<p>With some of the big public schools my son is applying to for Aerospace Engineering, we have been hearing about a prevalence of profs who are difficult to understand as well as many who are excellent researchers but not good teachers. Can I get any insight from those of you in Engineering or who know people in Engineering (specifically Aerospace and Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering) as to your experience? I realize there is going to be some problem along these lines at every major university but I wanted to see how prevalent it was at Michigan and whether it has been a real problem for you. Thanks.</p>
<p>this is a problem at any school, MIT, Caltech, Berkeley will all have these same problems. I was Mechanical Engineering, I have had no professor that i couldn't understand, they all spoke great English. But, a few(2-3) couldn't teach very well, some of my best professors were not very famous, the most famous professor I've had taught quite horribly, she was patient, helped in office hours, but was just not attentive to just how clueless we, the undergraduates were in lectures. I know a few Aero majors, and they have had good experiences.</p>
<p>But to be honest, lectures in engineering aren't the most useful things, how you do in engineering will depend on your studying habits. Certain engineering subjects are bound to dissapoint, no matter how well the professor teaches it. ME382 at Michigan is one of those classes.</p>
<p>Be sure to look at ratemyprofesors before picking a lecture section. It does make a big difference.</p>