<p>I would not underestimate the power of social networks even within large corporations, for the essential problem remains that you need to be able to work well with others in the company, and it is difficult to know whether you can do that simply by virtue of your resume and an interview. Hence, one of the most important advantages you can have if you want a job at a large company is to have somebody on the inside who is willing to vouch for you.</p>
<p>sorry i just saw this thread and am reading the earlier posts…havent caught up with page 14 yet lol, but in response to:</p>
<p>“Yeah, the engineering classes sometimes make you do proofs.” -saaky</p>
<p>in my undergrad at UCLA (mechE), my control systems midterm had me prove/illustrate the concept of convolution graphically. <em>sigh</em></p>
<p>stronger engineering programs are generally more theory based rather than hands-on/lab-intensive (such as cal poly schools) because they train their students to become effective “thinkers”, not just simply generic technicians</p>
<p>most our midterms/finals, in general, gave problems that definitely were not similar to homeworks, but rather challenged the student to explore new and unfamiliar problem solving techniques that wouldnt be taught in the textbook. again, schools such as LA or stanford (which i currently attend), develop their students into analytical and cerebral artists, not just a plug-and-chug expert that a lesser tier school might emphasize</p>
<p>Oh, is THAT way I struggled on midterms and finals, lol? Sometimes I’d look at the test and wonder if I’d been sitting in the wrong class all semester!</p>
<p>That’s what makes engineering so much more difficult than other classes. I remember that most of my midterms were just 2-3 problems that really tested your ability to start at the fundamentals and generate a solution.</p>
<p>I remember back in UG fluids the professor could just say that the no-slip BC wasn’t valid, the density wasn’t constant or the fluid wasn’t newtonian, and that could really separate the plug-chuggers with the thinkers. </p>
<p>While it was scary while taking the exam it was really testing whether we knew the core concepts. To this day never underestimate the importance of a force or energy balance.</p>
<p>In my opinion, if someone wants to go into engineering they should go to the best college that they can get into for it. This is because, it is very easy to get into engineering programs at large state school like mine at Penn State. The engineers here (not me), are all very similar in a couple of ways. For one, they are all very certain that within ten minutes of their graduation they will be making a secure six figure salary for their entire lives. They also possess Everest-sized egos about their intelligence, and are very cocky in the classroom. I call this “I’m Smart”. It is my hunch that the “I’m Smart” problem may be a pandemic nationwide at these large state school engineering programs since the students are generally from poorer, less intelligent areas and were all probably the smartest in their class of around 30 people. </p>
<p>These students that are ill with “I’m Smart” disease, see absolutely no reason to prove anything and believe all theories are proven by induction involving 2 base cases, (if 3 is prime and 5 is prime, okay so 7,9,11,13,15… are all prime). The engineers here are required to take no more math than differential equations, yet they are the only students that will openly talk about their fantastic, unreal, and intuitive given math ability. Looking at other engineering programs nationwide, little require proof based mathematics at all. </p>
<p>I also think that at the higher level schools in engineering (MIT, Carnegie Mellon, Caltech, etc), the students level of intelligence has almost put them in an awkward position their whole lives, and they are not about going around ranting about how incredibly good at math they are. Even if a student wanted to do that at MIT, it would not be a good idea since at places like that, you can be certain that anywhere within five feet of you is someone who could potentially make you look like a second grader in math.</p>
<p>Galoisfan, it is ridiculously apparent that you have never met an MIT student/grad. I have never met anyone as cocky about their intelligence as someone who goes to MIT.</p>
<p>It is a great school, and a lot of the people there are absolutely brilliant, but the egos are insane.</p>
<p>I think engineering majors are cocky in general. Let’s go with that :)</p>
<p>I’d have to agree, but sometimes engineers have a right to be cocky (not among themselves though…)</p>
<p>“Galoisfan, it is ridiculously apparent that you have never met an MIT student/grad. I have never met anyone as cocky about their intelligence as someone who goes to MIT.”</p>
<p>I don’t think about myself that way at all…and the people I hung around with weren’t that way either. I usually won’t even admit to my MIT education in social circles unless you drag it out of me. I think the world has plenty of cocky people at all education levels and MIT does not have a corner on the market.</p>
<p>No, MIT does not have a corner on the market. Not even close. And it could be worse… they could be Princeton grads. Usually when I notice an MIT grad being cocky, it isn’t some loud-mouthed type of cocky. It is usually more subtle and just how they carry themselves more than what they say. Kudos to you for avoiding talking about where you got your education. I think that is something to be lauded, since I don’t think a person should be judged (educationally) by where they were educated, but by what the end result of that education was.</p>
<p>Boneh3ad is right, the end result of the education is all that really matters. Sure, I bet MIT as a whole has a much “smarter” average but I have met MIT graduates who really didn’t know what they were talking about. On the other side, I have met very smart and capable engineers from universities I never heard of.</p>
<p>Though this is a side note, I have found that IIT (India) students to be cockier than most.</p>
<p>I think the school I have met with the cockiest engineering grads is the University of Oklahoma of all places. Apparently having a good football program makes their engineering school good? They aren’t even the best engineering school in their own state in my opinion.</p>
<p>I don’t know that MIT would even be in the top 5 as far as the places I have found to have the cockiest grads to be honest, but most that I have met are still cocky, but loose cockiness points due to the subtle nature I have found in my own personal experiences (someone else’s experience may differ).</p>
<p>oh my goodness, this is a good topic ^^^</p>
<p>the cockiest engineering bastards ive met are from Cal Poly SLO…this one guy at a past internship would always talk about why his school was so great, and he CONSISTENTLY reminded me “Hey, did you know Cal Poly SLO has been the #1 mechanical engineering school in the western united states for the last X yrs?”…at first i thought he was just being weird because there was no way in the world that i could imagine SLO being compared to stanford, caltech, or berkeley… i eventually realized that his claim came with an asterisk of being ranked amongst schools who’s highest degree offered is a masters…and the sad thing is that a good part of me thinks that he actually believes SLO to be better than stanford/caltech/etc…</p>
<p>and coincidentally, my friend also said that one of his co-interns from a past summer was from SLO, and that my friend hated him too because of how cocky they were.</p>
<p>obviously a gross generalization, but i feel like SLO people try to compensate…they know they’re a solid engineering school, and they want to be compared with the bigger research schools. and they also seem to brag alot about how they “Learn by doing”.</p>
<p><em>sigh</em>, if i never met this guy, i probably wouldnt hate on SLO at all.</p>