There's probably not a black-and-white correct answer here, but I'm curious if anyone has any insights here that might help me choose the direction I want to take my education.
Little bit of background:
I'm 35. I didn't got to college after high school because I was bored out of my skull in school and didn't know what I wanted to do. I worked as a commercial diver for 5 years, and then moved to heavy equipment repair where I eventually developed a speciality in troubleshooting integrated hydraulic systems. I became the go-to guy in the area for figuring out hydraulic problems others couldn't.
I enjoyed what I did until a few years ago, because I love learning. However, I started to get bored a few years ago, because I had kind of reached that point in hydraulics where my learning curve was quite flat.
So I decided to get a job for a big company maintaining factory equipment, and they're paying for my degree. It's completely open ended, with no restrictions on the path I choose.
I'm quite intelligent (not trying to be boastful, but a healthy estimate of my IQ is around 145, and I have always tested well/learned quickly). I love math, and apply math to real-life situations easily. And, as I already mentioned, I love figuring things out.
I'm about to finish my AS in general science, I kept my GPA up (4.0) and took math through differential equations, so my options are fairly open.
I am likely going to use ASU's online bachelors program. I am aware the reviews are a bit mixed, but I am good at teaching myself and because I work I need the flexibility.
I'm considering:
ASU - Data Science w/ Mathematics track- I'm smart, good at applying math, and my programming skills are remnants of 2 years of C++ in high school 18 years ago, so all the programming classes will help get me up to speed there. I think my real-life experience solving problems will make me good at this work, and I think because you're always looking for patterns in data the field will satisfy my desire to figure things out.
ASU - Physics, possibly w/accelerated masters in Material Science - Physics fascinates me, and if I can actually get a job in material development or doing orbital modeling for aerospace companies or something like that I would enjoy that. My hang up here is that jobs in true physics works are limited, and I'll likely just wind up working in data analysis of some sort anyway. Though perhaps physics could also open up a few engineering jobs for me, since I have a strong mechanical background.
ASU - Mechanical Engineering - natural continuation of my career so far. However, pay is not fantastic, and it doesn't fascinate me much. I'll likely wind up in a spot designing hydraulic systems or components, and a lot of the coursework would be stuff I already know. Maybe the most practical, but the least interesting to me.
IU - Mathematics - I like math, and a math major is fairly flexible because you learn a lot of modeling and programming along the way, so it does open up the door for quite a few different data and engineering jobs. I am confident in my ability to get a good GPA, and I know some companies go out of their way to hire high GPA math majors.
Does anyone that works in these fields (or not) have any input here? It's difficult for me to pick a direction here, they all seem like good ideas for different reasons. I tentatively think data science is the best idea, followed by mathematics. Most of what I can come up with online is people complaining they can't get jobs with any of these, and when I ask around in real life most people seem to think any of these would be fine, and I could realistically get a data science job or similar with any of these degrees.
Sorry for the long post, but I appreciate any input!