Electrical Engineering major under EE scholarship looking for guidance...

aslou

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Aug 27, 2021
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Hello Everyone!

So I have recently secured a type 1 electrical engineering specific scholarship. Under this scholarship, I am locked into Electrical engineering being my AFSC once I commission, but I have some questions on what the life of an EE officer in the AF is like. Specifically:

1. Do you regret not being a civilian EE? I am excited to serve my country in the best way I think I can, that being with my technical skills, but I am interested in hearing the perspective of someone who is experienced with active duty.

2. Do you build real EE skills? I am hoping that my time in the AF will serve not only as an opportunity to follow in my family's footsteps, but to also set a strong EE foundation for myself once I separate/retire.

3. As an engineer interested in embedded systems\networking, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and analog/digital design, what are some bases I should look into putting on my dream sheet?

4. Do you lease, buy, or finance your car?

Thank you so much for reading my post. Please do not feel the need to respond to every one of these, I welcome any insight I can receive on any of these topics.
 
What you do in the military may have little or nothing to do with your major.
 
Lease, buy or finance your car. Do you mean buy outright, pay everything upfront? “Finance” usually means to obtain a car loan with which to pay the dealer.

This is usually a major financial decision and has its place in a bigger personal financial management plan. The answer may be different for different people, depending on their situation.

Your personal plan should include building up an emergency fund (a reserve you don’t touch unless you need it for something necessary), creating a budget of inflows and outflows (many people just starting out use the app called Mint), investing for long-term growth, managing debt and credit
wisely, etc.

A critical part of your personal financial management is differentiating NEEDS from WANTS. You NEED to drink water. You WANT a Starbucks. You may NEED some kind of vehicle to get around. You WANT a [fill in dream machine].

You have to figure out what you can afford on your monthly budget, and that includes a car payment of any kind, gas, maintenance and upkeep, any parking fees, auto insurance (which can be fairly expensive until you get past the age of 25-26). ** It is not good to fall in love with a vehicle type and engage in magical thinking which would cause you to stop or cut down savings and investment plans in your monthly budget. ** When you narrow down what make/model you can afford, you can ask auto insurance companies for an estimate. Many military members use USAA; I don’t know when ROTC cadets are eligible.

For someone just starting out who wants to build a strong financial base for future wealth, the earlier you start, the better. Choosing a used car in good condition that has a good safety rating can help lower monthly payments and auto insurance premiums. You’ll want something practical that can take you and some personal stuff between duty stations.

If you decide to get an auto loan, check rates and terms with the credit unions which cater to the military and usually offer competitive rates for auto loans. NFCU is one of the big ones.

If you lease a vehicle, there are usually fine print requirements about how much annual mileage you can put on it during the lease period, you may not move out of state with it, etc.

Talk about this with adults who you think have their financial house in order. in your family. Don’t assume all older adults know what they’re doing in this area!

Evaluate whether you NEED a vehicle or WANT a vehicle. I rode a bicycle during my 4 years of college, took public transportation, figured out how to get myself where I needed to go, even going home 3 states away. I didn’t NEED a car where I was at that time. I bought my first one as an O-1, insured it with USAA, got a small auto loan from NFCU and put down a chunk of my savings that I had earmarked for this to cut down the loan amount and monthly payment. At the same time, I had built up a healthy emergency savings account, always paid off the full amount on my credit card each month, had monthly allotments set up going from my military pay to my IRA and other investments, and a monthly budget set up.

Educate yourself. The financial decisions you make now can have long-lasting impacts. I strongly recommend you read/download the various guides/publications on personal financial management from the USAA Educational Foundation, an independent non-profit which does not sell or solicit USAA products or services. I used these as a JO. They helped me get a basic understanding. Review the entire site, check out “Resources.”


I commend you for starting to think about these things. And welcome to SAF, member of a few days!
 
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As someone with a Navy background, I always enjoy educating myself about the other services’ career fields.

The way I read your opening paragraph, it seemed like you have a Type I scholarship that drives you toward an AFSC specifically as an electrical engineer. I understand your Type 1 scholarship is linked to your intended major, but I am much vaguer about how that leads to an AFSC as an electrical engineer.
“So I have recently secured a type 1 electrical engineering specific scholarship. Under this scholarship, I am locked into Electrical engineering being my AFSC once I commission, but I have some questions on what the life of an EE officer in the AF is like.”

This intrigued me, so I went to look at a list of AFSC codes and can’t figure out which AFSC is specifically for electrical engineers


I will await for my knowledgeable AF brethren to coach you on this. I assume you have worked your way through all the menus and links at this site:
 
Never lease a car.
Don't buy a new car, buy a good used car and try to pay cash.
I suggest reading Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. Good, old-fashioned advice. Do not try to be like everyone else you see - most people, especially young adults with really nice stuff are also deep in debt.
My husband was an ME major (AFROTC) but spent most of his AF career doing CE work. His post-AF career has been mostly CE related.
 
Can you avoid the need for a car entirely for now? Public transportation , school bus system, buddies w cars and pay for their gas? My DD is starting school now too and won’t have one. Insurance alone is high often. Depreciation, upkeep , blah blah blah. Can you have a car on your campus as a freshman? Is it impossible to find parking? After you commission you may or may not need a car. Like if you’re deployed in Asia you won’t need your American car. just one perspective.
 
It is true that the AF is “critically manned” for 62EXEs, but I have not heard of a scholarship like you describe where your AFSC is locked in. A 2-yr missileer scholarship being a notable exception.

As far as the actual job, I’ll be honest, you will sort of be both “not a real engineer” and “not a real officer” leaving many of us dissatisfied with the career field. However, there are some interesting/exciting assignments and some opportunities to be technical/in the fight, but they are the vast minority.

Get a GRE done and try to go straight to AFIT for a Masters and it will be more likely that you can get a few years of technical work in and then you can run for the hills if being a civvie engineer i
 
Lease vs buy is an age old question, that no one can answer except you. Do you need a corvette and a lease equal to a monthly mortgage payment? Or is a 2 year lease of a Toyota (with a month lease payment as a deposit up front) to get you from place to place a better deal than buying a new or used car - that requires you to shell out tens of thousands to buy, or several thousand up front and a monthly payment on a car loan that charges you interest for a piece of metal that depreciates at a rate far exceeding what you could earn investing your cash? Do the math and decide for yourself.
 
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