Any EE's out there?

[bassmasta]

I'm interested in the careers of electrical engineering. I'm applying to college this fall now, and I'm thinking about majoring in EE.

So, any EE'S out there, what do you do? What kind of classes did you take? And if your from Cal, any schools/colleges you recommend?

[dragonhead]

i took it and promptly dropped out. too much push towards generic industrial work for me.

[bioniclebert]

Like dragonhead, I quickly switched out (Before classes even began), though I changed only slightly into Computer Engineering. For me, having both a good knowledge of making circuits and then being able to program on them seems very important. I personally hated trying to learn program on my own before going to school, but since I've been to school, I've learned to love it. Also, I realized that you can multiply the potential of anything that you do in hardware with additional software by such a great amount that I find it totally necessary to learn both facets of engineering in order to be successful in a practical field. However, this always comes down to the individual and what they want to do with their degree.

[Black Six]

I minored in Electrical Engineering, Majored in Computer Engineering. Three classes different and I could have switched that around.

Classes you can expect:
Basic Circuits - resistors and capacitors, with inductors thrown in maybe
Advanced Circuits - didn't have to take this one, and I forget what my EE friends always said about it, sorry
Discrete Math and/or a class on logic (especially boolean logic and operations)
Systems Theory - Fourier, Laplace, Z transforms, and the theory needed to understand them
Digital Signal Processing - Taking all that stuff from Systems Theory and applying it - convolutions, more Fourier transforms, frequency responses
Microprocessors - programming in Assembly for embedded systems
Transport Phenomena in Solid State Devices - how transistors work

That is of course just major specific stuff, not including electives either. Also expect at least three semesters of Calculus, plus a couple physics classes, and probably some general engineering classes too, like mechanics of solids and thermodynamics.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

[Snow_Cat]

I took a Bachelors of Technology degreee following a diploma in the same and another in Computer Engineering. I decided not to pursue an invitation to start my Masters so that I could focus on my health.
(The institute dropped the "Science and" and "Electrical/" rather than close to remediate the main laboratory.)

If I could do it again I would have taken more humanities courses since being able to make-with-the-awesome is useless without understanding how people use it. Can't really serve humanity without understanding what humanity needs.
I still would have taken introduction to sailing (piloting not navigation) course, even though it wasn't a full credit since I love seeing people go WTF when they review my transcript.

I don't really do anything except for the odd bit of design work. The last three jobs I've had were redeveloping a series of hobby kits, designing a <$100 PDA "organizer"/tracking device for children, and currenltly I'm considering breaking out on my own to sell hobby kits since I am paid on a royalty basis, and my "box w/ four" has not been restocked after a full year despite contiuned demand.

[bassmasta]

Thanks for the posts all.

I really think I want to major in CPE and minor in EE. (Maybe double major? probably way too much work ) I think designing things like embedded systems and possibly even more complex systems (like motherboards, etc) would be awesome for a career.

I'm also thinking about going to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, maybe doing their 5 year master program. Any thoughts on this or suggestions for other colleges?

[Black Six]

Thanks for the posts all.

I really think I want to major in CPE and minor in EE. (Maybe double major? probably way too much work ) I think designing things like embedded systems and possibly even more complex systems (like motherboards, etc) would be awesome for a career.

I'm also thinking about going to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, maybe doing their 5 year master program. Any thoughts on this or suggestions for other colleges?

I know at my school, you couldn't double major because there was too much overlap. It would only be like five more classes to fulfill the requirements for both degrees, so it was kind of unfair to the people double majoring in like Mechanical Engineering and Chemistry.

I don't know much about West Coast schools. Heck, it's been so long since I did that college search thing I can only really tell you about my alma mater, Stevens Institute of Technology. All in all, I enjoyed my time there, although parts of their program are not very rigorous and there are plenty of classes my peers wish they would have offered. They have a great cooperative education program to get you real-world experience (and make some cash too) though, and a great career development office with an amazing job placement rate. I think about 75% of our graduating class this May had accepted job offers or been accepted to grad school by graduation day. In this economy that's pretty unheard of.

[bassmasta]

Well Cal Poly doesn't allow CPE + EE, yet alone any double majoring. :/
But they also have this big job fair for grads. Cal Poly is all about hands on stuff (their motto is "Learn by doing"), so a bunch of companies are interested in hiring and other stuff.

Also, I'm considering applying to Caltech (CIT). For me, it's really a stretch, but I think there's a decent chance that I could make it. Any CIT students/grads?

[AndyHope]

I minored in Electrical Engineering, Majored in Computer Engineering. Three classes different and I could have switched that around.

Classes you can expect:
Basic Circuits - resistors and capacitors, with inductors thrown in maybe
Advanced Circuits - didn't have to take this one, and I forget what my EE friends always said about it, sorry
Discrete Math and/or a class on logic (especially boolean logic and operations)
Systems Theory - Fourier, Laplace, Z transforms, and the theory needed to understand them
Digital Signal Processing - Taking all that stuff from Systems Theory and applying it - convolutions, more Fourier transforms, frequency responses
Microprocessors - programming in Assembly for embedded systems
Transport Phenomena in Solid State Devices - how transistors work

That is of course just major specific stuff, not including electives either. Also expect at least three semesters of Calculus, plus a couple physics classes, and probably some general engineering classes too, like mechanics of solids and thermodynamics.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask and I'll do my best to answer.

yeah same here,

I'm in my final semester right now.

A lot of my microprocessor programming courses focused on embedded C not assembly (we still did assembly as a precursor to C). also lots of communications classes (AM FM transmissions) plus an extra class on renewable energies.

most people in my program dropped after the first semester. I'd suggest to stick with it because once you get past the basics you move into the fun stuff

[Rekarp]

To add to B6's list.

Solid State Design
Digital Signal Processing
Analog Circuit Design
Digital Circuit Design

ect ect

Check out the UT ECE course's here
http://www.ece.utexas.edu/undergraduate/curriculum.cfm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

For a list of the best EE programs in the States. Includes Private and Public.
http://worldranking.blogspot.com/2009/0 ... nking.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Since you want instate tuition (out of state is usually twice the cost at public schools) go with University of California–Berkeley.

[Biased]

I'm interested in the careers of electrical engineering. I'm applying to college this fall now, and I'm thinking about majoring in EE.

So, any EE'S out there, what do you do? What kind of classes did you take? And if your from Cal, any schools/colleges you recommend?

I've applied for spring semester and I'm interested in majoring in EE too, specifically the Electronics and Microelectronics program at NDSU. I kinda feel like I'm running blind into it now that other people are saying they wish they did this/that, or that CPE with a minor in EE is the way to go, or that humanities classes are helpful for these kinds of majors. It's all helpful advice, but now it's got me reconsidering finding my resolve in the situation Anyone know of any resources with career information or stuff like that? Hope you don't think I'm hijacking the thread, I feel like I am in a similarly-sized and proximal boat to the one you're in, though. Good luck with your applications and schooling!

[bassmasta]

I've applied for spring semester and I'm interested in majoring in EE too, specifically the Electronics and Microelectronics program at NDSU. I kinda feel like I'm running blind into it now that other people are saying they wish they did this/that, or that CPE with a minor in EE is the way to go, or that humanities classes are helpful for these kinds of majors. It's all helpful advice, but now it's got me reconsidering finding my resolve in the situation Anyone know of any resources with career information or stuff like that? Hope you don't think I'm hijacking the thread, I feel like I am in a similarly-sized and proximal boat to the one you're in, though. Good luck with your applications and schooling!

Nah, it's no problem.
I'm just doing some thinking about what I really want to do in life. Cal Poly early decision deadline in 5 days!
Good luck to you and your studies too.

@Rekarp I considered Berkeley, but it's just too big of a school for me. (and there's other reasons, but I won't talk about those)

[slimjimmy]

I'm in my third year going along a Computer Engineering major. If you're unsure about EE or CPE, it's only been starting this year that I've seen EE majors actually take classes apart from CPE majors (save for programming classes for us). I wouldn't know about an EE minor, though, as the engineering school here doesn't offer minors like that.