Disgruntled Mechanical Engineer (It's Getting Worse)

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Hello,</p>

<p>My name is (fill in the blank here) and I attend University of (some state of the ol' US and A). I'm currently studying Mechanical Engineering and I consider myself to be a Junior, although that can be debatable (I never followed the regular scheduled classes, I chose w/e I wanted to take first, being a commuter did not help either).
Anyway, the problem that I have right now with my major is that...the classes annoy the !@$% out of me, and it has been happening for some time. Not only that, whatever passion I have had for Engineering is gone, poof, just like that. To further increase my anger towards this major, some if not all of the professors are adding fuel to the fire. This is one of the broadest majors in my school, and it's definitely not easy, but when these people read notes from Power-Point verbatim, talk about their life, discuss what they did in industry etc., I feel like I'm ready to explode.</p>

<p>Academically, I'm doing quite well. I only have 2 below average grades but I blame my health (suffered from depression last year and I feel like I'm going to relapse anytime now if things do not improve) and adjustment to a larger campus (I attended regional with smaller classes and such) for these things. My GPA right now is 3.789 or something along those lines. I have about 15 more classes to take in order to finish B.S. in ME, but it's neither here nor there.
I already stated that I'm a commuter, takes me about 50 minutes to get to school (one way), therefore I cannot take the same load of classes as resident students (8:00AM class means I have to get up at 5:30AM).</p>

<p>Lastly, I feel that it will take me at least 1.5 more years in order to finish up this major, OR I can switch to Mathematics (I have a minor in Math) and get a degree in Applied Math or Mathematical-Physics, and then come back and finish up Mechanical Engineering (time is of the essence here) at a later date.</p>

<p>In short, I no longer feel passionate about ME, I think I took too long to graduate. Professors are like extremes of the teaching world, one too lazy to teach the other too much of a harda** which does not help with the situation at all.
I also forgot to mention that my current schedule is terrible, I'm spending more time in the car than in actual classes (6 hrs. in between classes).</p>

<p>I need a suggestion guys, what should I do here? Stick it out, but be miserable or switch to Math, finish up early and then come back to do ME?</p>

<p>Sorry for the grammar, punctuations etc., I'm writing this at 12:11 AM and English is not my mother tongue. 8D</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p>Greg89</p>

2

<p>I recommend you stick it out to finish the degree, then go into a career that you find more suitable than ME. The simple fact is that if you graduate with an engineering degree, you almost certainly won’t have to go back to school for another BS degree.</p>

<p>Take a few math classes on top of that to have something you care more for. Engineering classes really aren’t known for being particularly interesting (even if you like the material, it’s much more of a job than a pastime), but you’ll be better off if you find a way not to hate it. Yes, it does suck, probably more than many other majors, but there’s definitely a reason to stick through it.</p>

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<p>Hello again,</p>

<p>I appreciate your taking the time to write to me and I apologize for not replying anytime sooner, I was too busy trying to adapt to my new schedule (it’s hard).
Anyway, I decided to take your advice and stick with the ME Program, for now, well it was more or less forced on me because of the Add/Drop Deadline, but I still decided to make an appointment with any Math Advisor just to see what he/she has to say about this issue. Normally I would go to my assigned ME Advisor, but he’s useless, no help at all. Last time I went and asked for help he basically told me to figure stuff out by myself. </p>

<p>Thanks again for your input, I’ll post here again if things change drastically. Also, if there is anyone else with an interesting opinion/comment, let me know what you have to say, any feedback is welcome.</p>

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<p>I agree, stick it out and try to find courses which speak to your original interest in the field. After you gradaute, the engineering degree will allow you access a number of different careers. If you were to change now, it is likely that you would further delay your graduation.</p>

5

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<p>No offense here, but to be blunt I too commuted 1 hour, one way for first 3 years, lived on campus for a year and then commuted the last year gaining my degree, sometimes in the middle of a snowstorm and ice covered roads over mountainous terrain. I had the same full semester of resident students and had 3 hour Labs that started at 8:00AM. If I could do it all over again, I would have lived on Campus because it was difficult, but I had to work throughout school (yeah did that on top of it) it was in Engineering and was not near my school, so it was a no brainer to gain valuable experience and had multiple job offers after graduating.</p>

<p>You need to have drive and motivation to do this, not only now but when you get a job. Now jumping ahead to present day, I commute 1 hour one way to my job currently in bad traffic in a metro area, usually get up around 6AM, and my hours vary based on deadlines, not unheard of to work 50-80 hours a week for some companies on Salary, no Overtime. Some may expect you to travel all across the globe with little notice for weeks at a time. I have classmates who work for some well known Tech companies and they say they have no work/life balance at all.</p>

<p>If your heart is not in it now, it won’t be when it’s time to find a job and do the daily grind. Sounds like your in too deep to pull back, but if your good with math you might want to look at Actuarial Science as an alternative to transfer a lot of classes, you’ll have no problem finding a job and you’ll make way more $ out of school and beyond then an Engineer on average.</p>

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<p>Greg. I understand where you are coming from. I am in the same situation except that I am in Industrial Engineering which is supposed to be “easier” than Mechanical Engineering and I have 3 more semesters left.</p>

<p>The only two things that have kept me going is the fact that I like Industrial Engineering, it is really what I want to do in terms of career but I share some of the same frustrations. Some of the classes absolutely suck. Too late to quit, change majors, so the only option is to keep going.</p>

<p>Trust me, it will feel good when you graduate, so take it as a challenge and plug away, you will be done soon!</p>