I'm going to be a freshman in the fall. I've already decided that I'm going to be a non-trad when I apply to medical schools and that I will get a "backup" degree in something involved in engineering. I'm stuck deciding between computer science and mechanical engineering. Throughout high school I thought I had it figured out that I was going to be a mechanical engineering. But right after I graduated I had a lot of people in real life, from reddit, from sdn, and other places tell me to consider computer science instead. I'm good with computers, I'm good at science and math, and I could see myself having a fun time with coding. I've noticed starting salary medians tend to be roughly equivalent for CS and ME as well. I've had people tell me there is way more opportunity and potential in employment, business, industry application, and projected growth in computer science. Wondering if there are any other non trads in both of these fields who can give me some guidance and their $.02.
Computer Science vs Mechanical Engineering
- Thread starter Klay10
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Hey there, former ChE that worked in industry. Few things:
1. Last I checked CS jobs tend to have slightly higher starting avg salaries (though their ceiling tends to be a lot lower) than ME jobs (unless that job tends to be in the oil/aerospace industry)
2. If you can code and have the sufficient background - you can really write your ticket to work anywhere in the US whereas ME jobs would be localized to certain geographic regions depending on your area of focus
3. The basic question I'd suggest you start with is what type of fields interest you and is a coding background required, helpful or preferred over a more traditional ME background (systems engineering, process industries, oil, agro, aerospace, robotics, etc)?
4. Lastly if you want to do CS or ME how do you want to tie that back to medicine if you so choose that route?
1. Last I checked CS jobs tend to have slightly higher starting avg salaries (though their ceiling tends to be a lot lower) than ME jobs (unless that job tends to be in the oil/aerospace industry)
2. If you can code and have the sufficient background - you can really write your ticket to work anywhere in the US whereas ME jobs would be localized to certain geographic regions depending on your area of focus
3. The basic question I'd suggest you start with is what type of fields interest you and is a coding background required, helpful or preferred over a more traditional ME background (systems engineering, process industries, oil, agro, aerospace, robotics, etc)?
4. Lastly if you want to do CS or ME how do you want to tie that back to medicine if you so choose that route?
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so basically you want to be a premed but you want to major in something more employable than bio? did you look at bioeng?
i'm throwing a flag on this play, regardless. a recent high school graduate's desire to eventually be a nontrad? bah.
i'm throwing a flag on this play, regardless. a recent high school graduate's desire to eventually be a nontrad? bah.
S
Sardinia
@DrMidlife Don't stymie my potential old timer.
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I have found computer science to be a very useful skill in peripheral areas of medicine such as research and medicine informatics. Programming skills are pure gold in data or imaging intensive research and you can find yourself a nice niche in a lab, particularly when many academic types consider themselves a "power user" because they can tap their tablets super fast or know how to set up a Gmail theme. When colleagues complain about the EMR and wonder why they can't have X feature, I can tell them to stop yelling at our IT guys who have no ability to modify the proprietary API and, better yet, tell them how to fix the problem by talking to vendors in a language they can understand instead of "just make it better."
That said, there is plenty of peripheral exposure to programming in most engineering courses, enough to be of practical use. Just do what you enjoy most (which also tends to be the field you do better in, so bonus there).
That said, there is plenty of peripheral exposure to programming in most engineering courses, enough to be of practical use. Just do what you enjoy most (which also tends to be the field you do better in, so bonus there).
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Do you have an issue with someone intentionally not going K to MD?
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the best advice you can give to a teenager who is interested in medicine is this: get great grades because your GPA is your fate. major in whatever you like. by choosing a major and deciding on a career path you're building a sand castle. the closer you build that sand castle to the waves of real life, the sooner you'll learn how to build/choose things that are stable and valuable and lasting. choosing a major doesn't make you employable. being employable means being responsible and focused and productive regardless of whether you're "fulfilled" or enjoying yourself.
the second best advice you can give to that teenager is this: go be young and fabulous. sure, study hard, but fall in love, travel, make mistakes that don't involve drugs/alcohol/pregnancy/crime, get out of your parents' worldview and influence (ie money) at least for half a year, learn about the world you live in and what role you want to play in it. don't be the same punk when you eventually get to med school - try to be a slightly wise, resourceful, independent punk.
as a retired coder my advice to those who want to do CS is this: if you want to be a coder, write code. if your school has you up all night trying to get the damn thing to compile, at least every other week or so, that's a good school. if you're not writing code, taking on coding projects for the fun of it, solving problems with code, leaving the pointless conversations about vision and direction to just go write some code, then you'll end up in QA or marketing or middle management trying to get out of software, or you'll end up in corporate IT trying to get out of corporate IT.
the second best advice you can give to that teenager is this: go be young and fabulous. sure, study hard, but fall in love, travel, make mistakes that don't involve drugs/alcohol/pregnancy/crime, get out of your parents' worldview and influence (ie money) at least for half a year, learn about the world you live in and what role you want to play in it. don't be the same punk when you eventually get to med school - try to be a slightly wise, resourceful, independent punk.
as a retired coder my advice to those who want to do CS is this: if you want to be a coder, write code. if your school has you up all night trying to get the damn thing to compile, at least every other week or so, that's a good school. if you're not writing code, taking on coding projects for the fun of it, solving problems with code, leaving the pointless conversations about vision and direction to just go write some code, then you'll end up in QA or marketing or middle management trying to get out of software, or you'll end up in corporate IT trying to get out of corporate IT.
