROI(return of investment), , better wages? Math is not favorite strong subject. I rate best 7/10 with worst 6/10. Never done coding before. I really need help on choosing my career. 

[MelonBite]

29 minutes ago, James Evens said:

Get the job which fulfills yourself or you will hate your decision: Money isn't everything in life.

 

Find the error.

 i am at lost right now. I don't know where to go and what to do.i want to get a good paying job to make myself feel better and my parents feel better. My dad kinda sad when I ask him is it okay if i just get a job instead doing college. i am 23 right now with no job experience, no first job, and no job network. I will turn 24 within few months away in 2022. I am still in community college. I attend school in 2017 at age 18. I skip year 2020 and 2021 due to financial hardship due to Covid 19 and our home AC broke so we have to shell out $3.5k to get it fix.

 

 

 

My parents are low-income and still have mortgage to pay. I want to get a good paying job so it can helps us out on our bad financial situation. My dad keeps buying scratch off lottery tickets in hope that we can win lottery in amount like $100k. The mortgage will pay off in the next 5 yo 6 years assume no economy issue like shutdown afaik. Before Covid 19 era, my parents only have ~$5k in our checking account. Community college is the only school my parents can afford for me to go. If I go straight to 4 years big college, I will be in student debt about $40k - $50k which is a lot for me. Yeah, I can pay it back later but I keep hearing all these student loan nightmare story from people borrow student loans on the news, and social media which is why I try to avoid to take out student loans as much as possible.

 

My dad and my mom are in their 60s, and their jobs are taking a great toll on their body daily. My mom work as restaurant kitchen staff, 12 hours a day(9am-9pm), and 5 days a week, and only off for 1 day. My dad work as plumber contractor. He gets bad pay in $10/hour but still work along with my mom to pay off mortgage. They don't speak English at all. I try to get part time job to help my parents but no job available for me to match with my school schedule and i have no experience and no job network. My parents still insist me to finish school, but watching their jobs taking a great toll on their body daily make me sad from looking at it. They want to visit Vietnam somewhere in the retirement age along with me. My parents even say to me that they will use their retirement money to help me with my school. After hearing my parents say that, I begin to cry like they willing to go this far for me when my future is uncertain and not straight. I then tell my parents to keep and use their retirement money for their vacation because they deserve it. I love my parents and they are the best parents I can ask, and the best father and mother figure from me. I am not blaming my parents for this.

 

Normally, a lot of parents will make their kids to go to work or earn money after high-school graduation if they want to go to college or move out. But my parents don't, and I think I understand why they don't want me to do it because it might interfere with my school and life, and these jobs are not worth it for me from their point of view.

 

 

 

I am crying in tear right now while typing this and thinking about this like I can't control my emotional and my unease feeling. I never cry this hard beside getting argue with my parents over stupid stuff or trouble i got myself into. Part of me thinking i am a failure at this point. I don't know where is my future is heading. I am completely loss at this point. My mind, body, mental, emotional, and my unease heart tell me to drop out of college then go to work. Without a degree, i will not able to get a good paying job in $50k+ salary so that only left me with these minimum wages jobs. I am not sure I can survive on these minimum wages jobs because I keep hearing all these minimum wages job can't pay rent at all, and it is not living-able from people that work there all over the news and social media.

 

 

 

Another part of me wanting to do computer science degree because I like computer and the salary from this career. But i am not sure I can keep it up due to amount of high level math courses I have to take in my community college, then transferring to my local college to do more courses to complete it for a bachelor degree. I never code before, and I think somewhere in this career, or after career, I will not be happy with it. If I doing this path as a part time student, I will turn 30 - 31, maybe pass that with possibility no stable job for a part time student. My parents probably retired before i even graduate so I got bills and other expenses to pay. I plan to switch to IT and get IT degree because one of my high-school friends still in college tell me it is easy on math level which is great. What not so great is from my research, I come across a lot of people already done IT suggest certificates is more worthy than degree. Now I am getting more lost.

 

 

 

With no one else to help, i decide to ask my math professor so i drive to my community college to ask my math professor for help. My math professor take me to his colleague professor in electronic and computer engineering technology department to see if he can help me. The professor colleague take me on a tour of his lab, talk with his current enroll students, and answer my concerns and questions. And he and his students suggest me to go with Electronic Engineering Technology AS then I can work after AS or turn AS to AA degree by taking few more classes then transferring to my nearby local college for a bachelor degree in electrical engineering. I do feel a little bit relieve while talking with them and have them sharing some insights to me. However, there is still something inside me debate if i should do this electronic engineering technology AS that my community college offer. He and his friend say I can go to work after done this AS. I am not sure is this the good degree and i don't know much about the market for this type of degree, and the salary for it. I really need help, guidance, and advice.

 

Is the "Electronic Engineering Technology AS" the same as Electrical engineer degree? How is the market on this degree in the future? Will there be more jobs expand on this degree? Anyone knows?

[MelonBite]

31 minutes ago, James Evens said:

Get the job which fulfills yourself or you will hate your decision: Money isn't everything in life.

 

Find the error.

Is IT degree worth it? I read and heard some people said it is not worth it and they suggested get certificate instead.

[Alcarin]

Personally I agree completely with @James Evens. Find something you like best.

 

If you are not great at math, you will probably struggle with a college/university engineering program. You can overcome this through a strong drive to learn and compensate for the lesser math skills by focusing on learning it before you begin the actual engineering program. Look into remedial math classes if you go to a college or a university. There's a stigma behind them, but they can be a lifesaver. But you need to realize that it takes a great deal of commitment to overcome the obstacle of weaker math skills in an engineering program. My brain has a hard time comprehending some math concepts, and I have some minor dyscalculia (dyslexia for numbers). And I also couldn't get the drive to adapt and overcome this, so I ended up giving up on my previous major and switched to something else.

 

I have no coding experience whatsoever personally, but I was able to get my foot in the door into a decent IT career by just expanding on my practical experience and earning the necessary certifications required for them. In many IT jobs, employers tend to prefer practical experience, soft skills, and most importantly certifications over a college degree. Look into starting out with the CompTIA A+ certification and the training to get it, there are resources out there to get the necessary training for a very low-no cost if you are indigent.

[abit-sean]

Don't be afraid to try something and fail and I know it's hard but don't let money dictate all your choices. I took risk 20 years ago to start my own business and although it failed it gave me the opportunity to work with a great company, which then lead to another and another. Now I earn really good money but more importantly that has allowed me more time with my family.

I did all of that with a simple qualification in general ICT from college, no fancy degrees or university just hard work.

 

Remember it's never too late to change careers. I bounced around a lot when I was younger and although I have a great job now but I still might change in a few years time. 

[LAwLz]

I don't think this forum is the right place to ask. Most people on here are like 15 years old and will just repeat what they have heard others say.

 

If you ask me, I think it's a terrible question that can't even be answered. You're just throwing out three different degrees and asking "which is best". You might as well ask "which color is best? Purple, Yellow, Brown or rainbow?".

What interests you? Do you have any experience with any of the fields? You mentioned never having coded before, but have you tried playing around with electronics and building circuits? If not, why did you decide on these? Also, what exactly do you mean when you say "IT"? 

[Lurick]

9 minutes ago, LAwLz said:

I don't think this forum is the right place to ask. Most people on here are like 15 years old and will just repeat what they have heard others say.

 

If you ask me, I think it's a terrible question that can't even be answered. You're just throwing out three different degrees and asking "which is best". You might as well ask "which color is best? Purple, Yellow, Brown or rainbow?".

What interests you? Do you have any experience with any of the fields? You mentioned never having coded before, but have you tried playing around with electronics and building circuits? If not, why did you decide on these? Also, what exactly do you mean when you say "IT"? 

This, 100%

I cannot stress this enough, FOLLOW WHAT YOU LOVE DOING, do NOT follow money alone or you'll end up burnt out and hating what you do.

[wasab]

Most difficult would be eletrical engineering, then comes computer engineering, then comes computer science. 

Reason is simple, eletrical engineering involves a lot of cirucuit and physics and if you have taken even the basic high school level physics, you should understand how math heavy and hands on it is. you will probably be involve in many labs doing real life circuitry and calculations as part of the school course work.

 

Computer engineering is next. it has all the physics and circuitry of eletrical engineering then combined some parts of computer science, but never to the deep depth of either. This means you will be doing a lot of programming plus circuits as part of the school course work. eletrical engineers has to learn programming as well but never to the extend as that of computer engineer and computer scientist.

 

Computer scientist is the least difficult of the three. It involves a lot of math as well, but most of them are on the theoretical side, mostly involving logics and proves, and less emphasized on real life application. Its core math course for example is alogrithms which involves a lot less calculations but high amount of critical thinking on the exams and in its school course work. It has the most programming of the three but programming is not difficult per se, just very tedious, time consuming, and has a sharp learning curve in the beginning.

 

I like to think of eletrical engineering like jogging none stop for one hour, computer engineering like jogging for half hour then walking for another half, and computer science like just straight up walking but you have to do it for one hour and a half so 50% longer if i am to make an analogy.

 

wage depends on where you live. some areas have greater demand for certain majors. If you have doubts, do eletrical or computer engineering. people in these majors will learn most(those that are relevant in the job markets) of what a computer science person will but the vice versa is not true. students that studies computer science will rarely have any job related knowledge of computer or eletrical engineering. 

 

See this youtube video for in depth details.

 

Quote

I cannot stress this enough, FOLLOW WHAT YOU LOVE DOING, do NOT follow money alone or you'll end up burnt out and hating what you do.

This is old boomer logic. If your school tution is paid for like the civilized Europe or very low like in the 1950s America then perhaps. If you have to fund your own education, follow what you love, especially if you have to go into debt for a worthless degree, is a very irreponsible and terrible life decisions, no more different than doing drugs or get pregnant in your teens. You may have a passion and love to get baked and high in substances or have casual unprotected sex 24/7, it doesnt mean it is a good decision.

 

What i suggest is do something that is financially sound first. if you are financially heathly, you will have much more freedoms to chase after the things that are passionate to you. dont follow your passion, rather, bring them with you. 

[Radium_Angel]

Join the Military, let them pay for your schooling, send money to your folks. The education you get from the Military Service will be a good baseline to let you figure out where you want t go in life.

 

Then get a job in a gov't position, gravy slack job 24/7 (source: I work in IT for the gov't. Crazy god money and benefits, no work needed) 

[MelonBite]

8 hours ago, Alcarin said:

Personally I agree completely with @James Evens. Find something you like best.

 

If you are not great at math, you will probably struggle with a college/university engineering program. You can overcome this through a strong drive to learn and compensate for the lesser math skills by focusing on learning it before you begin the actual engineering program. Look into remedial math classes if you go to a college or a university. There's a stigma behind them, but they can be a lifesaver. But you need to realize that it takes a great deal of commitment to overcome the obstacle of weaker math skills in an engineering program. My brain has a hard time comprehending some math concepts, and I have some minor dyscalculia (dyslexia for numbers). And I also couldn't get the drive to adapt and overcome this, so I ended up giving up on my previous major and switched to something else.

 

I have no coding experience whatsoever personally, but I was able to get my foot in the door into a decent IT career by just expanding on my practical experience and earning the necessary certifications required for them. In many IT jobs, employers tend to prefer practical experience, soft skills, and most importantly certifications over a college degree. Look into starting out with the CompTIA A+ certification and the training to get it, there are resources out there to get the necessary training for a very low-no cost if you are indigent.

Do you have any link for this CompTIA A+ free practice? I have never heard of it at all.

 

5 hours ago, abit-sean said:

Don't be afraid to try something and fail and I know it's hard but don't let money dictate all your choices. I took risk 20 years ago to start my own business and although it failed it gave me the opportunity to work with a great company, which then lead to another and another. Now I earn really good money but more importantly that has allowed me more time with my family.

I did all of that with a simple qualification in general ICT from college, no fancy degrees or university just hard work.

 

Remember it's never too late to change careers. I bounced around a lot when I was younger and although I have a great job now but I still might change in a few years time. 

I think time, age, life, and finance will get in my way. I will turn 30 - 31 with a bachelor degree for computer science and $30k - $35k student loans if I continue my progress speed. I know there are folks like in 40 and 50 still in college for a bachelor degree which is cool but i don't think i can take it and do it. College is literary ruin my mental health and motivation.

 

2 hours ago, wasab said:

Most difficult would be eletrical engineering, then comes computer engineering, then comes computer science. 

Reason is simple, eletrical engineering involves a lot of cirucuit and physics and if you have taken even the basic high school level physics, you should understand how math heavy and hands on it is. you will probably be involve in many labs doing real life circuitry and calculations as part of the school course work.

 

Computer engineering is next. it has all the physics and circuitry of eletrical engineering then combined some parts of computer science, but never to the deep depth of either. This means you will be doing a lot of programming plus circuits as part of the school course work. eletrical engineers has to learn programming as well but never to the extend as that of computer engineer and computer scientist.

 

Computer scientist is the least difficult of the three. It involves a lot of math as well, but most of them are on the theoretical side, mostly involving logics and proves, and less emphasized on real life application. Its core math course for example is alogrithms which involves a lot less calculations but high amount of critical thinking on the exams and in its school course work. It has the most programming of the three but programming is not difficult per se, just very tedious, time consuming, and has a sharp learning curve in the beginning.

 

I like to think of eletrical engineering like jogging none stop for one hour, computer engineering like jogging for half hour then walking for another half, and computer science like just straight up walking but you have to do it for one hour and a half so 50% longer if i am to make an analogy.

 

wage depends on where you live. some areas have greater demand for certain majors. If you have doubts, do eletrical or computer engineering. people in these majors will learn most(those that are relevant in the job markets) of what a computer science person will but the vice versa is not true. students that studies computer science will rarely have any job related knowledge of computer or eletrical engineering. 

 

See this youtube video for in depth details.

 

This is old boomer logic. If your school tution is paid for like the civilized Europe or very low like in the 1950s America then perhaps. If you have to fund your own education, follow what you love, especially if you have to go into debt for a worthless degree, is a very irreponsible and terrible life decisions, no more different than doing drugs or get pregnant in your teens. You may have a passion and love to get baked and high in substances or have casual unprotected sex 24/7, it doesnt mean it is a good decision.

 

What i suggest is do something that is financially sound first. if you are financially heathly, you will have much more freedoms to chase after the things that are passionate to you. dont follow your passion, rather, bring them with you. 

 

[wasab]

8 minutes ago, MelonBite said:

I think time, age, life, and finance will get in my way. I will turn 30 - 31 with a bachelor degree for computer science and $30k - $35k student loans if I continue my progress speed. I know there are folks like in 40 and 50 still in college for a bachelor degree which is cool but i don't think i can take it and do it. College is literary ruin my mental health and motivation.

I am curious, why does it take so long for you to graduate? Assuming you attend post secondary schools around age 18 or 19, this is an awfully long time even for part time students to earn a bachelor degree. 10 year plus is usually the time for a phd. 

[MelonBite]

24 minutes ago, wasab said:

I am curious, why does it take so long for you to gradute? Assuming you attend post secondary schools around age 18 or 19, this is an awfully long time even for part time students for a bachelor degree. 10 year plus is usually the time for a phd. 

My parents have ~$5k in the checking account, and we have mortgage to pay. Our mortgage is $1k, and with bills and grocery add up to close to 2k per month. We spend $100 - $150 on grocery each week. 3 family members. My parents finance mortgage thru private lender. idk why, but I guess my parents income is so low that big bank or no one else will approve it beside this one kindly private lender. This is when covid 19 is not a thing. When covid 19 hit, both my parents got lay off for 5 months from Jan 2020 to June 2020. We lucky we survive through this shit on unemployment money and refinance mortgage through big bank with low interest rate and short mortgage term. Then July 2020 came with bad lucks. Our home AC broke so we have to get it replace for $3.5k, then our TV decided to go bye bye as well and that cost $1.2k. Without unemployment money, my parents can't afford that man. I then skip 2020 and 2021 to resume back our life and financial. I don't have a job at that time.

I apply FAFSA, but don't get any financial aid support. My college financial aid told me i don't get financial aid support because i was part time student, not full time student. I explained to them my parents tight financial situation, and they said nothing they can do to help beside taking out federal loans. Weird asf tbh. I have two friends go there, and they got the same thing as I get on FAFSA.

 

2 hours ago, wasab said:

Most difficult would be eletrical engineering, then comes computer engineering, then comes computer science. 

Reason is simple, eletrical engineering involves a lot of cirucuit and physics and if you have taken even the basic high school level physics, you should understand how math heavy and hands on it is. you will probably be involve in many labs doing real life circuitry and calculations as part of the school course work.

 

Computer engineering is next. it has all the physics and circuitry of eletrical engineering then combined some parts of computer science, but never to the deep depth of either. This means you will be doing a lot of programming plus circuits as part of the school course work. eletrical engineers has to learn programming as well but never to the extend as that of computer engineer and computer scientist.

 

Computer scientist is the least difficult of the three. It involves a lot of math as well, but most of them are on the theoretical side, mostly involving logics and proves, and less emphasized on real life application. Its core math course for example is alogrithms which involves a lot less calculations but high amount of critical thinking on the exams and in its school course work. It has the most programming of the three but programming is not difficult per se, just very tedious, time consuming, and has a sharp learning curve in the beginning.

 

I like to think of eletrical engineering like jogging none stop for one hour, computer engineering like jogging for half hour then walking for another half, and computer science like just straight up walking but you have to do it for one hour and a half so 50% longer if i am to make an analogy.

 

wage depends on where you live. some areas have greater demand for certain majors. If you have doubts, do eletrical or computer engineering. people in these majors will learn most(those that are relevant in the job markets) of what a computer science person will but the vice versa is not true. students that studies computer science will rarely have any job related knowledge of computer or eletrical engineering. 

 

See this youtube video for in depth details.

 

This is old boomer logic. If your school tution is paid for like the civilized Europe or very low like in the 1950s America then perhaps. If you have to fund your own education, follow what you love, especially if you have to go into debt for a worthless degree, is a very irreponsible and terrible life decisions, no more different than doing drugs or get pregnant in your teens. You may have a passion and love to get baked and high in substances or have casual unprotected sex 24/7, it doesnt mean it is a good decision.

 

What i suggest is do something that is financially sound first. if you are financially heathly, you will have much more freedoms to chase after the things that are passionate to you. dont follow your passion, rather, bring them with you. 

I don't know much about job market in FL for computer engineer and electronics engineer. Does one have to learn how to code in Computer engineer? My community college offer computer engineer AS degree, not AA.

[wasab]

41 minutes ago, MelonBite said:

My parents have ~$5k in the checking account, and we have mortgage to pay. Our mortgage is $1k, and with bills and grocery add up to close to 2k per month. We spend $100 - $150 on grocery each week.

right, i see you have financial difficulty but i am still confused. Community college as a part time student is dirt cheap. you mentioned 30kish in debt which should not be possible if you are just borrowing to pay for the tutiton. That 30k amount is more for fulltime student attending a four year university. 

 

Quote

 I guess my parents income is so low that big bank or no one else will approve it beside this one kindly private lender

that is very bad place to get money. you file FASA and applied for goverment grants and subsidize loans, then applied any state subsizdize loans and aids package. Private lender should be the last place you look.

 

Quote

I apply FAFSA, but don't get any financial aid support. My college financial aid told me i don't get financial aid support because i was part time student, not full time student. I explained to them my parents tight financial situation, and they said nothing they can do to help beside taking out federal loans. Weird asf tbh. I have two friends go there, and they got the same thing as I get on FAFSA.

 

Have you exhausted all aid packages? Nothing wrong with taking out goverment subsidize loans. You wont have to pay these back until you gradute. These aid package is inverse to your income unlike private lenders. Lower the income your household is, bigger the financial aid package. You dont need to borrow 30k or whatever your maximum loan limit is. just enough they cover the difference between the money you need and the money you lack. 

 

Quote

I don't know much about job market in FL for computer engineer and electronics engineer. Does one have to learn how to code in Computer engineer? My community college offer computer engineer AS degree, not AA.

Yes, you will need to learn to code. People with any of these degrees earn similarly on average to be honest. you should go onto job sites like indeed.com and then enter in the keywords to see how many listing pops up. more the better. that should give you a ballpark of the size of job market in your area. payscale.com also lists the average salary in your particular city. In NYC where i live, computer engineers, eletrical engineers, and software engineers average 125k USD per year in their mid career, not considering benefits, stock options, and bonuses. This figure is a bit dated though. I have seen people earning 6 figures straight out of school or within the first three years, especially in the post pandemic and with wage inflations all across the country.  

 

You should try to find some relevant and meaninful work btw. i have seen many students whose parents told them to focus on studies and never work back in school. Most of these students wished they had never listened to their parents because although they have good marks and grades, they lack any relevant job experiences and good grades is never enough to make up for these shortcomings. rather work full time then attending part time, try flipping them. study full time and work part time to maximize your investment to return and minimize the opportunity cost. 

[wseaton]

Plumber.

 

You will make more money than all these fields. #not_sarcasm

 

Whatever you do make sure it's something that actually involves touching hardware. Pure code based jobs will be rendered obsolete as fast as AI scripts can eliminate them.

 

[Imbadatnames]

Whatever makes you happy, I could have finished my degree and be earning more than I do right now but I’m happy where I am as a university drop out. 

[YellowJersey]

The only thing I can say is, don't do English. That's what I did. Would not recommend.

[MelonBite]

3 hours ago, wasab said:

right, i see you have financial difficulty but i am still confused. Community college as a part time student is dirt cheap. you mentioned 30kish in debt which should not be possible if you are just borrowing to pay for the tutiton. That 30k amount is more for fulltime student attending a four year university. 

 

Originally and firstly, I was planning to finish my community college AA then transfer to big college for bachelor in computer science.

 

3 hours ago, wasab said:

that is very bad place to get money. you file FASA and applied for goverment grants and subsidize loans, then applied any state subsizdize loans and aids package. Private lender should be the last place you look.

All I know and done is apply FAFSA, and this is what my financial aid office tell me.

3 hours ago, wasab said:

Have you exhausted all aid packages? Nothing wrong with taking out goverment subsidize loans. You wont have to pay these back until you gradute. These aid package is inverse to your income unlike private lenders. Lower the income your household is, bigger the financial aid package. You dont need to borrow 30k or whatever your maximum loan limit is. just enough they cover the difference between the money you need and the money you lack.

No. I did not exhaust all aid packages. I pay out of pocket from the the first day i go to my community college till now.

 

Quote

 

Yes, you will need to learn to code. People with any of these degrees earn similarly on average to be honest. you should go onto job sites like indeed.com and then enter in the keywords to see how many listing pops up. more the better. that should give you a ballpark of the size of job market in your area. payscale.com also lists the average salary in your particular city. In NYC where i live, computer engineers, eletrical engineers, and software engineers average 125k USD per year in their mid career, not considering benefits, stock options, and bonuses. This figure is a bit dated though. I have seen people earning 6 figures straight out of school or within the first three years, especially in the post pandemic and with wage inflations all across the country.  

 

You should try to find some relevant and meaninful work btw. i have seen many students whose parents told them to focus on studies and never work back in school. Most of these students wished they had never listened to their parents because although they have good marks and grades, they lack any relevant job experiences and good grades is never enough to make up for these shortcomings. rather work full time then attending part time, try flipping them. study full time and work part time to maximize your investment to return and minimize the opportunity cost. 

 

 

My community college description for computer engineering AS. What job position is this one fall into?

Quote

This curriculum is from the current college catalog and is meant to provide prospective students an example of courses taken in this degree/certificate.  It is not intended to be used for graduation requirements.  Students should consult an advisor for graduation information.

 

This program will prepare students for employment in an entry-level position as a computer technician. The course work focuses on the diagnosis and repair of hardware and software in micro, mini and mainframe computers. With minimal additional specialized training, students may become a field or in-house shop technician.

If I go to this one, is it like mix of hardware and software? Or like going full hardcore coding like computer science?

 

I am also thinking doing Nurse AS in my community college. Not sure this is a great career choice or not and don't know about salary. I believe Nurse AS is more science and health than math.

 

 

[Imbadatnames]

10 minutes ago, YellowJersey said:

The only thing I can say is, don't do English. That's what I did. Would not recommend.

It’s the most interesting subject ever! All those lectures on similes and… uh… oxymorons? Case study on the use of palindromes in the 1700’s? Idk  

[MelonBite]

2 hours ago, wseaton said:

Plumber.

 

You will make more money than all these fields. #not_sarcasm

My dad is a plumber contractor and he get crap pay.

Quote

Whatever you do make sure it's something that actually involves touching hardware. Pure code based jobs will be rendered obsolete as fast as AI scripts can eliminate them.

I am thinking doing Nurse AS program in my community college. Is this pay good and is it difficult than computer engineer?

 

23 minutes ago, Imbadatnames said:

Whatever makes you happy, I could have finished my degree and be earning more than I do right now but I’m happy where I am as a university drop out. 

What do you do now and salary?

11 minutes ago, YellowJersey said:

The only thing I can say is, don't do English. That's what I did. Would not recommend.

Dam. There is one waitress is currently a student in college doing English at my mom workplace. She asked him what is major in, and he said English.

What do you do now?

[mr moose]

9 hours ago, LAwLz said:

I don't think this forum is the right place to ask. Most people on here are like 15 years old and will just repeat what they have heard others say.

 

If you ask me, I think it's a terrible question that can't even be answered. You're just throwing out three different degrees and asking "which is best". You might as well ask "which color is best? Purple, Yellow, Brown or rainbow?".

What interests you? Do you have any experience with any of the fields? You mentioned never having coded before, but have you tried playing around with electronics and building circuits? If not, why did you decide on these? Also, what exactly do you mean when you say "IT"? 

Most debates on this forum are about the same as school kids arguing which dinosaur is the best. 

 

To the OP,  just do whatever floats your boat the best,  I did EE,  then went and worked in nearly every other field except it.  making a career from an interest usual requires drive, drive usually means you have an end goal that motivates you,  but you have to ask on a forum which end goal is better and so you are kinda starting from a position without the right motivation.

[Jtalk4456]

OK first, I totally agree you're asking the wrong group of people the wrong questions. Having said that you're either trolling for fun or you're in a serious predicament and genuinely need some immediate help. At the risk of it being the former, I'll offer my best advice for the questions you didn't ask.

1. Am I working for myself or my parents?

2. Am I choosing a career that is right for me long term?
3. Am I even ready to choose a long term career?

4. Will this be hard?

5. Can I breathe for a second?

6. Can I do this? Can I make it through this?

1. You should be working for you, which means you should do what you like doing. I do want to specify though. Doing what you like to do for yourself is not what you want. You want to do something you enjoy doing for OTHERS. If you like drawing comics as a way to relax, then you try and turn a loving hobby into money, you're gonna lose the fun and passion and get burnt out. Find something you enjoy doing for other people and get good at it. Back to the parents though. I don't know the full details, I haven't worked your budget, I haven't walked in your shoes. But what I can say is no matter how bad it may be, your job is not to take care of your parents. Their job is to take care of you. If you want to take as much of your struggle off their shoulders, fine. But don't take on their problems as your own. This leads to self blame and shame. YOU didn't do enough to keep them out of debt. YOU decided to get a job and now they are struggling. YOU YOU YOU. But YOU didn't decide the life they are in, YOU aren't responsible for their money or their mortgage. You aren't the parent, they are. Don't take on their lives and their struggles until you start drowning too. The best thing you can do is respect their investment of time and love and money raising you by doing what you need to do to support yourself. If you have some leftover and want to return some of the love, that's your call. But it's not your moral or legal responsibility.

2. NOPE. You're trying to pick jobs out of a hat hoping more money will solve everything. It will help for sure, but you have to be LIVING too. Not just breathing and surviving, but actually LIVING. You should feel some passion for what you're doing, some pride in where your life is going. Chasing money ends up in you very tired and forgetting why you wanted it in the first place.

3. You're at the age it's certainly a good time to decide if you can, but it sounds like you're nowhere near deciding a career yet. You have a vague idea of liking tech, but you're just trying to pick jobs from a hat hoping one will get your family out of what I assume to be close to poverty from your description. What I don't want you doing is saying electrical engineering makes bank so lets go get a 40K university degree, end up absolutely hating it, but now you feel obligated to do it the rest of your life and struggle paying off the degree and never get out of the struggle you're in now. It's up to you and how much you know yourself, but it may be worth taking a breather from college and doing some work while reading up and figuring out what you want to do. Find some spare time and shadow someone in the field you're considering. See if you like what they are doing day to day. Take some time to think.

4. Everything worth doing will be hard. Those math classes may be hard. But from what you're describing right now, it's already hard NOT taking the classes. It's hard NOT making the money. It's hard NOT feeling alive. In comparison to your troubles right now, an extra math class or two might end up being significantly easier. Don't look for the easy way out, look for the RIGHT way out

5. Yes you can. You can stop for five second, five minutes, an hour. Whatever you need each day, stop and breathe. Let some of this worry off your shoulders and breathe deeply.

6. Absolutely. Others have made it through far worse with far less. And others still have failed doing less with far more. You are you and only you. You can do this, but not by trying to figure out what other people need you to be. BE YOU

 

At this point I want to address some of the details

1. why is your dad making 10/hr at a trade job? in Florida, the lowest 10% earning plumbers earned over 42k per year. Your dad is getting seriously underpaid if that's really his wage. You can make more at McDonald's these days.

2. You mentioned Fafsa not covering enough because of part time student. Move to full time. The difference in cost there might be worth quitting whatever job your doing by saving you money instead of making it directly with a job.

3. FAFSA isn't your only option. Scholarships are a great way to get through college debt free. If you really work hard, sometimes you can get paid to go to school with grants and scholarships combined. Treat applying for scholarships like a job when you have to fill out the forms.

4. Nursing makes buckets of money, and is also extremely hard. It also takes a lot of schooling. If you want to be a nurse that's great, but if you just want to pick the highest paying career out of a hat, you need to stop and rethink your strategy. I can't tell you what career is right for you, no one here can. You need to stop focusing on the money and focus on you.
 

[YellowJersey]

1 hour ago, Imbadatnames said:

It’s the most interesting subject ever! All those lectures on similes and… uh… oxymorons? Case study on the use of palindromes in the 1700’s? Idk  

 

 Keep in mind that this was 2003 just before we millennials found out that a university education is worthless. 

 

1 hour ago, MelonBite said:

Dam. There is one waitress is currently a student in college doing English at my mom workplace. She asked him what is major in, and he said English.

What do you do now?

 Well, I graduated in 2008 with a BA in English months before the economy collapsed. I ended up going to law school. I wasn't terribly enthusiastic about being a lawyer, but I simply didn't know what else to do. I graduated from that in 2011 only to find out that the lawyer licensing process in Canada and the job market for lawyers in general is crap, too. Not wanting to go into traditional practice, I teach a few law courses here and there and work part time reviewing contracts for a company where I pretty much just look out for anything unusual to make sure that the terms are industry standard. It's a pretty boom-bust lifestyle as I have zero job security due to just being a contractor. I was working my ass off from September to December and made about $24,000 whereas from May to August I made $8,000. I'd love to teach full-time, but the provincial government has been gutting education, so I don't think that'll happen any time soon... if ever. I actually got kicked out of one of the school departments because I'm a man (Not joking in the slightest either).

 

[MelonBite]

Quote

Having said that you're either trolling for fun or you're in a serious predicament and genuinely need some immediate help.

I need some immediate help. Covid 19 pandemic set me back to organize my life, what to do, and where to go.

 

Quote

1. why is your dad making 10/hr at a trade job? in Florida, the lowest 10% earning plumbers earned over 42k per year. Your dad is getting seriously underpaid if that's really his wage. You can make more at McDonald's these days.

I have no idea. My dad work with another self employer.

Quote

2. You mentioned Fafsa not covering enough because of part time student. Move to full time. The difference in cost there might be worth quitting whatever job your doing by saving you money instead of making it directly with a job.

I am planning to do full time on the next semester. I just hope FAFSA will cover. I don't want to take out $30k+ student loans if my future is uncertainty. $30k+ student loans if I go straight to 4 years college for bachelor.

 

Quote

4. Nursing makes buckets of money, and is also extremely hard. It also takes a lot of schooling. If you want to be a nurse that's great, but if you just want to pick the highest paying career out of a hat, you need to stop and rethink your strategy. I can't tell you what career is right for you, no one here can. You need to stop focusing on the money and focus on you.

I still want to make sure that the degree i am going is not going be terrible in the future like not enough jobs around my area, market growth around my area or city, and salary. There are good and bad degrees from what I know. I don't want to be part of bad degree group.

[MelonBite]

1 hour ago, YellowJersey said:

 

 Keep in mind that this was 2003 just before we millennials found out that a university education is worthless. 

 

 Well, I graduated in 2008 with a BA in English months before the economy collapsed. I ended up going to law school. I wasn't terribly enthusiastic about being a lawyer, but I simply didn't know what else to do. I graduated from that in 2011 only to find out that the lawyer licensing process in Canada and the job market for lawyers in general is crap, too. Not wanting to go into traditional practice, I teach a few law courses here and there and work part time reviewing contracts for a company where I pretty much just look out for anything unusual to make sure that the terms are industry standard. It's a pretty boom-bust lifestyle as I have zero job security due to just being a contractor. I was working my ass off from September to December and made about $24,000 whereas from May to August I made $8,000. I'd love to teach full-time, but the provincial government has been gutting education, so I don't think that'll happen any time soon... if ever. I actually got kicked out of one of the school departments because I'm a man (Not joking in the slightest either).

 

wow

if you were in this time right now, do you think going back to college to get another worthy degree?

[YellowJersey]

1 hour ago, MelonBite said:

wow

if you were in this time right now, do you think going back to college to get another worthy degree?

Well, I already went in on a Master of Laws... I feel like I'm in too deep.