<p>Hi, I'm a 21 year old student who's currently attending the local CC at the moment, but my plan is to transfer to one of the top two public universities in my state for Petroleum Engineering. I'm sort of freaking out though, I hear engineering is extremely tough. I have a friend from middle school who's going to graduate with a degree in MechE. from ULL, and he says that the program is grueling even for him! He's one of the brightest kids I've ever met! </p>
<pre><code> Right now I'm considering calling the Psych. department of the local private university and have them give me an IQ test.
I know that getting through an engineering program is more hard work than anything, but my concern is that I'll transfer to the flagship U and smoked in class by kids brighter than myself, even if I do all the studying I could possibly do. So I'd like information on the average IQ of successful engineering students before I plan the next few years of my life around going to LSU. I'd be perfectly fine with just my AS in Engineering Technology, but my dream is to hold that Petroleum engineering degree from LSU or ULL printed on it.
I've never tested exceptionally well on the mathematics portion of the annual standardized tests administered in K-12, so that's also a concern of mine. My test results usually pointed to verbal perspicacity, even my CC placement test results seem to concur (almost a 100% on the reading comprehension portion).
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<p>How much does a university administered IQ test cost typically? What is the average IQ of a successful engineering student? How can I know for sure that I'm bright enough for engineering?</p>
<p>Slow down. You don’t need an IQ test to do engineering. You are just freaking out because you have no confidence in yourself. Math is hard for a lot of people (Even successful engineers), and yes, we take a lot of math. While you are at the CC gauge how you are doing in your pre-req calc 1-3 and so on courses. If you pass them, KEEP GOING. Engineering school isn’t supposed to be easy. If it was, everyone would be coming out of the wood works to make this kind of money with just a BS.</p>
<p>Do your best. Find out your best study habits. Be disciplined. Strive for A’s but if you don’t get one…you will live. Even those who graduate with a 2.5 are still Engineers, and CAN still get jobs.</p>
<p>I’d say 100 IQ (read any average person), seriously the way I see engineering (though all I had until now is simple engineering in high school) it isn’t all that hard, some concepts are harder than others but in the end almost anyone can manage it with hard work</p>
<p>100 is fine, just the average IQ of African Americans is like 85 or something. I am in no way saying that I’m supposed to be doomed to be intellectually inferior or anything, as I’m pretty sure I have an IQ well above 85 anyway. It just seems like in order to complete an engineering program from a decent U, I’d have to be at least in the 120 range, and I’m just not sure. I don’t want to hit that wall where no matter how long I study, or how often I visit TA’s and professors during office hours, I won’t be able to do well in the program.</p>
<p>There are a lot of engineering students, including those who do well, who are probably pretty average on the IQ scale. I’d say as long as you aren’t below average in intelligence and you have the ability to put in the time, you can be successful in engineering.</p>
<p>Dude…you are a person. Being an African American does not change your brain… If that number is true, which I am not sure it is, It would have a lot more to do with POVERTY, and not race. Which says a LOT about IQ tests in the first place. </p>
<p>Not every engineer is a rocket scientist. Don’t doom yourself before you even try. Go in, give it everything you have, and let the cards fall.</p>
This concern is actually true. The brightest kids who are motivated will be able to beat you no matter how much you study. I know I studied less and did better than 90% of people in a lot of my classes simply because I understand things faster and better.
However, you have to understand that the education isn’t actually a competition. This one is actually still pretty hard for me, but you have to do it anyways. If you get a 3.0 and someone else gets a 3.9, that other person has no effect on how well you did.
There are a few especially bright and motivated people in engineering that you simply won’t be able to beat. But you have to realize that beating them is not your concern. Most engineers are average people who managed to just squeeze by in school. In any class (as in, class of year xxxx), there are maybe 4 people who even have a chance of graduating with a 4.0, and most don’t.</p>
<p>If you are doing well in your Calculus classes at the CC you have a good chance of doing OK in an Engineering program. Being able to work hard and have the discipline to make it through the curriculum does count for something. More importantly, however, is to think whether your best choice is to go to a big engineering program or a smaller one where you can get more personal attention. You know your tendencies best, so look into smaller private schools or ones that are not as competitive as well as the two you are targeting now. At the end of the day the most important thing is that your degree come from a program that has ABET accreditation. This guarantees employers a certain competency level.</p>
<p>Yeah, honestly you can’t beat everyone. You get out of it what you put into it. </p>
<p>A student who is not willing to study his butt off will not do well in engineering if they know they’re not the brightest thing around. Almost all of my friends went into engineering with varying intelligence.</p>
<p>How well are you doing in your math and physics courses? These are likely the best predictors of future success in completing an engineering major.</p>
<p>Don’t worry about general IQ tests or anything like that.</p>
<p>You clearly are good at articulating your thoughts. All it comes down to is, can you do well on a physics test? Can you do well on a Calculus test? Can you study hard for an endurance period? </p>
<p>There are some VERY silly people in engineering. Let me tell you. There are some who are not bright and truly don’t know what they are doing. </p>
<p>The real question is,
Do you want to be in engineering? Do you love engineering? Do you love creating things?</p>
<p>If the answer is yes to any of the above, go into engineering and you will be fine. Have a positive attitude and don’t doubt yourself. I am stupid and I have internship experience, engineering club experience, and a higher than average GPA at a very good engineering school. Your over thinking it. There is no such thing as a genius.</p>
<p>An IQ test isn’t terribly predictive and there are also huge questions about the validity of IQ tests, so I wouldn’t waste your time and money on one.</p>
<p>There is a fairly high correlation between SAT scores and IQ scores, so if you’ve taken the SAT, you can get some estimate of how you would do on an IQ test.</p>
<p>However, study after study has shown that the SAT isn’t terribly predictive. One study indicated that the test is only predictive of freshman grades. Another I saw by Union College (NY) showed that among their students there was no correlation at all between SAT performance and college grades, and that the true predictor of college success was the student’s transcript.</p>
<p>So if the SAT is not predictive and the IQ test is similar to the SAT, then the IQ test is not going to be terribly predictive of college success.</p>
<p>I would talk to your professors and other advisors at your current college and ask them if they would recommend that you go on to a 4-year engineering program, or choose a different path, rather than depend on any test.</p>
<p>Then, depend on the admissions office at your new university. If they let you in to their engineering school, then they think you can be successful. If it’s one of the top two state universities in your state, they won’t admit you merely because they have an extra bunk and an extra classroom seat.</p>
<p>IQ isn’t everything. Engineers need a strong work ethic and strong communication skills. A petroleum engineer will be giving lots of presentations to colleagues, so you have to be a very good talker. There are some people with high IQ’s but very poor communication skills and cannot give effective presentations in Petroleum Engineering.</p>
<p>you don’t have to have a IQ to be a Engineer. For a few reason
1 IQ test is generaly crap. It’s isn’t really a good test of your intelligence
2 people that doesn’t have a high IQ can stil be good at engineering
3 many people think engineering is hard no matter how smart they are.</p>
I would go with taking your Associate in Science in Mechanical Technology to a 2+2 program at a school that has an articulation agreement with your community college. Going from a technology program to an engineering program tends to not work well.
Engineering and Engineering Technology are two different but similar types of programs. Switching from one to the other is liking changing horses mid stream. I guarantee you will be losing transfer credits and repeating courses if you try to go from an Associate in Technology to a BS in Engineering program. The reality is that people with BS engineering technology degrees get engineering jobs all the time. I personally earned an AS Electronic Technology and went on to earn a BS Electronic Technology. I knew people who could get through the first program and not the second.