<p>I'm going to major in mechanical engineering when I go to college after this upcoming senior year and I would like to hear from current students what their days are like. I am willing to work hard, take a rigorous course load, and I don't mind taking classes early in the morning. I organize my time well and get a lot of my high school work out of the way early when I can. I'm not the most social person in the world but I do hang out with friends every so often and I do other stuff. I do golf but I will not be on a college team most likely but I can always do this on the weekends. This sounds weird but one of the biggest things I want to be able to do is go the gym almost every day. I workout 4-5 times a week and each workout is about an hour give or take a little. Will I have time to do this, hang out occasionally, and be able to maintain good grades?</p>
<p>Time. Management.</p>
<p>What is up with these threads lately? Yes you can date. Yes you can do things besides study.</p>
<p>^ Aichuk pretty much said the solution. Plan out your days and give yourself ample study time and ample working out/fun time. If you do this, you should be able to do everything else you want to do.</p>
<p>Yes you can have a life. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’d love to say more but I have to get back to studying all weekend.</p>
<p>Haha. Yes man, its not going to be the end of the world as you know it. Just requires some discipline. I lift 4 times/week for about an hr. I have a wife and have to do all the things associated with having a wife. I have friends that I catch lunch and some beers with every once in a while. I’m in a couple student clubs, but not super involved, just enough. I make sure that I get A’s in all my classes… Just manage your priorities, sometimes it sucks and you’re overloaded, sometimes you’re not. Take it seriously, but don’t sweat it.</p>
<p>^ do you also work, Chucktown?</p>
<p>This had been asked many of times. </p>
<p>The answer is no. Engineers can’t have lives.</p>
<p>I co-op’d and it was really well paying. So after the coop I was able to save around 5-6k and that would float me through the year. Also, I have been on the GI Bill, so a lot of my school is covered and I get a monthly stipend.</p>
<p>One of my friends is a very hard working guy in Aero Engineering who’s a co-op student. He works out everyday and also goes to parties pretty much every week/weekend. He has a schedule and sticks to it and is always half a week ahead of schedule for homework. He’s good. </p>
<p>It’s possible</p>
<p>No. The entire point of an engineering education is to put yourself behind a desk and study 10 hours a day, without any time for recreational activities, with the ultimate goal of turning yourself into a human calculator.</p>
<p>The sarcasm in this post amuses me…</p>
<p>Both of my kids are engineering majors at top engineering schools. They find that they have to work harder and longer than most of their peers in other majors but they still find time to have a life beyond engineering.</p>
<p>My son who just finished his freshman year worked out nearly every day, was on a project team, worked 6-10 hours per week and got decent grades. He managed his time well which was not his strength in high school. He went to a lot of concerts and parties on weekends.</p>
<p>My daughter is going to be a senior. She is active in her sorority and does some independent research. She turns down a fair number of social opportunities sometimes due to lack of time, sometimes due to lack of interest. She would be the first to tell you time management is key. Get your work done first, then socialize. and, the competition in your classes may be harder than you expect as most engineering students were strong students in high school. </p>
<p>Plan ahead and try to stay ahead. With engineering you really cannot fall behind becuase the work load is heavy the entire year. When D was a freshman, she had some ongoing health issues where she was sick nearly half the first semester. She had to work extremely hard to keep up. Once she got healthy she was fine, but had she been behind when she got sick, she would have been in serious academic peril.</p>
<p>Engineers do have a life at college. Just be efficient and follow the same behaviors you have in high school and you will be fine.</p>
<p>Engineers are machines, their life is to work. You start practicing how to be a machine when you are in college. </p>
<p>Btw, If you think your schedule is too much, you can always take fewer courses per semester and graduate later.</p>
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<p>Who’s being sarcastic?</p>
<p>Engineering students are not allowed to lift weights. They must be pocket protector-wearing, pencil-neck geeks!!</p>
<p>I used to compete in power lifting when I was going for my undergrad CS degree at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. (Former Alaska record holder…although considering there were only about five of us who competed in the same weight class, maybe not that big of a deal.) About two hours in the gym every other day, and an hour of cross-country skiing on the days I wasn’t lifting. I can’t claim I was a great student, but I was an OK student, and didn’t have a problem finding a job after graduation.</p>
<p>Our S is an EE. While he was a student at a good U, he went to the gym as desired, started a rock climbing club, and JR and SR years worked part time as an EE researcher. He had time for fun and friends with good time management and got better grades in EE than HS. </p>
<p>It’s true many other at his U didn’t work as hard in college as engineers, but he and his peers generally had an easier time getting good jobs, I believe.</p>
<p>Okay that’s all I need to hear, thanks. I know you can have free time but I just wanted to know how much, assuming you’re on task and do your work first.</p>