What to do with my life?

[CHOCTICK]

I am a structural engineering grad student in IOWA. I have used 16 months out of my 36 months of Montgomery GI Bill benefits. It has taken 2 years but I am beginning to fall out of love with structural engineering. It seems like anyone can look in the AISC manual and find the formula and appropriate reduction factor. I say all that to say this: I have used up many resources, feel somewhat committed, and am afraid there will be a ton of competition. Also, I have googled and the entry level jobs are not there. I have 1.5 years to go before I complete my MS. I fear I may have gone down this road deluded. I envisioned myself designing skyscrapers and bridges that span oceans--very few engineers get to do this.

I am giving serious consideration to switching to statistics. I have my undergrad in Math so this is not that big of a leap. I will get an MS in statistics, work as an actuary or in industry till I'm 70, then go teach at some junior college till I die. I am 33 now--34 in March. What do you think?

[R Deckard]

Have you considered that you may be heading down this new road just as deluded as you were before?

[sugarmilk]

It seems the passion that originally drove you to engineering is still there (you sound inspired, albeit cynical, in discussing construction projects). However, you fear not being able to find a job. Well, what I can say is - right now, today, in this moment - you do not know what job opportunities lie in your future, in either degree pathway. Personally, I advocate following your passion rather than a "safety net" degree.

Perhaps you are not feeling challenged enough in your program. Could you look into doing internships or research or something related? I feel like there must be some way to take the degree further, to rekindle your love of the field and your hope for a future career.

If not, then I hope you can find some joy in statistics (though the picture you painted seemed quite dismal and I don't wish that on you).

[CHOCTICK]

Even though the way I stated my aspirations with a statistics degree may sound down, I think I could enjoy the work. I am really attracted to the predictive nature of statistics and enjoy programming. Using statistical software and advanced math in operations research or predictive modeling in finance or insurance would be enjoyable--I think. I taught high school math for 2 years; high school teaching sucked but I feel I would enjoy teaching at the community college level.

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Do you get the full 100% GI Bill? Also, the 36 months is just the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Are you also able to use your Montgomery GI Bill? I only get 60% and only the Post 9/11 because I got kicked out of the military early then had to petition to get my discharge upgraded to honorable. TMI. I don't think you should let your GI Bill dictate what you decide to do. There are other ways to get funding. If you get a PhD, for example, you probably won't even have to worry about funding.

[blakeblake]

If the really scary thing for you is the job market, have you tried looking into government jobs? I've had cause to look lately (www.usajobs.gov) and there are a lot of engineering positions. The pay isn't as good as corporate pay would be, but a lot of the jobs are entry level, there's good job security in government work, and as a veteran, you have a significant advantage in the hiring process.

[Bobbi]

You might be better off staying where you are, despite your current cynical views on it. It is the cold, dark winter after all, and every major starts to really get crappy after the first couple years.

 

I majored in statistics as an undergrad. I had a lot of graduate students in my upper level classes. The only course I enjoyed was Theory of Probability. The rest of it- multivariate statistical analysis, regression techniques, etc (see, i can't even remember the names of my courses. it was that bad) - left something to be desired. This is a very, very dry course of study. However, if you really do like programming, statistics involves analyzing massive data sets using things like SAS and R code. So if you like that, maybe you would be better off switching. 

 

Everything goes smoother when you like what you're doing. 

[juilletmercredi]

I think it's all subjective - a lot of people find statistics dry and boring, but I really like it.  In fact, I really dislike probability but I love multivariate analysis and regression techniques.

 

 

Practically speaking, this is a great way to go.  A master's in statistics is typically 30 credits, so a full-time program will only take you about a year.  There are many MS programs in the field that are designed for working professionals now, and a few respected programs online (like Penn State's).  The actuarial field has many openings; statistics is an in-demand skill so you very likely won't be without a job. And there aren't as many professors in that field either, so your path is not unrealistic.

 

On a more subjective level, though, be careful that you aren't falling from the frying pan into the fire.  Have you done any statistical consulting or actuarial type work?  It can be very rewarding (I, myself, am planning to earn an MS in applied statistics so I can start a consulting business on the side of my academic work, because I love it).