<p>Geez.. sorry for what I'm about to say but its just irritating watching how in almost every post you somehow bring it back to the subject of.. Oh, I work long hours. I'm a structural engineer. I design ********.I work for a top-notch firm. I worked my butt off in grad school.. Civil engineering is not easy.. i studied this and that and vibrations and seismic crap..
yeahh ok we or rather I get it. Civil engineering is no walk in the park. You're real smart and a big pat on the back for what you've achieved. Must be stressful working long hours..... that appease your ego?
sorry but just had to let that out.. phew, i feel better now</p>
<p>^ that was for aibarr btw.. and sorry again</p>
<p>don't worry too much, when i was an engineering student I had similar problems, a professor told me that a lot of faculty weren't geniuses either, but they all shared a passion for engineering, he knew of many PhD candidates at Stanford who have gotten C's, D's or even failed classes in their undergraduate years.</p>
<p>It is hard, like many others have said, you need to balance your time realistically, like saturday+sunday night--> go out, and come home before 1 AM. No matter how demanding your curriculum is, you can afford two nights out a week. Everybody goes through the same thing, gaining that confidence of yourself through perseverance is really one of the great advantages of an engineering degree.</p>
<p>If you knew aiibar, you'd realize shes one of the most modest people around here always giving her honest opinion. I didn't sense a modicum of arrogance or self promotion in her post. What gives?</p>
<p>yea engineering sucks ass....you get Cs, work your ass off but see yourself go down in flames come midterm time and get no respect from girls, but believe me it's worth it knowing that you are learning something worthwhile. Stick with it.</p>
<p>umm you know what, i just realized my folly.. i take back what i said..seeing as aibarr was online seconds back, i think she hasn't read it yet and i'm glad.. so, aibarr if you read this at all, please disregard the first two comments..they were immature and baseless.. you probably like i said worked your butt off specially in grad school.. and saying this as sincerely as i can, with no sarcasm whatsoever... after all the hard work, you deserve to occasionally flaunt your achievements a lil.. heck,i'd say.. be proud (as i'm sure thats all u are) of where and who you are and umm don't let bums like me say crap for no reason...
sowie again.. no hard feelings</p>
<p>No, I read it... I just figured I'd let it ride.</p>
<p>I think my main two messages here kind of got crossed. I should be more clear... My main two points that I try to get across on CC are:</p>
<p>1) Not gonna lie, engineering's not a cakewalk, even the so-called "easy" majors like civil engineering. (And that yeah, it irks me when people call it an easy major, so, shmaa! =P ) BUT that I want to offer myself up as proof that it doesn't take a natural-born rocket scientist to become a pretty decent engineer.</p>
<p>2) I think the hard work that engineers do in school and in the field is ultimately worth it, because I'm really, really excited about the stuff I get to work on. I know lots of other engineers are, too. If you met me and asked me about what I was working on, I would excitedly bubble on and on about the cool projects that I can't quite believe that they let me touch with a ten-foot pole.</p>
<p>So, it's not a pride or ego thing, it's just my desire to not delude anybody into thinking that since I think engineering is ridiculously fun, that I also think that it's something you can cruise on through. Because I know that I'm not smart enough to have cruised through my career so far without a ton of elbow grease, since I'm <em>not</em> some brilliant engineer. I was pretty good at math and science, but I got some C's in college, and I turned out okay. I still get to work on really interesting things. I just really would've liked it if someone had told me that I'd turn out just fine despite some C's when I was in college <em>getting</em> those C's, so that I wouldn't freak out quite as much as I did! </p>
<p>But I can see how someone who hasn't read every single one of my posts (and oh god please don't… 1675 is not a small number…) might read my posts as me being an arrogant ass. No hard feelings, and I'll try to be clearer in the future.</p>
<p>Sorry to hijack, OP. Definitely seconding keefer's post.</p>
<p>yea, it's tough but you just deal with it and get into the groove...before you know it it's over</p>
<p>I can't stand the fact that we don't get any electives. I plan on going to grad school for a very technical program, yet I won't be able to satisfy the entry requirements with an engineering degree.</p>
<p>I will stick my 2 cents in even though I'm not an engineer. I did a liberal arts degree at Carleton (Ottawa)--and was in class or studied 10+ hours/ day 7 days per week my first 2 years--in order to have grades in the top 80's. And that had nothing to do with my ability.</p>
<p>The general rule of thumb is 3 hours/ wk of work outside of class for every hour that you spend in class. </p>
<p>Everybody has to take courses they aren't interested in to meet degree requirements. And when you have a job, you will find that you like some parts and not others--but you have to do them anyway.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The general rule of thumb is 3 hours/ wk of work outside of class for every hour that you spend in class.
[/quote]
I heard it was 2 hrs/wk of work outside of class for every hour inside class.</p>
<p>I second the 2 hrs/wk.</p>
<p>At UCLA, the dean announced that it was 3 hours of work (studying, reading, lab reports, problem sets) for every hour spent in class. This includes lectures and recitations.</p>
<p>I just wanted to say that I was really frustrated with my freshman year of engineering (BME) coming to a close. I was tired and burnt-out after studying for nearly 10-months straight ( Summer semester, Fall, Spring) and I definitely fell into a "funk" in terms of doing work and getting things done like I used to during the Summer and the Fall. Additionally, I transferred schools so it was a difficult transition and I spent the first half of the semester in practical solitude until I started making friends through classes. My GPA when I entered was nearly a 4.0, and this semester I barely made Dean's list (3.58, I am a huge overacheiver and this is sub-par for me) due to some of classes being huge weeders and me simply not being as diligent as I once was last semester. I was honestly thinking about dropping my major last week, but after reading this thread I feel a lot better about what I am doing and am ready to get back to work next semester.</p>