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I've been debating this in my head for some time, and I thought that maybe somebody on this board might have some knowledge that could help me make a decision. Any insight, personal accounts or otherwise would be appreciated.
My situation is that I did 5 years in the military and decided to move to Huntsville when I was done. The reason for this was that my home (Detroit) is in ruins and that I liked Huntsville better than anywhere else the Government saw fit to send me. I also have some connections here and I hoped that it would translate into a job. Instead, I enrolled at UAH to pursue a BS in electrical engineering, deciding that I should take advantage of the GI Bill I earned during my service. Now that it has been a couple of years, I still have a good 3 years to go since I was so far behind in math.
This probably doesn't sound bad, and it isn't, but I'm getting anxious to start a family. My wife and I have been married for 4 years and she has faithfully stuck by me through deployments and family tragedy. She has wanted children for some time, and now I am finally starting to feel the urge myself - much to her pleasure and my chagrin. We do have a pretty fantastic financial situation which I owe to multiple deployments, extremely lucky investing, and my wife's fiscal sensibilities. We own our home here in Huntsville outright with no mortgage, and have two reliable cars without a car payment. We have no student debt, although my wife does have a bachelor's in a liberal arts field. She held a job in her degree briefly, but it turned out to be incredibly dangerous and payed terribly. She is currently working as a server (which pays better than the job) but I'm hoping maybe she can get on with the city at some point.
So the struggle is that we see everybody else simply having children with little forethought, and in most ways we are better set up to do so. The missing element is income from me. I have done the projections and calculations, and I can most definitely say that I need to make very little for us to be able to afford it. It seems like it would be much easier to attend a program for less than a year and be an electrician or HVAC technician. I just worry that by not finishing my degree now I am locking us into a lower middle class income bracket for the rest of our lives. I grew up very poor and watched my parents' generation slowly stripped of their factory jobs as they went somewhere else and then there was nothing left for them to do at 40-50 years old. At the same time, I don't want to put off having children longer and longer as it becomes more and more dangerous for both my wife and our children as our bodies age.
For what it is worth I regret in no way that we chose to settle down in Huntsville. I love my home and right about now I miss the snow, but I love it here and it is nice to see things being built instead of being torn down or swallowed whole by weeds
I say you should finish college, especially if were on track to get a valuabledegree in something like electrical engineering. If you have kids during the time you go to school, that will make it very difficult but not impossible. you will only be in school for a few years and this time will fly by fast. I like to say stay away from school loans if possible but in your situation, if you qualify for federal loans, i would definitely take advantage of those. With persistence and support from your wife, i don't see why you would regret the decision to finish your degree. In the end, you will be in a better position to support your family, you will probably have more work life balance then someone without a degree. You will probably do ok without a degree but someone in your position should take advantage of this time and go. I have a friend who returned to school after having 2 children and made it. It's hard but it can be done. Good luck to you.
I think having that degree is invaluable. It will be a far greater benefit for you and your family over the long run than not having one. I think you should finish the degree while working. Find a program that allows you to do both.
Starting pay for an engineer in HSV is around 60k. Keep that in mind when planing it all out. You might incur debt (loans and missed income) while in college but the higher salary will help you in no time. At around 5 years you should be at 80k.
Of course electricians make good money too so I would suggest you do what you love. Engineers and electricians both work with electricity (duh, I know) but both professions do very different things.
1. Find a career counselor. At the school would be the best. Someone who understands options and is analytical enough to help you.
2. If you continue with college as everyone here will suggest then you have 2 options:
a. take the time to get the EE degree
b. get a degree (any BS/BA degree) in the shortest amount of time
3. If you go for the skilled trade, understand there are 2 ways to make "real" money:
a. own your business
b. be in a good union (which is highly unlikely in AL)
I have to agree that the degree, especially since you are not paying for the degree, will be of more value to you in the long run. Becoming an electrician still takes time, probably 3 years at least, before you can actually start making money, etc. Around here it's 2 years of tech school and 2 years of apprenticeship/journeyman status at least. During those last 2 years you are lucky to make $15/hour, probably even less then that is AL. I know you said you don't need to make much but can you really survive on basically minimum wage? Then, once you can be an electrician on your own, your wage will be about 1/2 what you can make as an engineer. Now, if you have the funds and the luck to open your own shop, etc., yes, you can do very well for yourself down the road, but it's going to be 10+ years before that happens, you will be working LONG, LONG hours and not home the kids much. Doesn't mean it's the wrong choice, just know what you are getting into.
I would suggest getting a math tutor and getting caught up in the math faster.
1. Find a career counselor. At the school would be the best. Someone who understands options and is analytical enough to help you.
2. If you continue with college as everyone here will suggest then you have 2 options:
a. take the time to get the EE degree
b. get a degree (any BS/BA degree) in the shortest amount of time
3. If you go for the skilled trade, understand there are 2 ways to make "real" money:
a. own your business
b. be in a good union (which is highly unlikely in AL)
I agree with #1.
On #2, a Bachelor of Arts (BA) is largely worthless. It lumps you in with the Lit/History/English/Communications degrees and many jobs you will be applying for want the Bachelor of Science (BS). The dumb HR lady doesn't understand the difference or is required by template to list "BA/BS" only to have the hiring manager go through and toss out all the BA's that are forwarded. The thought here is that if you aren't smart enough to do lab work, you can't follow a written technical procedure and thus can't perform your job.
I would agree with #3 except that good unions are few and far between. I will say that IBEW has more good unions than other AFL-CIO organizations in my experience and they do exist in the South.
On #2, a Bachelor of Arts (BA) is largely worthless. It lumps you in with the Lit/History/English/Communications degrees and many jobs you will be applying for want the Bachelor of Science (BS). The dumb HR lady doesn't understand the difference or is required by template to list "BA/BS" only to have the hiring manager go through and toss out all the BA's that are forwarded. The thought here is that if you aren't smart enough to do lab work, you can't follow a written technical procedure and thus can't perform your job.
I would agree with #3 except that good unions are few and far between. I will say that IBEW has more good unions than other AFL-CIO organizations in my experience and they do exist in the South.
There isn't any substantial difference between a BA and a BS. The difference comes in what your actual degree is in.
On #2, a Bachelor of Arts (BA) is largely worthless. It lumps you in with the Lit/History/English/Communications degrees and many jobs you will be applying for want the Bachelor of Science (BS). The dumb HR lady doesn't understand the difference or is required by template to list "BA/BS" only to have the hiring manager go through and toss out all the BA's that are forwarded. The thought here is that if you aren't smart enough to do lab work, you can't follow a written technical procedure and thus can't perform your job.
I would agree with #3 except that good unions are few and far between. I will say that IBEW has more good unions than other AFL-CIO organizations in my experience and they do exist in the South.
In this case, I don't think it's HR that doesn't know the difference. I'm not too familiar with BAs in engineering, but I am familiar with BAs in other STEM fields. Some schools only offer a BA for all of the liberal arts which include mathematics and the natural sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, etc.). Some schools even go as far as classifying computer science as a liberal art since it's heavily based on mathematics. IIRC, there is at least one Ivy League college that only offers BA degrees for non-engineering, STEM fields. I don't think any hiring manager will be throwing out that application/resume.
The difference between a BA and BS varies widely among schools that offer both for individual subjects. Some schools will offer a BS in psychology or criminal justice. At some schools, the only difference between a BA and BS is a foreign language requirement. Other schools will allow BA majors to take more free elective courses and less science and math courses. I don't know why you assume that BA degrees in STEM fields don't include lab work. I guess the most important thing in engineering would be ABET accreditation. I've heard that BA degrees in engineering are usually not ABET accredited.
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