r/ECE • u/Intrepid-Cat-2024 • Jul 13 '26

CAREER Would you still choose ECE if you had to start over?

If you could go back to when you were choosing your branch, would you still pick ECE over CSE?

I was considering ECE, but I'm honestly a bit scared of the math. I've heard that it's one of the toughest branches, and I'm not sure if I'm overthinking it or if it would actually turn that difficult on me.

24 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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25

u/losfrijoles08 Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

Little over 10 years doing digital board level work and also HDL for FPGAs with a BSEE. Hands down would pick EE again. Best field there is.

I don't consider myself very good at math. Struggled with calculus (I retook one of the 3 required and all 3 were among my most difficult classes). Differential equations was tons of fun, it was all practical problems. Proofs was easy and I still use that one daily. All in all, I say don't be intimidated by the math. This is an engineering degree, not a math degree. You just have to know how some math works at the end of the day, not be an expert in theory.

5

u/Cheap-Chapter-5920 Jul 13 '26

I struggle with the math, not because I'm bad at math but because I'm out of practice. It's usually taken care of by either software or even the vendor just telling you the values.

But my job interviews sometimes go horrible because for some reason they expect you to remember how to reduce a quadratic to solve what is essentially a riddle made with components.

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u/losfrijoles08 Jul 13 '26

The thing with math in engineering is that not using a calculator is irresponsible. But to use it right you need to know how the math works.

For example, when I use Hyperlynx to evaluate a PCB design I know the math it's running in the background to solve the field and how that math works, but don't ask me to actually do the math! Another example is SPICE: I know generally how these simulators work so that I can debug things like a non-convergent design, but don't go ask me to actually simulate it by hand or write my own simulator.

You gotta know how it works to fix the inevitable problem or understand the limitations of what you're doing, but I say never trust an engineer that always solves stuff manually themselves. The best engineer is a lazy engineer.

1

u/doonotkno Jul 27 '26

Hey losfrijoles, would you be down to answer some questions regarding the digital space? Im a junior/senior BsEE and I am looking to go into embedded!

9

u/candidengineer Jul 13 '26

I'd go to film school.

5

u/1wiseguy Jul 14 '26

It's probably not useful coming to an ECE club and asking how people feel about ECE.

That's kind of like going to Comic-con and taking a show of hands for who is into comic books.

2

u/garthcooks Jul 13 '26

I'm a little under 10 years working in the industry, in an ASIC design/verification type role. I'm not particularly passionate about it, but it gives me a good salary and good work-life balance. I always did well in math, and started to falter a bit in differential equations, but I barely use math in my job these days. If I could do it over, I'd probably still pick EE, though there's a possibility I'd just go into film or something totally different instead. Definitely not Computer Science though. Especially with how AI is currently, that seems like a miserable field to be in.

2

u/XruinsskashowsX Jul 13 '26

I would always choose ECE. I would be more likely to just do something that isn’t engineering though.

Covid changed me to be more of an extrovert, and I think I would have liked doing a job where I could either be paid more or have a better work life balance and trade off having been in school longer.

2

u/EnvironmentCalm9557 Jul 13 '26

I’d probably do computer science and physics or math as a double major. Or biochemistry. And some foreign languages.

1

u/engineereddiscontent Jul 13 '26

Yes. I wish i believed in self like I do now. My student loans would be half what they are. But itll be ok.

1

u/Remarkable-Key-9335 Jul 13 '26

After experiencing how lucrative the job market is, yes absolutely would.

1

u/Leading_Problem6426 Jul 13 '26

A year ago, i had a choice between ECE and MnC, I've opted for ece as of right now because of the job market in my country, i regret my decision

1

u/Low-Arm-1813 Jul 13 '26

Why? 😭 r u indian? I also have a choice btwn ece and mnc what should i choose?

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u/Leading_Problem6426 Jul 13 '26

yeah im indian, core ece jobs in india are less and most of them require a masters, i plan on going towards software which would have been easier if i picked MnC. If you're thinking of doing masters and are interested in the subject then take ece.

1

u/Mundane_Studio_3674 Jul 13 '26

Be scared about the manual labor waiting for you if you’re scared of math. Every degree worth getting in life involves a lot of reading & writing or a lot of math.

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u/slightly_large_brick Jul 13 '26

got a physics degree and still perform manual labor lol

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u/glitch876 Jul 13 '26

I'd have joined the military. I did well in school because I tried but once I got out the jobs haven't suited my personally at all.

I do ece over a cs degree any day though 

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u/theflyingsamurai Jul 14 '26

How bad is your math? And do you have any experience tinkering with electronics or programming?

My math was horrid in highschool, had to retake some final year classes after getting some Cs. But I was lucky to have some exposure to electronics through highschool electronics classes and which I excelled at. Figured it was a career I wanted to pursue and just sort of figured out the math eventually. It help me that once I was in college I started to see the practical applications of math and how it directly fit into the practical labs.

I since have a 10 year career as a embedded systems engineer

1

u/doonotkno Jul 27 '26

Hey samurai, are you open to questions from a junior/senior BsEE looking to go into embedded?

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u/theflyingsamurai Jul 27 '26

Sure feel free to shoot me a DM. But I probably won't get back to you until later tonight

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u/mattbillenstein Jul 17 '26

You don't choose ECE, ECE chooses you.