Please help!

[ArmoredOne]

Hey everyone. I was hoping that some of you may be able to offer some helpful advice. I am a 25 year old 3rd year student at ETSU. It's nothing special, just the local "university." They have a few "engineering" programs BUT I have compared them to the engineering programs at other schools and in my opinion the courses required for graduation at my school seem very lacking. This is a field that I have felt like I would enjoy from a very young age.

I allowed some people to convince me that I should knock out the gen ed stuff before focusing on a major. Now I have between 4 - 6 more semester before I HAVE to graduate. From the hours of research that I have done, it would still be very possible to pull this off but it will be a challenge.

What I am wondering though is if there is any real point in focusing on either the manufacturing engineering or electronics engineering degree at my school. I fear that the courses offered are low quality with nowhere near enough math and physics classes and would not offer enough experience for me to be a valuable asset to a potential future employer and therefore would leave me stuck with a worthless piece of paper that wont help me land a career.

Below are links to the two programs that I am considering. If anyone who knows their stuff in this field could give them a quick glance and offer some feedback I would truly appreciate the help.

Thanks

http://catalog.etsu.edu/preview_prog...7&returnto=300

http://catalog.etsu.edu/preview_prog...9&returnto=300

[jboggs]

First of all - hey yall, and welcome to the forum. I'm familiar with ETSU. I grew up in Bristol and in fact, took some math courses there before I started at NC State.

I glanced at your links. These courses appear to be in "engineering technology". I could be wrong, but I think they are different from accredited engineering courses offering, for example, a Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering, as opposed to "engineering technology". There is abolutely nothing wrong with engineering technology courses. In fact they can be extremely valuable. Just be aware that if you encounter a requirement for an accredited engineering degree, like you will when you apply for some engineering jobs or a P.E. license in any state, these courses may not meet that requirement.

I'm not saying you should try to change course change immediately. Not at all. Just move forward with your eyes open. Those courses are valuable and will prepare you not only for any jobs out there that don't have an requirement for a bachelor of engineering degree, but also for further education toward that bachelor of engineering degree. You can move to an accredited engineering school if you want but I don't see it as an absolute requirement, unless graduating with a full blown bachelor of engineering degree is your own personal requirement.

You are young and have time. Lots of folks get their engineering degree after starting work. Just balance your goals with your life situation.

Others may disagree with my opinion, but that's what it looks like to me.

As far as the choice between manufacturing or electronics, the advice you will get from all the old farts on this forum is the same - follow your passion. Whatever field interests you the most is the one you should pursue.