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People are asking me about college, and I've always liked guitar/amp maintenance/ building. I was thinking of going into Electrical Engineering, but I Don't know If that will go into like, Making computers and screens and such, and I Don't really need all of that... I Know how to wire up a guitar, and basic wiring and electrical stuff, but I don't have an extensive background with amps and all of that... Do y'all have any suggestions with College stuff so I can get more into this stuff???

a lot of EE majors go into the telecommunications industry fwiw.

imho, if you are going to spend the money to go to college, which has really increased over the past 10 years, make sure you are majoring in something that you can get a job doing.

How old are you?
Trying to choose a career path based on specific interests that you have now, specifically toward a struggling industry might not be the best choice.

Take it from someone who did that and I didn't work out for. (and wishes he had done EE or software instead of graphic design)

With that said, going for an EE will be a wise choice long term. Any engineering is lucrative and much of it will probably be safe from AI for a good chunk of your lifetime.

My g/f's father was an electrical engineer as his her sister. Her father invented anti-surface-to-air missile technology that prevented American planes from being shot down in Viet Nam. The guy was a millionaire and the sister retired at 55 and went back to school to become a nurse, for kicks.
You CANNOT go wrong getting a degree in electrical engineering. Electrical engineers do not struggle getting jobs - there is a shortage.
Starting pay for fresh-out-of-college EE's is over $80K

I would suggest looking into the State Universities and Colleges in your area, that offer 4 year programs.
State run Univ/Colleges charge way lower prices for tuition.

My buddy went back to college, at the age of 40, for computer science.
His math skills were awful and they made him take a special catch up course so he could take the required, two semesters of calculus.
He was having trouble with the catch up course because, he didn't have the multiplication table memorized (it is imperative that you memorize the times table).
I bought him a deck of flash cards to help him memorize the times tables - we used to sit around, drinking gin and tonics, doing the flash cards.
In about a week, he had it down pat.

Don't think of going to college for 4 years as prison time. There are plenty of perks like, meeting lots of girls (especially if you stay in the dorms)
Definitely do it bro!!! Good luck!!!

If you want to go into EE (or any kind of engineering really), take as many physics and calculus classes as you can in high school

Yeah, I doubled up math classes this year (I'm a Sophomore In High School) So I can Take PreCalc next year, Then I can take APCalc My Senior Year. I thought Electrical Engineering would be good because I would understand Guitar Electronics, but still get a Decent job.

Man, you are doing it right!

After you get a EE degree, you can design your own amps from scratch. You could be the next Jim Marshall!!!!

lower your standards

move to russia

become street performer

Go for it dude! Education is the one thing that once you have it they can't take it away from you.

Your school should have a guidance counselor. They probably know the best programs in your area. At this point you should maybe ask a college you're interested in what should you be doing now to get ready. It never hurts to reach out.

Dave wrote:lower your standards

move to russia

become street performer

That's how Putin started

Although he did it in France.....

and he was working for the KGB.......

Sally Struthers

clipless bumper wrote:

Dave wrote:lower your standards

move to russia

become street performer

That's how Putin started

Although he did it in France.....

and he was working for the KGB.......

Putin didn't have to ask an internet forum on career advice.

Your kid seems special, so I stick by my russian street performer recommendation. the cold will toughen him up. or kill him. Not really my problem.

Lol your kid

Look locally, state university or even a community college to save money on tuition. There's generally not much reward in paying higher out of state tuition. I hire engineers out of college and many are taking care of 1-2 years of requirements at a community college and saving a lot of money that way, which I think is really smart.

80K out of college is a stretch here in new england, but depends on the industry and location. I've seen closer to 58-65K in the defense industry with good grades. EE is a great field to get into and jobs are available. Cyber security, if you have any interest at all in it, is one area you can get into as an EE and extremely high in demand.

LukeBurke1 wrote:If you want to go into EE (or any kind of engineering really), take as many physics and calculus classes as you can in high school

This. Also take chemistry too. My brother is an engineer. I started out in computer engineering, but graduated with computer science. If you want to work in the music industry, then find a college that can get you an internship at one of the major companies like Harman or Peavey. Try to work an internship every summer. Be early, work hard and have a good attitude and you might have a job lined up when you graduate.

If you go the EE route, try to concentrate on Power Electronics. With the inevitable shift from combustion engine vehicles to hybrids and electrics, there will be a huge demand for the needed electronic control systems - and the people that can design them. You'll be far more employable with that skillset than if you focused on audio electronics. We're investing heavily in that area and just acquired a company that had proprietary technology to bolster our portfolio...

ajaxlepinski wrote:I would suggest looking into the State Universities and Colleges in your area, that offer 4 year programs.
State run Univ/Colleges charge way lower prices for tuition.

This. Also, keep the grades up. I don't know if it is still true, but, when I taught in TN 10 years ago, an overall B average meant you could go to any of the University of Tennessee schools for peanuts. There are some very good programs under that umbrella.

EE is a good first choice major before you transfer to the business school

ajaxlepinski wrote:Starting pay for fresh-out-of-college EE's is over $80K

Your post was on point except for this part. Depends where you live of course, but that is definitely not the norm...at all. In fact, I don't know a single EE who started at $80k+. Hell, all 3 of my younger co-workers make just over $70k and that's with a couple years of experience, and working for a large company. Most in normal areas of the Country (Not NY/CA) start around $60k...but you move up quickly.

Not trying to jump at you, just don't want to give people false hope haha

With that said, EE is definitely the way to go if you can hack it in school...it's no joke. But a ton of jobs, and job variety out there.

rear naked wrote:EE is a good first choice major before you transfer to the business school

lol

Yeah, I started courses in college with a lot of business majors haha

ajaxlepinski wrote:My buddy went back to college, at the age of 40, for computer science.
His math skills were awful and they made him take a special catch up course so he could take the required, two semesters of calculus.
He was having trouble with the catch up course because, he didn't have the multiplication table memorized (it is imperative that you memorize the times table).
I bought him a deck of flash cards to help him memorize the times tables - we used to sit around, drinking gin and tonics, doing the flash cards.
In about a week, he had it down pat.

When I got my CS degree it was two math courses short of qualifying for a General Math B.Sc. as well. If I took multivariate calculus and one more stats course I could've got my degree in Math instead of Comp. Sci if I wanted. I don't know how your buddy had a hope in hell doing derivatives and integrals if he couldn't do multiplication haha. I took calc 2 three times, once because I was lazy with homework and the lectures were at 8am 3x a week, once because the prof couldn't speak english or teach anything effectively and finally where I had a TA take pity on me and actually help me out. But this was all before Wolfram Alpha was a thing... there's no excuse to fail math anymore when you can just punch problems into a website and see every step of how to solve it.

Looking back I wonder if engineering would've been a better choice... I dunno. I almost certainly would've folded under the academic pressure in the first year or two (here eng students have to take 6 courses per semester, science is 5 and everybody else is 4 for undergrad). I think I was/am definitely capable of doing that stuff though, especially after meeting some post-grad engineer-brained people haha.

I just applied to UOIT (Canada) in Physics and EE. Planning on using electives and options on maths (complex analysis, pde and other senior maths. I already have calc 2, linear algebra and halfway through physics through online courses at Athabasca U. Calc 2 was fucking hard. I pulled through with an A+, but holy fuck i worked hard for that.

EE is the way to go if you want to work communication transmission systems, renewable energy or basically anything electrically related. The options are huge. I suggest trying to get a bsc in math along with it, it will make a very useful tool and puts you on top of the hiring pile for complex problem solving skills.

Sex Panther wrote:

ajaxlepinski wrote:Starting pay for fresh-out-of-college EE's is over $80K

Your post was on point except for this part. Depends where you live of course, but that is definitely not the norm...at all. In fact, I don't know a single EE who started at $80k+. Hell, all 3 of my younger co-workers make just over $70k and that's with a couple years of experience, and working for a large company. Most in normal areas of the Country (Not NY/CA) start around $60k...but you move up quickly.

Not trying to jump at you, just don't want to give people false hope haha

With that said, EE is definitely the way to go if you can hack it in school...it's no joke. But a ton of jobs, and job variety out there.

Dude, we're trying to encourage a kid to stay in school.
I wasn't exactly fibbing... you can get $80K to start, in the United Arab Emirates... salary, bonus & profit sharing.
And who knows... with Trump bringing Broadcom back to the US (and possibly more industrial companies) demand for EEs could go up and therefore, starting salaries as well.
By the time Mamburg Jr graduates from college, in 2023, starting salaries in the US could top $80K.

Harvest wrote:

ajaxlepinski wrote:My buddy went back to college, at the age of 40, for computer science.
His math skills were awful and they made him take a special catch up course so he could take the required, two semesters of calculus.
He was having trouble with the catch up course because, he didn't have the multiplication table memorized (it is imperative that you memorize the times table).
I bought him a deck of flash cards to help him memorize the times tables - we used to sit around, drinking gin and tonics, doing the flash cards.
In about a week, he had it down pat.

When I got my CS degree it was two math courses short of qualifying for a General Math B.Sc. as well. If I took multivariate calculus and one more stats course I could've got my degree in Math instead of Comp. Sci if I wanted. I don't know how your buddy had a hope in hell doing derivatives and integrals if he couldn't do multiplication haha. I took calc 2 three times, once because I was lazy with homework and the lectures were at 8am 3x a week, once because the prof couldn't speak english or teach anything effectively and finally where I had a TA take pity on me and actually help me out. But this was all before Wolfram Alpha was a thing... there's no excuse to fail math anymore when you can just punch problems into a website and see every step of how to solve it.

Looking back I wonder if engineering would've been a better choice... I dunno. I almost certainly would've folded under the academic pressure in the first year or two (here eng students have to take 6 courses per semester, science is 5 and everybody else is 4 for undergrad). I think I was/am definitely capable of doing that stuff though, especially after meeting some post-grad engineer-brained people haha.

Yup, that's exactly why I bought him the flash cards. I took two semesters of calc and knew that he would be in trouble without the help - he had no idea what was coming.

Fellow EE here.

It sounds like you’re on a great path on math, so definitely keep that up. Does your school’s AP Calc program get you the BC or just the AB? If you have the option for the former, do it - it’ll save you an entire year of calc at the collegiate level, and keep you out of the no-man’s-land of first-semester freshman Calc II, which is invariably taught by a disinterested putz.

The low-end of the mentioned salary ranges are pretty valid. I’ve seen some people crest mid-60’s in the first year or two, but it required a job-change.

One thing to keep in mind is the cost of the education. I know to a high-school sophomore, $65k sounds like a lot of money, but with $120k of college loan debt, plus paying for housing, etc., it’s not as awesome as it sounds. If your parents are able and willing to help with that, then the value proposition gets better.

Guidance counselors have not caught up with the current gap between increased tuition costs and stagnant income. Sit down with your parents (or a financially-savvy friend) and run the numbers. Look at the possibility of interning for the same companies you’d work for if you got your degree. Calculate what your monthly loan payments and rent will be in your target employment market. Compare that to what you might get paid working your way up, without the burden of college debt.

And yes, I fully acknowledge the fact that many hiring managers consider a degree gating for many positions. It’s just another piece to weigh in the vast quagmire that is employment in the US today.

I definitely don’t want to discourage you from pursuing And education. Just make sure it makes lifetime financial sense to do so.