Engineering is something I’ve always thought I would be interested in and good at. My whole life it seems as though I’ve had talent in math fields, finishing with top exam scores throughout high school. Of the engineering fields, I’ve declared ChemE for really no reason other than the fact that my mom has a degree in ChemE and my brother is a sophomore ChemE student. Anyways, I just finished my senior year with an A in both my Introductory college chemistry course and AP Calculus AB. In chemistry I had at least a 95 on all but 1 of my exams (87) and in calc I scored a 5 on the practice test we took (Actual scores don’t come out till July). Also 34 math ACT. Considering how little I had to work for this level of performance, I like to think i should be able crank it up and maintain a 3.4 college GPA to keep my scholarships and earn a well-paying engineering job. I also just pledged a fraternity so I plan on having some fun as well. Are my expectations realistic? Or will I really have to work my ass off for a 3.4? Also, any premed ChemE thoughts? Thanks!
When you mean a 3.4 GPA,do you mean high-school because then you would not need to work your ass off to keep your scholarships showing how well you have already done. If you mean college then it depends on what school you go to because some colleges have more rigor than others. For engineering you will need to work very hard because you have a lot to go through.(lots of projects/and analysis of what you did in those) So overall if you put in the work you will succeed.
I do think that anyone who manages to be successful with college-level courses in high school should have the ability to succeed in an engineering program with the sometimes gradual, sometimes sudden uptick in effort that the program requires, and to be able to have reasonable side commitments as well. However, I’m going to have to be very blunt here:
Lose this train of thought instantly because it’s just straight up incorrect. If you have an easy time of high school and you think that college is going to be just a little bit harder, you’re going to be in for a rude awakening come exam time. The kind of environment that allows you to think you’re easily getting by with multiple AP classes in high school is an artificially simplified environment that gives you twice as long as you actually have in college to learn a topic, and teaches you all the tricks of a very standardized curriculum. If you think that will pass in any serious engineering program, then you are wrong.
Even for the best of students, taking multiple AP classes in a fashion that simulates the college experience (i.e. with equal time. equal depth, and equal rigor in grading as equivalent college courses) is a very significant challenge. Those who talk about how easy they had it in high school had it simplified for them by their high school and until college, they weren’t even capable of realizing it until after they were brutalized by college chemistry/calculus/etc.
A 3.4 GPA in engineering is a very difficult achievement, that maybe 30% of the already rather self-selected group of engineering graduates can manage to achieve. If you think that you are instantly going to get that with a little more effort than it takes to complete high school “college chemistry” and Calc AB with decent high school grades, then you’re going to be in for a rude awakening.
Maintaining a 3.4+ in engineering can be very difficult as a college student, even if you had superb performance in high school with little effort. Trust me, because I graduated from high school with over a 3.9, I went in thinking having to maintain a 3.5 is such a low standard, only to realize how difficult it is to do so. Being a college student in engineering will teach you to be content with B grades.
If you know you enjoy engineering, that’s great. But choose an engineering specialty where you feel confident in your ability to succeed in and are content with studying, not because family member(s) had done it. If you feel that you can succeed in chemE, go for it. If not, better to choose another major sooner rather than later. Engineering majors all have many requirements with long chains of prerequisites, meaning that switching majors too late in the game will most definitely delay your graduation.
Agree with others that a 3.4 GPA in college is generally a lot harder to earn than a 3.4 GPA in high school.
I think you may be like the athlete that has the natural build and athleticism to be very competitive in HS without expending too much effort. Unless you’re a rare talent, to move up to the college level will require that you work a good deal harder. You will be required to take the equivalent of AP Chem, AP Calc BC, AP Physics C, labs, and likely an intro to engineering course plus other courses just to prepare yourself for your sophomore year where things will get more difficult. You will probably be in large classes with a group of students equally if not a lot more prepared than yourself. Discipline and study habits will definitely come into to play. You’ll be required to study not just longer but more effectively. Much of what you learn will be self taught (things that you will be tested on will not necessarily be covered in class) and home work will count for little if not none of your grade. Tests and projects will be all that you have to prove yourself.
I don’t tell you this to scare you away from it but to ask you the question, are really willing to put the time and organization in that is required to be successful? None of us here can tell you if you’ll be successful, that’s on you, but I can predict that it will be more challenging than just “cranking up” what you’re currently doing.
“Also, any premed ChemE thoughts?”
It is my understanding that getting into medical school is VERY contingent on your GPA. While Chem E would certainly provide you more than the prerequisite science and math courses for medical school (excepting the biology, anatomy and physiology and psychology) you will also be studying some very challenging courses that will have nothing to do with pre-med requirements. Thermo Dynamics, Fluids, Separations, Reactions, Physical Chemistry and others are not easy courses and could potentially derail chances for med school. Given that you would still need to take the above mentioned med school prereqs, which would not be particularly easy electives, you have given yourself quite a challenge.
I think the others have explained pretty well how high school grades doesn’t translate to college.
Regarding the GPA requirement - I’m at a school right now that requires me to keep a 3.5 for scholarships. Getting a 3.4 or 3.5 is doable, between a quarter and a third of engineering students do it every year. But if you HAVE to keep a 3.4 in order to stay in college or get into med school, then it absolutely sucks, because that dictates everything you do.
To keep your GPA as high as possible, you’ll probably end up taking a minimum amount of credit hours with the easiest profs you can find. That means any minors or personal-interest classes are off the table, and you’ll have to avoid some really good lecturers as well. As far as your social life - grades will always have to come first. If you have lots of homework or an exam to prep for, forget going out that weekend. You will also have to drop any organizations as soon as they start interfering with school. It can be easy to get yourself isolated. And don’t underestimate the pressure of having to make an A in such and such classes every semester, especially after you just had a bad exam. I lose a lot of nights of sleep over stuff like that. It all can be done, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not as easy as you’re thinking.
You definitely don’t want to walk in freshman year with this “it’s gonna be just like high school, I’m going to have some fun” mentality. Classes only get harder as you go further along, and As become a lot more uncertain. There are some brutal upper-level classes where your exam scores are going to be in the 30s or 40s, and your grade is going to pretty much be at the mercy of your professor’s curve. To ensure that you can eat some bad grades there, you want to pad your GPA as high as possible with the relatively safe intro stuff. If you try and take it easy on those courses (which are still difficult classes that require a lot of work), you might fall behind early and put yourself in a very difficult spot later on. Give yourself some leash going forward and do everything you can to get a 4.0 freshman year.