<p>As UIUC being my top school, I will likely atend if I get admitted as a Mechanical Engineering major. However, I've heard life is much less social if I do engineering. I loveeeee to party!</p>
<p>I was wondering, is it possible to be a partier and be a ME major while maintaing a high GPA? Can anyone with past experience give me some insight? I don't mean like partying everyday, perhaps ~3 days a week, maybe 2.</p>
<p>I don’t go to UIUC but my best friend does. I went to visit her a couple weeks ago. She is a chemical engineer and she parties every weekend. She has a LOT of work but she knows how to manage time. You should be fine.</p>
<p>thanks! it actually makes me feel better. mind telling me how the party/parties were? :)</p>
<p>I went to a party that was pretty crazy. It was fun, lots of dancing, but lots of alcohol. The other one I went to was really laid back. There was a lot of alcohol but it was at a fraternity for engineers. They were both really different but a lot of fun.</p>
<p>I am in the same boat. All of my friends are going to weaker colleges and doing easy majors and will get to party quite often, while I’ll be stuck as a computer scientist.</p>
<p>lol. i feel ya. I just don’t want to be studying all day. Plus considering the notorious difficulty of engineering, I scared that i’ll lack a active, wild social life.</p>
<p>As long as you’re on top of your classes, then whatever you do in your spare time is your own business. Engineering is an intense curriculum that can be overwhelming at almost any point during your pursuit of a degree, but it can get away from you quickly as an incoming freshman. Freshman year in college isn’t the 5th year of High School. Everyone who was offered admission to the engineering program is a top high school student. After the first semester, given the law of averages, 50% will have a below average GPA. Your goal should be not to be one of them. On some tests, 40 might be the average. It happens. All. The. Time. To avoid being on the wrong side of the curve, you need to not just do the homework. That’s just the starting point. You need to study enough to really grasp what is being presented. To do that you’ll need to take advantage of your professor’s or TA’s office hours, study groups, and/or additional tutoring opportunities. They’re there for you to take advantage of. If you don’t, it won’t bother your professors in the least. They won’t come after you like they did in high school. You’ll be allowed to do whatever you’d like.</p>
<p>My son is a senior now in Aerospace Engineering. He built a drone last Spring. He’s on a team designing a business jet this term. This term is the most intense term he’s had. It doesn’t get any easier. You go from learning the fundamentals, to applying them in Statics and Dynamics, through the heart of your curriculum in your Junior and Senior years, but afterward, you’re in the driver’s seat as far as employment, or graduate school goes.</p>
<p>My son has time to party, but he’s always kept his studies as a top priority. He’s doing well. If you can do that, party all you want. I’d recommend seeing how hard you have to work to tread water first. Then determine what you want to do with your spare time. Good luck.</p>
<p>Balthezar. That was a really nice thought. Thanks for sharing with us students. I will surely keep this thing in mind.
P.s I am an Indian applying to mechanical engineering priority.</p>
<p>I’m an aerospace engineer here at u of I. There’s absolutely no way u can maintain a high gpa and go out 3 times a week in engineering. I usually party once maybe twice on the weekends and I have a 3.7</p>
<p>@yankees. Can you please describe your average day? Are you always studying? Anytime to just relax daily?</p>