r/careerguidance•
Flin221

Should I stay or should i go? Not sure If I should stay in engineering.

Advice

I'm 19M and have already spent an year in an engineering college. It had some highs but some very low lows. I barely passed the entry exam not sure if I wanted or not to actually do engineering for life.

During my highschool/secondary school years I did a bit of everything, would considered myself a jack of all trades during that time. I was decent at math, physics, literature, art, etc. and I graduated top of my class. Outside of school, my hobbies were also varied but they leaned more into the arts and crafts, I liked to draw but also to tinker, fix and make things.

At first I chose electronics engineering because it sounded good, I get to make things and get paid a good amount of money from it. But after a year in the course it looks rough. The base content was hard (maths and chemistry) and I could just get in 2 out of the 5 subjects in the first semester.

Another source of my insecurities comes from my family's financial instability. During the entrance exams and first semester I had trouble getting myself a place to live and had to move multiple times. I attribute some of my struggle with my studies to that but not completely. I got a 50% scholarship which is pretty good but not enough for my family to keep me in a place for a decent time.

After the first semester I started considering to change colleges and degree, thought of changing into industrial design in a free university (I live in Argentina), it fit my passions but the pay is definitely lower. But after a year of engineering am afraid that the course is gonna feel underwhelming and make me feel like am wasting my time. I do believe that I am capable of getting through engineering, but I am not sure if my family will be able to keep supporting me (they say they can but knowing them I know this would be a high risk not really sure if high reward kinda thing). I also don't feel great about the idea of wasting a year of my time and my family's money.

TLDR;

>Spent an year on engineering college

>Suffered and kinda broke

>Still think I am capable but not sure If wanna take the risk

>Considering changing to Industrial Design in other college

>It fits my passions (as does engineering but not that much) but considerably lower pay

>Feeling bad of wasting a year and family money if leaving engineering college

Would appreciate if someone could drop me a piece of advice in these struggling times. Thanks.

Posted Mar 1, 2026, 1:56 AM UTC

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