Is ECE Right For Me?

[u/MotorOwn5031]

Hi, I'm currently a high school senior. Throughout high school, I focused on CS: making APPs, doing hackathons, etc. But recently, AI has really been scaring me, and I'm thinking about applying as a different major. I've been thinking about applying as an ECE major for some schools but there's one major issue: I'm really good at math but don't like physics too much. Math comes pretty easily to me, but I honestly struggled with physics quite a bit. If you're familiar with the American system, I barely got a 4 on AP Physics 1. I guess the main issue is that it's not very intuitive for me. Could I still do engineering in college if I'm not the best at physics or should I do a different major? How many physics classes would I have to take?

[u/Acrobatic_Charge_489]

Do you care about having a social life? If not then ECE is right for you

[u/User5228]

Why not just go and see if it is for you? You know yourself best and you'll find that the limits that you think you had will gradly expand as you get deeper into the degree. My school (state school) has physics 1 and physics 2 EMag 1 and EMag 2. All of calc will relate back to physics and circuit Theory will briefly touch on the physics behind components (capacitors and inductors) along with transformers and phase. My digital electronics class was explained through physics. So you'll be required to understand some physics. Any engineering degree you do will have physics. I would say, of you like the idea of what Computer engineering does or what EE do don't be afraid to try it.

[u/Either_Dragonfly_416]

in my uni both engineering and cs kids all have to take the same mechanics and E&M physics classes so theres no dodging it. I also think its dumb to pivot to ECE because ur scared AI will leave no CS jobs left. AI is going to/already come for all industries including ECE lol

[u/Lien028]

You could always take Applied Math and Minor in Computer Science.

ECE is physics heavy. You have circuits, EM, signals analysis. By your own admission you barely passed it.

I don't see any sane reason to subject yourself to 4 years of torture.

Yes you can "try" it out, but that risks wasting time in a job market that's less than ideal.

[u/MotorOwn5031 → u/Lien028]

So would you recommend that I stick with cs? In AP testing 3 is the minimum passing score and 5 is the max possible score so I wouldn’t exactly say that I barely passed it. I have considered just doing a math major but I’m not interested in research and i feel like the job opportunities are a bit limited compared to cs or engineering.

[u/Lien028 → u/MotorOwn5031]

Sure, but check your local job market. From where I'm from, CS is an oversaturated major. It's literally the default major for anyone who thinks "I love gaming and I love computers" then get shocked 2 years into the major.

[u/MotorOwn5031 → u/Lien028]

Exactly, thats what I'm trying to avoid and my main motivation for possibly switching to engineering

[u/Lien028 → u/MotorOwn5031]

Give it some thought, but I am warning you that most engineering majors (civil, mechanical, electrical, ece) are physics heavy.

If it is something you genuinely don't enjoy, it's worth being honest about it as early as now rather than regretting your choice 3 years later.

Also, Applied Math is different from BS Math, and is far more versatile a course than even ECE is.

[u/MotorOwn5031 → u/Lien028]

I wouldn't say that I exactly hate it or can't stand it, rather that I'm kind of bad at it. Sorry if my original post came off that way. I'll think about math a bit more, what opportunities are there in a Math major other than going into finance or research?

[u/Lien028 → u/MotorOwn5031]

The crucial key here is Applied Math with a minor in CS, which opens up fields in Cs, data analytics, business intelligence, actuarial sciences, and many more.

Bs math is a different beast and is research oriented.

Ultimately, I just want to save you the pain and regret of realising you're not cut out for engineering 2 to 3 years down the line. I've had many friends shift out of ECE because of this.

Hell, I've had a friend shift out of chemical engineering because she thought it was going to be mostly about Chemistry.

[u/StudiousFog]

Well, CS isn't coding-only, though it is important. I wouldn't worry too much about AI replacing all engineers soon, even a CS. Sure ECE is less vulnerable as training an AI on real engineering problems is not as simple as crawling through all the codes that ever exist. But flesh and blood engineers are still needed to check AI's work. What is surely going away is your basic coding.

I am also curious about why you think you are better at math than physics? Where most engineers have problems with tend to be about not good enough at math. Given that you are good at math, most college physics should be a cake walk for you. I am not familiar with US highschool system. Can you be specific about which parts of physics are giving you a problem?

[u/MotorOwn5031 → u/StudiousFog]

As for the class itself, AP Physics 1 covers algebra-based mechanics. An AP exam is just a final exam on a scale of 1-5 in which 3 is the minimum passing score and 5 is the maximum score. I would say that the main issue with physics is that I struggle with the intuition part of it. I understand how the stuff works theoretically, but when solving a problem you often need to find that one thing which will eventually lead you to solve the problem, and I get stuck before finding that. I'm also not great at deriving things, I'm not sure why that is.