Looking for advice how to be successful in college?
…Study? You’re going to have to be more specific. If you want generalities, just read the existing threads.
I guess I am looking for what is some common mistakes people make while pursuing a engineering major? Things be wary of when pursuing this major? If that makes sense.
Don’t take too high of unit loads.
Keep up with the homework.
Ask for help early and often.
Get to know your profs.
Don’t cheat!!!
Don’t be discouraged if your freshman year is HARD. I had never even made a B in my life, but I got a C in physics my first semester in college. I was mortified! I recovered and ended up graduating with high honors.
If your dorm is too chaotic, go to the library to study.
If you have the time, do more homework problems than the professor assigns.
@albert69 what would be consider as too high?
@MaineLonghorn is it true that there are “weeder classes”? and also thank you for the other tips it is greatly appreciated 
That depends on the person, but I would 18+ units in engineering overkill. 15 is hopefully ok, though 12 is best.
I think the truth is more that courses in engineering are challenging and some students aren’t as prepared as they thought they were or need to be to do well in those courses. Calc 2 or Physics aren’t designed to “weed” out students, you need those courses to continue your engineering education. The courses are not going to get easier. I know someone who dropped out of a ChemE program because of Physical Chemistry (I believe he is now a Civil Engineer). P Chem isn’t a weeder course, it’s required for a ChemE major. I suppose that weeding out is one of the results of first year courses in engineering but I don’t believe that is their purpose.
12 units, lol. With 12 units a semester at my university, you’d graduate in approximately six years.
@bodangles what university is that? and maybe the calendar is different at @albert69 like 3 semesters(trimesters) instead the typically 2
If you go to 12 credit hours a semester, you should graduate in five years at most semester based schools.
Difficulty varies from school to school, department to department, class to class, even professor to professor. You’ll know “too much” when you see it. Most students only go there once.
I go to Penn State, and the ChemE major (for example) is about 134 credits according to the recommended academic plan. Divided by 12 credits per semester, it’s slightly over 11 semesters (assuming you don’t have any problems with sequence–as in, a class you need is only offered in the fall so you have to wait an extra semester to take it).
You’re right, I didn’t think about trimesters! And other majors would have an easier time of it. But engineering has a very structured recommended schedule. 
I definitely went to “too much” once and my GPA clocked in nearly a full point lower for me that semester compared to the previous semesters. It took me a few to fully recover from that. For me that was 22 hours.
@lvvcsf well by the time I have take calc 2 I would I have taken both regular calc and advanced placement calc same with physics so I am hoping I am prepared
@boneh3ad Wow 22 hours that is like around 6 or 7 classes a semesters that is insane did you learn a lot? Or was it worth it?
Like I said, my GPA was like a full point lower that semester. You can draw your own conclusions based on that, but I’d say that I did learn all that much and it was a naive mistake to take that many hours. There just isn’t enough time.
My son is currently taking Linear Analysis, Physics III, Statics, a Solidworks course, a manufacturing processes course (specifically materials casting) and technical writing. To quote him, “I am ridiculously busy.” I don’t think he’s looking to repeat the experience.