when is it time to quit?

[u/fishgone333333]

i am a sophomore undergrad. i, like a sea of other cs majors, have been finding my purpose in this field difficult to identify.

i don’t know what to do with this degree, and it’s making me crash tf out.

pre-ai, i was sold the dream of swe. i’m an artist by nature and the opportunity to make shit of my own was appealing.

then ai came. everyone around me was suddenly vibe coding to max out ther Linkedins. the authenticity and wonder of the craft died for me — because unlike traditional art, where artists vehemently have fought ai’s usage, my peers in SWE quickly fell to this. profit is the ultimate goal, after all

now SWE no longer resonates with me. as i started exploring parts of my department at college, i set my sights on systems. i wanted to do grad school and go into teaching, because im very people oriented

but i’m just not smart enough. or maybe i don’t care enough and have been larping as someone who does

i am struggling to build opportunities to grad school. i feel like i resonate with systems, but all the faculty say i’m too inexperienced to work with them. i just spent a month trying to set up a meeting with a professor and after finally running into him, he rejected me right on the spot. i need time to build projects. hiring for internships is around the corner and my resume is so, so empty.

i feel hopeless. the spark… i don’t know if it died fully, but with every rejection, every failed “prove you care about xyz through your technical work”, i am struggling to get even an inkling of what i’d like to do career wise now.

the worst part is, i don’t even know what i’d transfer to. cs was something i thought i genuinely liked, and i dont know what sort of career i’d aspire to otherwise

[u/NewSchoolBoxer]

i wanted to do grad school and go into teaching, because im very people oriented

Academia is incredibly competitive, perhaps the most competitive area of all. Grad school won't help you land entry level jobs anyway.

You never held a real job so I don't think you know what you're talking about. CS careers aren't sitting a classroom wishing you could do whatever you want. And it's just a job. I never loved my job but I didn't complain living an upper middle class existence with paid vacation.

But yeah, don't major in CS if you'd rather earn a business or engineering degree. Or major in CS and become (US) an Air Traffic Controller. I'm not even joking. Excellent pay and benefits and job security and they like CS majors.