Hah, similar story here but biomedical engineer with physics & EE minors instead. I wouldn't say that at 17 our brains were too underdeveloped, but that without real world experience there was too much we didn't understand -- that our universities are training more qualified applicants than there are jobs for our fields, so companies can have their pick of the litter. And I sometimes see people talk about university as a path to scholarship, professorship, tenure, etc.. and that kind of discussion is so foreign to me because even when I was in school 10 years ago it was very obvious that those positions were too competitive, so the school was training us for industry instead.
But when you're that age, it's impossible to weigh the economics of how many MRI / CT / medical imaging engineering positions are going to be available when you graduate in 4 years, vs how many other fresh grads will be applying for them. The only thing you know is that if you diverge from the path expected of you too much, the other fresh grads will have a competitive advantage over you so you just have to take the gamble that what you're studying will be employable.
