Wow this blew up! I'll explain my situation further:
4th year out of 5 undergraduate Materials Science and Engineering major at a great public school in Ohio. Minor in mathematics. Definitely have taken more classes than necessary for the minor.
I am a musician by nature. Been playing almost 19 years at this point. My plan is to shoot for FI so that I could focus on my technique and skills to be able to say what I need to say through my medium. I like music, but I don't like the musician's life. Once I realized that there was a way to have the cake and eat it too, I decided to jump on the engineering train. My question is: does a grad degree in engineering or math set you up better financially than an undergraduate, and does it provide more satisfaction than an undergraduate degree in terms of the type of work that you get?
I don't hate my degree nor what I am doing. In fact much of the dislike I have towards my major is the lack of depth in many of the topics that I study right now. I do a lot of extra classes in mathematics and mechanics in the hopes that I stand a chance with my friends in Mechanical/EE Engineering, as a Materials guy. It's just that I don't want to become a person whose main purpose in life is to be an engineer or scientist. My ultimate dream in life is to make music. That's it. I don't have any other real goals on that scale.
If I do go to grad school, I will not focus on music at all. I know this about myself. It will become a side thing for me. But I'll still come home and feel like I'm not doing enough justice to my musical pursuit. On the other hand, if I spent most of my day practicing, producing, recording, performing, composing, whatever, and didn't do enough of the engineering/math side, I'd be fine with that. As it is right now, I have to be careful how much music I do because hours will pass before I look at the time, but it's not something that I can dabble in for a couple minutes every day and be happy with. I don't want to carry this dissonance with me any more.
My health is a complicated issue--I have fibromyalgia, but it's really a psychological problem at its root. The type of energy required to focus on my engineering and math is completely against the grain for my condition. So like someone said earlier, it's stress-related. Studies are a very cognitive thing, and trying to balance that along with my self-awareness makes the going that much more painful. I don't think I can focus on studying engineering for extended periods of time past next year, to be honest. Part of me wants to take it easy for a bit and have a job I can just
do without stressing out too much and easing the cognitive dissonance by being able to get into music after hours.
That being said, I'm a healthy chap--I practice kung fu and teach my roommate how to train like a boxer (a lot of conditioning and technique, no sparring!), ride my bike when tornadoes aren't blazing through town, and meditate multiple times a day (mainly to keep chipping away at my fibromyalgia, which I'm making awesome progress in). I cut down my video games and computer usage by quite a bit last year (it was less than 4 hours a day even then), and I enjoy walks and being outdoors (hiking, climbing, being with friends) much more. I enjoy the very rare glass of red wine and don't do any drugs. I don't even drink coffee! Lol
Before I give a bigger answer. (discloser, I have a PhD in MSE. I am not and have never wanted to be a professor.)
what made you choose MSE in the first place? what was the spark that got you interested?
What is your specialty for your junior/senior classes- metals, polymers, ceramic, semiconductor, biomaterials, other?
What internships/co-ops have you done?
What was the favorite part of your internships? least favorite?
What industry is your (not other people's) ultimate goal industry? manufacturing (production/process), consulting, design, research, etc... large company, small company, government, academia, etc...
My reason for going down the MSE path was actually because people told me how broad and applicable it was. I didn't have an idea of what I wanted to do in my professional life then, and I do not now as a 4th year undergrad student (out of 5). My reason was to simply train for the eventuality that I would have to drop everything and be able to learn something entirely new quickly and effectively. Like I said above, my eventual goal is to make the dough to be financially stable so that I don't have to worry about living a musician's life.
My personal specialty is mechanics, with a little bit of applied mathematics thrown in for spice. I've taken advanced (well, advanced for undergraduates :) ) courses in mechanics of materials (continuum mechanics, theory of elasticity, that sort of thing), and I'm slowly improving my mathematical skillset. I'd be really excited to try my hand in supply chain management, failure analysis, or consulting of some sort. I feel like I will have the background to be able to do those types of jobs, and well. The department has me down for the metals track.
I should say this, however: If there is a field or position that makes more money than my interests right now and it also has interesting problems, I would make that switch to that industry in a heartbeat. I have zero loyalty for this field, and I only care about having interesting problems/healthy work environment. I have a GPA above 3.6, do research, and see my degree as a glorified problem solving certification. If anyone has suggestions, please post them.One internship with Parker Hannifin in one of the Metals Labs. Honestly, I didn't like it very much. I didn't have contact with other people for 8 hours a day. No team work, not much interfacing, just training on the machines and getting the results out to the people who needed them done. Don't get me wrong, I loved my boss and I learned a lot, but I don't ever want to work in that type of environment again. I need problems to solve and people to help. I'm actually having a difficult time finding a second internship, and I'm starting to feel like people don't want me because I'm a Materials person. I know it's not cause of my grades or my attitude when speaking to employers. People tell me to my face that they like me and they want someone with my GPA to work for them. It's just that it never really converts. Perhaps I'm not doing enough on this front to be able to say that it's not working out, but with the injuries and the classes, I've got my hands full.
Programmers who can program are a dime a dozen. Other engineers who can code and develop algorithms are in high demand.
I will look into this. I was planning on doing some coursework in data analytics and statistics. I have a rather solid background in algorithm building and numerical methods for Materials guy whose program is notorious for having students graduate with very poor math and programming skills, and my research position right now is primarily developing algorithms in C for image analysis.
It's really nice to hear that people with BSs in MSE are doing well for themselves and have found really satisfying jobs. Really gives me a lot of motivation to see this through!
Overall, I think I should say that I have rejected a lot of my major and have gone down the path of becoming more a math/engineer guy than a scientist.
My chief worries are:
1.) Employers not being able to see past the MSE label and reject me,
2.) Not being able to work towards my Mustachian dreams because of the location and the occupation I'm in, and
3.) Not having the same mobility as other engineering majors to switch industries or jobs as easily.
I hope this answered some questions about my situation. Thank you so much for the advice so far. I will definitely take some of you up on the offers to carry on the conversation in PMs--just gotta deal with the rest of this week/semester first!