markarius
What different kinds of majors are actually inside of "Electrical engineering"?
I was wondering this, because when I'm applying to colleges and they ask my major I type in electrical engineering and several options come up. I think it would be helpful to find out exactly what each one entails. #college #engineering #college-major #college-admissions #electrical-engineering
2 answers
Bill Crean
Bill’s Answer
Great question! There are many specialties within EE. I chose EE initially, not knowing which area I would go into. You have that luxury in the first few years of college, as you get exposed to a broad variety of the basics. I chose to take an extra 3 semesters to get a Masters Degree once I knew what I wanted to focus on.
My Engineering college has specialties in: Bio-medical Engineering, Communications and Signal Processing, Computer Engineering, and Microelectronics & Photonics.
Based on those choices, you could be designing computer chips (integrated circuits); or writing software for any sort of application or industry; or writing algorithms to define how complex systems should work (including cellular or satellite or video streaming systems).
There are also dual degree programs with Math and Physics. And many EE graduates even go on to law school or business school or consultancies.
Just about any technical industry you can think of, has EE's involved to make it happen. I do suggest an EE undergraduate degree, to allow you to experience different types of technologies and jobs, to see what most interests you. For example, I enjoyed the math but not the circuits, so I steered toward Communications and Signal Processing, and went to work in the cellular networks industry.
Enjoy!
Taylor Zhao
Taylor’s Answer
Hey Markarius!
Electrical engineering is really diverse and has many different focuses. For example, at my school you can focus in nanotechnology, circuits, signal processing, software, etc. Each focus is in itself, really broad. I think the best way to know more is to talk to someone who is in the major or working in that industry. I'm sure the school can connect you with the right person to learn more about the subject. Good luck! You can also google search if all else fails.