So, my path in engineering has not been normal. I started school in 2015 as a professional flight major and intended on becoming a pilot. While technically minded, I had no interest in engineering. A few years (yes, years) into my degree, I encountered health issues where I had to stop flying. It became paramount that I get out of aviation. Being lost in life and not knowing where I belonged, I decided to take a chance on engineering after some friends pointed me in that direction. I did not know much about the field. I decided to pick EET with an aviation concentration (think minor) as that would get me out of school the fastest. I was not in a good place and I did not really know where I wanted to go.
It turns out engineering was the place for me. While I struggled at first due to mental health issues, and had a GPA drop to 2.77, I was starting to love electronics and solving problems. I started to get my personal issues together and really dive into engineering. Last spring, I got my first 4.0! My GPA is now projected to be 3.1-3.2 when I graduate next semester.
Through hard work and projects out of class, I was able to get to places I wanted to go. Last summer, I landed an awesome internship at a small aerospace company. I was their Electrical Engineer Intern. I was tasked to solve an issue they had and I developed a system to fix their problem, developed a PCB from schematic to board, and wrote the C firmware for the MCU. They trusted me with a project on my own and I was able to rise to the occasion despite the difficulty and boy did I learn a TON. They extended the internship, and I was able to work part-time remotely for the company over last semester and I am now working full-time with them over winter break. While they say that they are interested in me, they cannot offer me a position at the moment due to business uncertainty. While I think that there is a good chance for a position there, I am operating off the assumption that I will not.
I was also able to get on a senior design team at school as the only engineering technology student on the team. The rest of the team is EE/ECE and it is a project in partnership with a national lab. While I feel inadequate in many ways on the team, my team members have been supportive and said that I have a better grasp on EE compared to many EE majors. That being said, there are many topics I am weak in due to curriculum gaps (high level math, DSP, etc).
Now that I only have a few months left in school, I am trying to find the best path forward with an ET degree. I want to be an engineer. I do not want a technician job. I want to design. I know that at large companies, I will get pigeon holed for not having the "right" degree despite knowing how to do a job and I want to set myself up for success.
Here are some options I am thinking:
Work for my current company assuming an offer is there. This will put me in a company that I really love to work for and give me the job title of Electrical Engineer more than likely.
Keep applying for jobs and hope that I get a position in the midst of this job market.
Go to grad school. I now have the GPA to get in somewhere. I have been in school for a freaking long time though so I do not know if the lost wages are worth it, especially when I have learned a great bit by myself. Even if I go on this path, is it better to go full-time or do school part time while working? I honestly do not have a large desire to do more school right now but I will do what I have to do.
Thoughts? I really wish I had a BSEE but I made the choices I made with the information I had that the time. It does not make sense to go back and spend another 2-3 years getting a BSEE from a financial, purely educational, or time perspective. Should I keep chugging forward and try to blaze my own path? I would also eventually want to get my PE which is possible as an ET in my state. I also love the idea of working for myself, if that is helpful information.
Any advice is appreciated.