> > What should I major in in college? I like math, and up until a few weeks ago I was certain I would at least start out majoring in that, but now I'm not sure. It doesn't seem like there are jobs for math majors, and the point of going to college is to be better fit to get a job. I could major in economics, or statistics... those are close to math, and might get me a better chance of finding a job, but I'm still not sure. It's possible that I could do a double major. My college of choice has a 5 year double major program, so if I get in there I might take advantage of that. I basically just want opinions on what you think the best idea would be.
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> In terms of career viability, I think electrical/computer engineering is still a very viable field and will be when you graduate. Mechanical engineering also tends to be very flexible, and hence viable, and if you want to be able to have more choice of where you will end up working, civil engineering would be very good -- every city needs civil engineers, and if I had done civil instead of chem, I would most likely have been employed six or eight months sooner. Be careful, though -- civil engineering looks deathly boring, to me, and you probably wouldn't get to do as much math in your career, although it is a good thinking/logistics type of field.

Monkeyman must have read my mind, because I was going to suggest that you look into engineering. A friend of mine is currently getting his master's degree in electrical engineering, and he plans to continue through his education until he gets his PhD. But that doesn't make him a boring, lifeless person who has no life outside of studying, and he knows quite a bit about such things as computers (naturally, since they're electronic gadgets), politics, people, and other random, diverse things. I know a couple other electrical engineering types, too, and they're also not the boring stereotype that I sometimes hear about when people talk about engineers.

As for civil engineering, I used to work with about 50 civil engineers, and I will admit that some of them fit very nicely into the mold that seems to be the essence of a civil engineer. My boss used to grumble about them being set in their ways and refusing to bend, but naturally, not all of them were like that. From my very biased position, I'd say to look into eletrical or computer engineering, but I say that partly because of the electrical engineering majors I mentioned earlier.

But to get back to the general 'What should I major in?' question, koalamom's advice was good, too. If you're not sure, then start with some of the basic classes that everyone needs, such as English. See if you can't find some math classes that would work for several different majors. Look into various clubs on campus that cater to those majors you're thinking about. And it never hurts to poke around on the Web, since that's what we seem to do around here, anyway. The friend I mentioned earlier is involved in the IEEE (generally pronounced, "eye-triple-e") program, which is some sort of electrical engineering society, or something like that. (Note that I am not an engineer.) I stuck the link below.

Anyway, I'll stop rambling on about engineering, since I know very little about the actual major itself, but it's something probably worth looking into. (By the way, wastewater management engineers can make almost triple-figure salaries. That much I DO know.) Oh, and I wouldn't completely cross out majors just because of the job market. One of my all-time favorite professors had just gotten his PhD in statistics, and he was headed off to a full professorship at a good university. Come to think of it, you remind me a little of him, Wes.

Ell"would rather write about engineers than be one, but that's not to say that there is anything wrong with engineers -- um, yeah, stop digging a hole and post already, self"myruh