What country are you in now?
The difference between mechanical and electrical engineering is huge. Why do you want to do either? In your last paragraph you are also considering computer science.
You need to decide which degree you actually want and why. What will you be able to do with a degree that you can't do now?
I can only speak for the US but I would look at college curriculums and look at the actual classes you need to take. Many public universities in the US have partnerships with community colleges where you can take many general education classes from the first 2 years and get the credits to transfer.
I have an electrical engineering degree and there were labs in some classes but others had none.
Maybe when you get to that point you can work part time or with flexible hours and go to those classes during the day a few times a week and work during the night.
All of this means you are going to have a big change in your life. That could be cheaper housing, cheaper vacations, less time for a personal life, etc.
I'm in the US.
Really it just boils down to I've always been enchanted by engineering but never had the ability to due to having to work to make money to keep going. I'm considering computer science just because it would be easier to do while working and recently I've heard it's cheaper.
I do have a 2 years at a community college but most of the credits won't count which is why I said "no degree" but you're right, I can transfer some.
Start by googling "university_name degree_name curriculum"
Here is my school's 4 year course curriculum including all senior year elective choices with descriptions of the classes for electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, and mechanical engineering.
https://catalog.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/engineering/electrica...
https://catalog.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/engineering/electrica...
https://catalog.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/engineering/computer-...
https://catalog.ncsu.edu/undergraduate/engineering/mechanica...
Take some time to look at the sequence of classes. Some stuff is obvious like Calculus 2 comes after Calculus 1. Look at the classes in common during the first 1-2 years.
I strongly suggest reading every single class description and especially every senior year elective class description.
Too often people think "XYZ sounds cool, that's what I'm going to study" without actually knowing the names or descriptions of the classes they will study.
Circuits 1 was the weed out class at my school. The first day of class the professor said 1/3 of you won't be here next year. He was correct. About 20% of the students dropped the class after the first test. Many of them switched to computer science which I think is a much easier major.
When I see someone say "electrical or mechanical" that is so broad that I feel like you don't have a good understanding of what either really are. That's okay but you shouldn't be making a big life decision with a vague understanding of what they are. That's why I took the time to post all those links for you to read.
Not to say your advice is bad, but I think in many cases course descriptions are so short and vague that they won't tell you much of use. Sometimes there can be useful info in there but reading through every course description could be pretty mind-numbing. What's more informative is if you can actually get detailed course info like a reading list, assignments, etc. Unfortunately these often aren't publicly available, but professors may share them if you ask via email and explain your situation.
I do agree that looking at the required courses and degree plan is important.
I know someone who has started a distance masters, after figuring out what they really enjoyed in life.
Getting a degree today, getting an education, is a very different beast from the most common experience. Things I have noticed:
1) It was surprisingly easy to get stuck with just figuring out how to finish assignments, or get enough crammed into for an exam - even if this was a field you actually loved
2) I have changed careers, several times now, and there is a marked contrast between
- a) Having a larger project in mind, that informs your decisions
- b) Figuring out things at the rhythm of the class.
3) GenAI is a pain in the ass. It’s everywhere, and it’s probably murdering your teachers as we speak. Its also a godsend if you want something explained to you quickly (assuming it gets it right, or the subject is covered enough)
3.1) Since you are actually interested by engineering, this gives you a substantial amount of protection from falling to GPT based crutches and habits.
My core suggestion, is to find some physical real world project you actually want to work on, and see your education as a path to making that project come to fruition.
The other suggestion is to truly figure out how you like to study, since that determines how you balance life pressures and education requirements.
What state are you in? A lot of community colleges have "articulation agreements" or "guaranteed admissions agreements" with nearby public universities that give you guaranteed transfer admission if you meet the requirements. You may be able to transfer more of those credits than you think if you jump through the right hoops.
Indeed, if you live in a state that has this, it's the bargain of the century. I live in Wisconsin, and the community colleges are coordinated with the state university system.
Also, the CoCo's are really focused on teaching and helping people get an education and make it affordable. The advisers are trying to make it work for you. The teachers are unionized, so it's a sustainable career, and teaching is their top priority. I've known three of those teachers, in electronics, math, and programming, and they were all happy with their jobs. That makes a big difference.
The CoCo's also have trade school programs and 2 year degrees that are not designed for college transfer, but the advisors are there to help you figure out what you want, and what classes you need to take.
Now this is just my personal political take, but I think our society and the press should take a hiatus from devoting such exclusive attention on the "elite" universities, and instead, focus on supporting and broadening the public college and university systems.
As someone who has a BS and an ME, electrical and mechanical are very different. I got a mechanical degree undergrad and I might have done things differently in retrospect because fiddling with mechanical things is not really my forte. Though ended up as essentially a project manager and then a product manager so didn't really matter.
I fully agree that, especially as someone who has worked, the key question is "Why?"
It's just something that I've always wished I pursued, and on a general note I would like to just have a degree in something.
I think you need to spend some time actually doing some of these things that you feel that you want to pursue before committing to a university degree in order to pursue them.
A lot of people mistake the idea of being something as something they like versus the process involved in being that thing. What I mean by this is, you might find you like the idea of being an ME/EE, but once it gets down to the day-to-day work in learning and being that, you may find you actually hate it.
So, start learning the basics on your own. Do a project, then re-evaluate and see if going to university would be the right choice.
As for going back to school for computer science: I would only say to do that if you plan to go straight into a graduate program. Undergrad computer science is not worth it if you already are in industry. If you feel like you're missing something, there are many books and resources that are better and significantly more interesting to work out of than what an undergrad program will offer you.
It's not totally a bad thing but I think a lot of people get undergrad degrees in something they think they're interested in and it turns out they're really not so they end up only peripherally using their undergrad major when they get a job.
I’m one year older and basically on the same path. I always thought that other devs that had an undergrad in computer science had something in their toolbelt that I didn’t know because I didn’t go to school.
I’m 76% done with my CS degree and I’m not sure it’ll be worth it.
There are some classes I wouldn’t have taken on my own if I didn’t have the pressure like discrete math 2, stats, but to be honest in about 2 months of not using them I’m going to forget it all anyway.
Coincidentally when I dropped out of college in my early 20s I was in mech eng. I build engines and race cars as a hobby and I always wanted to gain a more scientific edge. I also dabble in circuits and have an electronic technician degree from HS so I feel like you and I may share a lot.
School takes just the right mindset. I did everything online. The first two years are honestly a waste of time and money. Non science Gen Eds at 32 are ridiculous and I almost dropped again just because of how irrelevant that all was for my adult life. In particular because I had dropped out half way before.
Anyway, I don’t know if life is different after getting the degree but I feel more confident when I pass hard classes and I inch to the end. I started applying for jobs I would’ve normally looked from afar, because I’m more convinced that I have what it takes (and it didn’t come from school).
I still think of doing mechanical engineering at least once a week.
1992-1993 was a good time.
>I would like to just have a degree in something
Maybe get a certificate in something you're genuinely interested in? If you're a Linux person, there are any number of Linux Foundation and Red Hat certificate programs. See also Microsoft.
There's a lot of time, money, and generalized BS involved in a university degree. Sure, it's sort of a rite of passage out of high school. But I never seriously considered getting another degree later in my career.
There are tons of probably more practically useful certificate programs out there for someone who is already working. Maybe if you're seriously thinking about switching fields/roles but, again, that comes back to "why are you doing this?" It's presumably not for the piece of paper. I don't even know where my pieces of paper are.