<p>I looked at my friend's mechanical engineering homework, and it looked like applied mechanical physics. Why major in Mechanical Engineering when you can major in physics and know how to do a lot more (besides mechanical physics)? Surely there are more aspects to engineering that I'm not aware of, and I'd like to know what they are.</p>
<p>The reason I'm asking is because I am deciding whether or not to transfer to engineering (I'm a freshman).</p>
<p>What class, ME 211? I think it is key to take a note at what level course your friend is in. If it’s just a low level course, things will get more difficult. I transferred in from LSA to electrical engineering after freshman year, believe me that engineering is tougher than LSA. </p>
<p>Also, the ME department will make you take classes in other engineering departments, so you’ll have the change to get some exposure to say chemical, civil, electrical, whatever you want. If you are looking at working in an engineering field, you’re crazy to not get the ME degree.</p>
<p>Many advantages to being in engineering…much career prospects probably tops. It took me a single interview to find a great job for this upcoming winter/summer (co-op.) I’d recommend going on more interviews, but I doubt I would have gotten anything near what I did as an LSA student.</p>
<p>depends on what you want to do. I know a lot of engineering majors were sort of undecided on what to go into as a career, and engineering is a flexible degree. LSA Physics is much smaller, and I’m guessing that it’s more geared to people who love Physics and would like to do research in the future. </p>
<p>I was ME, and it’s definitely not just mechanics, although you can certainly take most classes in mechanics if you choose to.</p>
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<p>What kinds of engineering are you interested in (besides mechanical?)</p>
<p>Generally, engineering is a very good mix or theory and practical concepts, and the very intense classes and work will leave you very well prepared to do just about any job. Majoring in physics will give you a solid and general physics education (and expertise in whatever smaller concentration you pick), but won’t give you the fundamental knowledge to be a mechanical engineer.</p>
<p>To dsmo: I’m not sure what class it was for. I will ask him the next time I see him (Friday). I’ve got lots of friends in engineering (not freshman), and I know it is harder than lsa in general–a large reason is because the curves don’t guarantee a good grade from hard work. Another is because the workload is on average more than that of an lsa major. I wasn’t trying to dispute the difficulty of engineering; rather I was curious as to what a mechanical engineer did besides what I observed.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t understand part of what you said: “If you are looking at working in an engineering field, you’re crazy to not get the ME degree.” Do you mean a double degree (major)?</p>
<p>Finally, can you tell me more about how you got your Winter/Summer job? Sorry for all these questions.</p>
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<p>Thanks keefer, I am fairly undecided as to which field of engineering I want to go into.</p>
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<p>To tetrahedr0n: Right now, I have 3 main interests (in no particular order): One is nuclear engineering, particularly plasma physics and nuclear fusion. I also am interested in chemical engineering, specifically with memory polymers. The last is medical research (genetics and treatment of things such as cancer). This may actually require EECS on my part, because you can make programs that can identify proteins and genes that cause diseases. It may be traditional medical research as well, so …not sure.</p>
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<p>I am also sorry to have misled everyone, but mechanical engineering isn’t my main interest. If I choose to stay in LSA I will probably choose a physics major, so I was wondering why someone would choose ME instead (but then you guys answered it, so thanks).</p>
<p>II would just have to say that as an engineer vs. a physics major, you are going to get the full engineering experience. Some computer programming, engineering labs, etc. You’ll have to take courses in some of the other engineering disciplines as well, so you’ll at least be able to get a feel for a couple other fields like electrical, chemical engineering, etc. You will not have to worry about having a ton of humanities courses as in LSA (but some are still required.)</p>
<p>I didn’t mean you should double major, only saying that if you are thinking about one day working as an engineer, you should get an engineering degree. For that matter, any engineering degree is going to be much more flexible than pretty much any non-engineering degree out there.</p>
<p>As to my co-op job…all because of the Engineering Career Fair on North Campus. I actually believe this was the first company I even went up to…talked to them for five minutes, they asked if I would like to interview the next day, I said sure and a week later they made an offer. Not a small company either, top 50 of Fortune 500. Was hoping to get a job in the Detroit area and not interested in other locations, but they made an awesome offer. Looked at the numbers, came out to be higher than the average U-M EE grad. I was shocked…my grades aren’t really anything special and I’m only a junior. So I’m off to Illinois for the next eight months.</p>
<p>Anyways, with the recent economic troubles, it seems like companies are cutting back on hiring. I have friends with better grades and more experience who’ve gone on a ton of interviews and haven’t heard anything back. I just got lucky I guess.</p>