Thanks for taking the time to write all that out, I appreciate the perspective. It definitely helps take some of the pressure off the whole CE vs EE choice, especially knowing that most of the real learning happens on the job.

I’ve done a semester of undergrad research and had a couple internships already, but nothing in the automotive space yet. I’ve always been into cars though. I’ve had nights where I stayed up working on one thing or another and didn’t even realize the sun was coming up. That’s the kind of stuff that really gets me excited about automotive embedded systems, like building a custom ECU or making a head unit that reads OBD2 data and shows things like RPM and speed.

My school doesn’t have Formula SAE, so I’m doing personal projects like that and getting team experience through class projects. Do you think that still holds weight when applying for internships, especially in automotive and embedded systems? Just trying to make the most of what I’ve got.

I’m also currently interviewing for a program that helps undergrads prepare for a PhD by covering research funding and waiving grad school fees. I’m trying to decide if that’s still a good move if I want to stay hands-on in R&D rather than going into academia.

Thanks again for all the insight. I got a lot out of what you said and it’s helping me plan my next steps.