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A Career question for all Electrical Engineers

post #1 of 4
2/8/11 at 11:23am
Thread Starter 

Hi, since there seem to be a few of you hanging around the board, I figured this would be a good place to ask. What all can I expect going into engineering? I was originally going to do a 3+2 program for applied physics and electrical engineering, but because I am just deciding this now, most of the way through my freshman year of college, it would take closer to 6 years, which I cannot justify for a bachelors degree. Because of this I am considering transfering to Penn State for Electrical Engineering. What all can I expect? I know that I'll have to somehow survive 3 levels of calculus, and some painfully hard physics courses, but I'm thinking that the problem solving of EE would be something I would enjoy.

 

Do any of you have any particular advice you'd like to share (other than the general college stuff)? If I were to hope to get a job designing audio electronics (keep dreaming, I know), should I be considering pairing a physics minor with my major? Or is that too much of a pipe dream, and should I consider minoring in computer science instead (I've always found robotics to be very interesting, and have made a few small arduino robots in the past).

 

Thanks for the responses in advance, and for letting me pick your brains a little bit.

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post #2 of 4
2/8/11 at 12:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maverickmonk View Post

What all can I expect? I know that I'll have to somehow survive 3 levels of calculus, and some painfully hard physics courses, but I'm thinking that the problem solving of EE would be something I would enjoy.

 

The physics isn't too bad. All of it is at a pretty basic level and would be much easier than if  you were majoring/minoring in physics. The math can be a bit tough, but least it's applicable as you really do need significant chunks of it in higher level courses. I majored EE in college for a bit of a challenge and pretty much got what I was looking for.


 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maverickmonk View Post

 

Do any of you have any particular advice you'd like to share (other than the general college stuff)? If I were to hope to get a job designing audio electronics (keep dreaming, I know), should I be considering pairing a physics minor with my major?

 

Loading up on analog and mixed signal courses would be more beneficial to learning how to design audio electronics than physics courses.

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post #3 of 4
2/8/11 at 2:04pm
Thread Starter 

Alright, I wasn't sure if I should consider some acoustics physics courses, but I can definitely see where Analogue courses and the like would be the most helpful. A great many thanks!

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post #4 of 4
2/10/11 at 9:24am

Why would you want to design audio circuits for a living? Seems like a poor career choice and the design work is pretty low on the EE totem pole. Besides mixed signal, you should also think about DSP, high frequency and microwave circuit design. Then there is the digital side of the EE, which was what I focsued on (VLSI, high speed digital circuit, microarch design, etc). The math is less intense (it's alrady incorporated in the design tool), but it's more conceptual and more high level thinking and just as many sleepless nights. Either way, pick your poison.    

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maverickmonk View Post

 

Do any of you have any particular advice you'd like to share (other than the general college stuff)? If I were to hope to get a job designing audio electronics (keep dreaming, I know), should I be considering pairing a physics

minor with my major?  

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