<p>So I'm starting in Industrial Engineering next fall, hoping to transfer into another discipline given that I stay in Engineering. Here's my courseload senior year:</p>
<p>--AP Calc AB. Difficulty level is medium for me. Got a B first semester and holding a high B right now.</p>
<p>--AP Physics. This class is killing me. I love the material, but this class is just absolutely kicking my butt. I barely got a B first semester, and I had an A, but I tanked the Electricity Unit so now I'm working my way back up. I came from standard physics into AP so I'm not used to the difficulty -- I figure that's maybe part of my trouble.</p>
<p>I'm a super hard worker who stays on top of all the work, that's why I make good grades. My math skills are decent (advanced math in H.S.) but I'm not a math genius by any means. I'm pretty mechanically minded otherwise, hence why I want to do Engineering. I took AP Lang and scored out of freshman English, and the TAMU engineering schedule flyer they sent me only has one English class on there, so I'm assuming I've tested out for college.</p>
<p>I'm just seeing if anyone on here has any words of encouragement or advice for a future Engineering student. What disciplines are good/bad to transfer into? Any advice on Industrial Engineering? </p>
<ol>
<li>Don’t get behind in your work. You seem like someone who needs to work hard to understand the concepts (like me). Don’t get behind or you’ll get burned. Stay ahead, read, take good notes and do practice problems. </li>
</ol>
<p>Industrial engineering is one of the most less theoretically intense engineering disciplines. You don’t have to take all the higher level math. You are still well regarded when you graduate as well. I just had a friend who graduated from A&M with an industrial distribution degree (got burned in calculus, but turned it around in upper level). He had job offers from Exxon, SPX and an industrial bearing company. He took the SPX job and is making very good money .</p>
<p>I would not recommend taking Physics 208 (electricity physics) at A&M IF your major does not depend on it. If you’re going to do civil, even mechanical I would stay take it at a community college.</p>
<p>The engineering colleges have minimum GPA’s you need. Aim for higher if you want to transfer. Transferring can be a pain, so read up on the requirements before hand and know the classes you need to take. Which branch are you thinking about?</p>
<p>Also, there are a lot of TAMU engineering students who tutor. Ask someone in class who seems to always “get it”, or find a legit upper classman on Craig’s list. Do it when you are first trying to learn the concepts, and make it a part of your schedule to regularly get help if you feel you need it.
My son really enjoys tutoring - makes him feel he is really helping someone understand. He gets frustrated because people often seem to want him to help most the day before a test, which is too late! Math and Physics are usually why some people can’t do engineering. If you start to feel you might be better in another major, switch or drop classes before they hurt your GPA too much!</p>
<p>Work in groups, stay above the average, manage your time well. IF you can accomplish these three things, everything else will work out fine.</p>
<p>By the way, don’t let people scare you about taking freshman/sophomore weed-out classes at A&M (i.e. PHYS 208). The grading is a little harsh, but the difficulty and intensity of the material is cake compared to Junior/Senior level engineering classes. I, and many others, managed just fine taking these at A&M.</p>
<p>Thanks for the helpful replies guys. Chaos – I’m thinking about Mechanical, because I’m not really sure I want to work in a factory environment and the pay-scale for IE is actually quite a bit lower than the salaries for other Engineering Majors. Why is it harder to transfer to another discipline? Because at A&M, all Engineering students take the same classes freshman year, so basically when all of the other kids drop out after freshman year, you can take the open spots in other majors. That’s just what I was told by advisers at A&M.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that TAMU is good about tutoring. For this I am glad. The reason that I do well in school is because I seek help when I need it, and I have very good study habits as well. I know the material will be difficult, but I think I can handle it if I stay on top of it. I need a 2.75 GPA to keep my in-state tuition waiver too, so that’s another thing that’s keeping me on top of things. I think I will absolutely be able to keep a 3.0 for sure. My GPA in high school is like a 5.2/5 with mostly honors and AP classes. </p>
<p>I have heard that the freshman electricity/optics unit (Eng. 208) is the weed out class. The thing is that even though it will go way more in depth than I have gone now, I will have seen all that material in AP Physics already, so I will be ahead of the game with the basic knowledge. </p>
<p>I figure if all else fails, I’ll have the Corps to keep me in line grade-wise. I am good at managing my time and have developed excellent study habits and ask for help when I need it. Plus, I’ve have college credit for AP Lang (English 104), so that will free up some space in my schedule.</p>
<p>I go to UF but I just wanted to now what you guys at A and M see as the field with better job prospects, Industrial or Mechanical? I’m currently in Industrial but thinking to switch into Mechanical after my first year, I did quite well and pretty much took the same classes as the Mechanical guys.</p>
<p>I guess I will see as of next year…I want to switch to Mechanical too but the spots were filled up so I’m in Industrial right now. Have heard good things about it though.</p>
<p>Most student switch to IE after finding out they cannot hack the other Engineering majors. About the Corps keeping you in line…my son is in the Corps…during FISH Fall semester DO NOT take more than 1 hard class or a heavy load!!! Just warning you. Spring semester they are teaching you how to be a PH so it is less difficult to get upperclassmen tutoring/assistance. BTW, which Corps Unit are you joining?</p>
<p>Well as of now I’m not taking English 104 because I tested out of that, but I’m taking Math 151 (calc 1), and Physics 208 (Mechanics) and Eng 111. I took AP Calc and AP Physics so I think I should have the leg up for these classes but I know it is going to be hard. I’m really not sure what outfit I’m going to join yet. I have it narrowed down to a few but I didn’t get any ROTC scholarships so my options are pretty open.</p>
<p>Also, don’t drop a test until after you talk with the prof, because one test my son’s freshman year he had a 1st test grade in the high 30’s. A friend of his had something similar and dropped the class. Turned out - that low grade was curved up to an “A”.</p>