<p>Currently, I am in the school of engineering at rutgers, I made it through the first year, didn't do all too greatly, failed chemistry, and my GPA aint too great. I am majoring in EE, and to be quite honest, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to make it through, mainly because Math/Science has been my weakness as opposed to liberal arts. Anyway, I'm not sure what to do at this point, I figure I'm gonna see how things go with EE early on, before I make any drastic changes, but I was wondering what you all would suggest.</p>
<p>This is the advice that I give our students that are struggling in the freshman year:</p>
<p>My question to you is, are you ENJOYING the classes? Do you like the math, physics, intro to engineering? Were they fun? I know they can be hard. If you thought the material was interesting then I would suggest that you keep at it. Because if you enjoy it you will be able to work the extra hours needed to learn the material. But if you didn't like them, especially if you didn't like the intro engineering course (if you had one) then I would suggest that you change majors.</p>
<p>Personally, I consider the freshman year the hardest year in engineering. Typically a student is taking chem, calc, possibly physics, a writing course and sometype of intro engineering course. The courses are very different and quite demanding. And there's still an adjustment from high school.</p>
<p>So ask youself honestly if you enjoyed your classes. If you are unsure, take an EE class and see about that. That will give you a better idea of what you are looking forward to. Don't be afraid to ask professors there at Rutgers too. They will be happy to give you guidence.</p>
<p>Well, it was freshman year, most of the classes I took were core classes, we didn't have an intro to engineering course. Math, I didn't mind too much, even though I'm not too great in it, physics, I just seemed quite confused, wasn't a huge fan of it. So you would suggest giving the EE classes a try before I make any major decision?</p>
<p>My daughter has finished her soph. year in mech. eng. The first year was almost overwhelming for her. The second year. . . . well, she'd learned a lot about learning in her freshman year, and it was a much more even year. She's found several areas of study she's enthusiastic about, and would consider pursuing in grad school. That first year was. . . .learning to swim in the deep end of the pool.</p>
<p>stick with it for now. I failed calc1, calc2, and linear algebra my freshmen year, but I've never failed an EE class the rest of the way. The reason i failed so much in the beginning was because of adjustments to college. There are a lot of distractions in college as well as the freedom they give you to attend classes/hand in homework. It definately takes time to adjust to it.</p>
<p>So how many units do you recommend taking your fall quarter of the first year? My flow chart says 17, but I'm thinking of not taking one class and only taking 15 units which includes 3 lab units.</p>
<p>I took 17 credits my first semester it wasn't that bad. If your flow chart says 17 i would take that amount so you don't fall behind.</p>
<p>I think it's a good idea to go a little lighter in the first year - even if you get behind. Of course if you think you can handle it by all means go for it - but if it is a struggle you will probably be better off dropping a class and focusing on the others. You can always catch up in the summer and it's such a crucial year.</p>
<p>Your ULTIMATE alternative....</p>
<p>........drop engineering, and target medical schools!! Much less math, and if you're good at memorizing things, you'll do really well. Plus you'll get paid a whole lot more, and have a job for life!</p>
<p>i agree with golubb. i find engineering to be increasingly horrible as I learn more about it, medicine is much more lucrative and u will never regret being a doctor.</p>
<p>haha....the sarcasm, jeffl</p>
<p>But doctors have so much debt to pay off.</p>
<p>There is always BioMed or BioTech which is the best of both worlds (Medicine and Engineering). However, these programs are not easy alternatives but definitely rewarding.</p>
<p>I just wondering ...</p>
<p>what can you do with a degree in BioMed (my brother is majoring in it)</p>
<p>One of the major areas of biomedical engineering is the design and implimentation of electronic instrumentation used to study the functions of the human body. Such as heart monitors, MRI's, xrays, UltraSound scans, numerous types of transducers and sensors for detecting nerve activity, etc.</p>
<p>so essentially, bme is applying various fields of engineering (me, ee, ce, etc) to biological systems?</p>
<p>exactly karthikkito</p>
<p>Its a very interesting and expanding field. I have a friend who has his PhD in BioMed and will be starting a graduate school in the field next year.</p>