Concerned about difficulty of engineering...

College Search & Selection
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<p>I think electrical engineering would a perfect fit for me in terms of a career, but I am not sure about the material covered in the major. Is it far and beyond say a class like Calc BC? I think the job would fit my interests and expectations and give me flexibility. I am seriously considering this as a major so any advice on the degree or profession in general would be of great help. I am only scared away by difficulty. What do you think of this set of classes?</p>

<p><a href="http://www.asu.edu/provost/smis/ceas/bse/eebse.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.asu.edu/provost/smis/ceas/bse/eebse.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Lastly, ASU or U of A for engineering? How tough is it compared to a medical route?</p>

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<p>This September, I'm enrolling as a Computer Engineer (very closely related to EE, but focused more on the computer aspects) at Rochester Institute of Technology.</p>

<p>I too am worried about the difficulty, but the way I see it is this: if it's something you really think you want to do, then it shouldn't be that hard. Right now in HS, you're probably taking the most advanced math/science courses and doing fairly well in them. Sure college is harder, but if math and stuff comes easily for you, engineering shouldn't be too overwhelming....at least in theory; I could be eating my words about a year from now :P.</p>

<p>On a more directly related answer: medical school is hard--I thought I might want to enter, but my dad is a podiatrist, and he keeps telling me his his horror stories of going to school, coming home, and studying from the time he got home until 2am every night monday through friday...then he went out and partied over the weekend, but still, it's a lot of work. And he keeps saying, "all that studying, and all I do is clip toenails all day!" He also does surguries, but he exaggerates that all he does is clip toenails. He usually goes on to say, "I really enjoy doing surguries, but clipping toenails is a real pain in the ass."</p>

<p>Engineering school is also hard. Damn it, I just saw my uncle the other day--he's an EE. Since I don't see him often, I usually forget to ask him about the difficulty of engineering. It certainly isn't going to be a walk in the park!</p>

<p>In general, the difficulty of a major really depends on what you're interested in. For me, English is my most difficult course, I have a C in college/career prep english, yet I have an A+ in AP Calc, and a B+ in AP Physics and AP Chem.</p>

<p>As for medical stuff...I probably wouldn't be too good, I have a hard time just memorizing where all the muscles are, and the names of several arteries and such. Oh, by the way, one thing my dad told me is that he had to know so much about the human body...for instance, he had to know which nerve connected to a point x on the hand, where it connected with the brain, which muscles it was associated with, and a whole slew of other mundane details that one wouldn't think is important. I can tell you right now, that would be out of my league.</p>

<p>To make a long story short, they're both difficult majors, and you should chose the one which you think would enjoy more. It's always easier to learn the material when you enjoy it.</p>

<p>Oh my god, this post is huge, sorry for my rambling, theoretically, I could delete it all and just keep the paragraph before this and keep the same meaning. I suppose the insight into the medical major was helpful though.</p>

<p>One thing I forgot to mention is that although my dad studied to be a podiatrist, he had to know the entire body inside out and backwards, so don't think that just by saying you want to be a specialist of one part of the body, you will only have to study that part--you will study that part in more detail than the rest of the body, but you will still have to know the rest of the body.</p>

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<p>engineering has probably one of the highest attrition rates...</p>

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<p>SnP2k, that was a wonderful reply. Thanks for your time, I really appreciate it!</p>

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<p>Only a third of Engineering freshmen eventually graduate in that major. I recall this fraction was about half at UIUC, which is a top 5 program.</p>

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<p>SnP2K... great post!</p>

<p>I too am a prospective engineering major who is a little unsure if I'm going to be able to handle the load but I figure I should atleast try. When you think about it, all the engineers aren't super-smart-research-maniacs... there are plenty of just average people. When I doubt myself I think about my peers... I don't know of one kid in my school who I couldn't outsmart in math and mathematically related sciences. I'm looking at civil & environmental engineering which isn't as tough as EE but still... I'm nervous. </p>

<p>You can do anything you put your time and mind to... the question is how much you are willing to give up to accomplish this goal.</p>

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<p>Not too good at all!! I'm in for some real hard stuff then! Does anyone know why is it so hard? I knew it was hard...but that seems ultrahard. When people say things like this, I usually think that's just because the other 2/3 that drop out joined engineering because that's what their friends joined, or they just weren't good in math/science, or maybe it's simply a little harder than other majors, but most of the kids in it decided to waste their time partying instead of studying.</p>

<p>At least, that's what I find the case to be at my HS...kids complain something's hard and then i find out later that they didn't do any of the homework, or didn't study for any of the tests. It's like, "that's why it's hard!! if you paid attention and did the work, it wouldn't be so hard"</p>

<p>At least I'm hoping the 2/3 of the drop outs were slackers. I could be very wrong though. Hopefully someone will reply with some good information or stats...in the mean time a nice google search will suffice.</p>

<p>EDIT:</p>

<p>at the time I originally posted this, someone else posted.</p>

<p>
[quote]
You can do anything you put your time and mind to... the question is how much you are willing to give up to accomplish this goal.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>So true! The best thing is when it seems impossible, and then you pull of a respectable grade. The feeling is really good, whereas if you ace an easy course it's like, "yeah, whatever."</p>

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<p>Hahahaha, I hate to keep bringing my dad into the picture. I think it makes me sound weird, but I was just talking with him about college stuff...and he's like, "Just remember one thing: C = MD" hahahhaha. In other words, a grade of C or better gets you the degree. However, better grades are always a good thing to have when going off to graduate school.</p>

<p>Another great quote is, "Remember why you're here." "here" referring to college. The meaning is you're there to get an education, not to screw around partying.</p>

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<p>It takes a certain set of skills and aptitude to be good in Engineering classes, which people soon find out in the "weedout classes" like physics. Calculus is pretty easy for engineers, so that's usually not the reason people drop out, although you should be very comfortable with math. For example, the failure rate of Physics I for Engineers at UIUC was 20%, so right away that's a bunch of people who probably drop the Engineering major (or try again and get an F later on, etc). The fact that weak students drop out along the way also makes the curve harder and harder as you advance.</p>

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<p>I have an engr degree and went on to med school.....if you have an aptitude for math/science engineering is "doable". It typically is not so much conceptually difficult as it is demanding time-wise. You have to put in the hours. It may or not be worth it for any given fellow( or gal ). Same with med school..chews up the hours/days/weeks/ months/years....</p>

<p>I think the drop out rate reflects not so much a lack of smarts but rather it's just not for some people....but you don't realize that until you're in it.</p>

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<p>the prime weed out course for engr is physics....calc is easy...</p>

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<p>I guess it's a good thing I'm taking AP Physics now. Good preparation for engineering. Doing pretty well, but college'll probably be much harder. BTW, I don't plan on using any of my AP credits...just because the extra review is good when I get into college.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I think electrical engineering would a perfect fit for me in terms of a career, but I am not sure about the material covered in the major. Is it far and beyond say a class like Calc BC?

[/quote]
Yes, it is far and beyond Calc BC. Undergrad engineering is pretty much 4 years of calculus, and each class introduces more and builds on what you've learned before. Signal processing (a required course in any ABET acredited curriculum) introduces fourier and laplace transforms. E&M theory gives you Maxwell's equation in operator notation. Solving circuit equations with inductors and capacitors uses derivitives and integrals extensively. And so on. If you find Calc BC interesting and you don't mind the work, EE will be ok. If you hate the class, wrong major ...</p>

<p>BTW the warnings above about the undergrad dropout rate are accurate, and if anything understated. According to a trade newspaper, "With a few notable exceptions, U.S. engineering schools typically have attrition rates hovering between one-half and two-thirds." See <a href="http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=45200041%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.eetimes.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=45200041&lt;/a> or <a href="http://www.eetimes.com/issue/fp/OEG20020712S0041%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.eetimes.com/issue/fp/OEG20020712S0041&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>wow...what do those guys do who slave away for 2-3 years just to drop out...sheesh..I hope I don't end up like that</p>

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<p>Yeah, I know what you mean.</p>

<p>According to those articles, there seems to be a shortage of engineers. This can be a fairly good form of motivation to graduate with an engineering degree---when we graduate, our chances of having a job available is pretty high, which is good because a limited amount of engineers would usually mean higher salaries. Schools with great co-op programs are ideal as usually the company you co-op for hires you full-time by the time you graduate.</p>

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<p>Here are some reasons why Engineering major is hard (EE at least).</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Laziness (no one forcing you to go to class or turn in hw assignments)</p></li>
<li><p>Exams are worth everything. As you get to upper level classes, hw sets are extremely long but only worth 10% of your total grade.</p></li>
<li><p>Pride issue. Believe me. A lot of people are unwilling to admit they need help and utilize the resources available to them. Whether it be going to office hours, asking TA, or form a study group and work together to understand abstract concepts.</p></li>
<li><p>Upper level engineering classes are extremely abstract, it diverges from the traditional plug and chug of typical calc/physics. You merely use them as tools to help formulate concepts that are difficult to picture.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>Believe me, build a good foundation from your calc 1/2/3 phy 1/2/3 classes and whatever lower level engineering classes for your respective major. Chances are you will be using them over and over again in the upper level classes. It will make your life much much easier in your 3rd/4th year. I personally believe that anyone can do engineering if they set their heart into it. I always believe that Hardwork trumps Smart....hardwork + smart though is another story...and chances are you'll find a few of those people in any school.</p>