<p>Hey guys I'm pretty interested in electrical engineering, but I'm also a very social person and from what I hear you have no free time as an engineering major. I've been admitted into the honors program also, do that means that I'd have to keep up a 3.5+ gpa as an engineering major. What experience do current Aggie engineers have with time management? I'm worried I won't have the time for a social life and my grades would suffer if I tried to have one.</p>
<p>i am not one, but from what i have heard, not much time for social life.</p>
<p>Congratulations on being admitted to the honors program. I have a son who is a junior at A&M, in EE, who is also in the honors program. Last weekend when I called him, he was going to see one group of friends, then go to another group of friends place to cook and eat dessert. Then there was something about a middle of the night tennis match later.</p>
<p>My son likes to cook, but he doesn’t have time with labs and studies to cook every night. Now that he is in an apartment, he will make a big pot of something (last time it was red beans and rice), and eat it for 3-4 days for dinner, or work out something with his roommates for food.</p>
<p>If you are in the honor dorm, you know how to study. The first semester, even with AP place outs, he got bored and felt he had too much time on his hands. Second semester things picked up quickly, and stayed challenging from then on. When tests are coming, he keeps his head down and studies a lot, as well as keeping up as things go along. Test weeks are really the only time that social life tends to be put on hold. Oh, and he has maintained his GPA no problem.</p>
<p>Hope that helps! Best wishes.</p>
<p>Engineering will require a lot of time. It does not matter how smart you are. You have to find a way to enjoy pursuing your degree. DS is always studying, but it seems that there are many smiling faces popping their heads in the room during our Skype calls. His social life is extremely active. However, there will probably be little time to just kick back and relax. If you are worried about the 3.5, an option is to no accept AP credit for the math and science classes to pad your GPR a bit.</p>
<p>Can anyone chime in about how different engineering majors at TAMU compare to EE in terms of time commitment (e.g., biomed, nuclear, petroleum, etc)? Thanks.</p>
<p>My room mate is a PE major and she literally has NO time for anything. Granted that PE is one of the hardest Engineering. But you have to dedicate sooooo much time to studying all the time, that someone else said it doesn’t matter how smart you are. it’s super difficult.</p>
<p>What about industrial engineering? I’m a bit confused as to if that’s even engineering. I know it gets less respect than the other engineering disciplines… Is this because it is easier (although still probably not easy) and less of a time commitment?</p>
<p>Objectively, industrial engineers have a much less technically rigorous curriculum than traditional engineering majors, and get paid less to start in traditional companies. Look at the TAMU ISE web site for more information. As far as engineering goes, the increased difficulty reduces the available supply of trained graduates. The reduced supply results in good things for those that put in the time.</p>
<p>jroback,</p>
<p>Most of the engineering majors share identical curricula during their freshman year and vary little during their sophomore year. Choose your engineering major because you like it, not because it is a good time value. If you like it, then it will be a good value.</p>
<p>You will be fine! You will have plenty of free time. You just need to go in with good study habits and don’t get behind.</p>
<p>I’m studying Structural Engineering at A&M and have had plenty of time my entire career. I have time to go to the rec multiple times a week to workout, get wasted every once in a while (21, yes legal) and hangout with friends. I have a 3.83 GPA at A&M too and have a summer internship lined up with a major oil and gas contractor. I study hard compared to most people, but I have plenty of free time. You just have to balance work and play. I have friends who are biomedical, mechanical, petroleum and they are all fine with plenty of free time. </p>
<p>If you are about to choose a field based on how hard he or she says, don’t. You’ll regret it. Choose a field that you are interested in.</p>
<p>BTW, Industrial is considered “easier” because it doesn’t require as many math courses (stop at Calc 2).</p>