<p>I'm a junior in high school and am considering mechanical engineering as a possible major in college. I consider myself to be a pretty good student. I take honors and AP classes and have close to a 4.4 GPA. I don't expect college to be easier or to not get much work, but I also want to have a nice social life. I wouldn't call myself a big party goer but I'll definite want to have some fun outside of my academics. Would going into mechanical engineering still allow me to have some free time during the weekends and during the day? How much homework would this type of major entail an average per day and week? </p>
<p>I'd love to go to college to find a nice balance between my coursework and having a fun social experience and don't want to be working and studying all the time, so I'd appreciate as much advice as possible about this major. Thanks!</p>
<p>Using the typical credit-hour system, students normally take 15-18 credits at a time. One credit is supposed to correspond to three hours of work per week, including in-class and out-of-class time, so 15-18 credits means 45-54 hours per week spent on school. But actual workloads these days are typically lower, although engineering workloads are only slightly lower (compared to much lower workloads in majors like business).</p>
<p>Even if you do have an 18 credit schedule that takes 54 hours of work per week, you still have some free time for a social life. A week contains 168 hours; if we assume 112 non-sleeping hours and 54 hours on school, that leaves 58 waking hours for everything else.</p>
<p>If you are a good student and are cut out for engineering you can have a balance. However you will have much less free time then a lot of majors, The general rule above is good but can be misleading for some courses. Some 4 credit courses have a lab that can add three hours of lab time and a few hours of writing up the lab report for that extra credit.</p>
<p>Another thing about engineering is that the courses follow a somewhat strict sequence. This means that you will have less flexibility to balance your workload. </p>
<p>
First, find out if the career is really for you. Talk to some ME’s to understand what their day is like, how one gets promoted, what they think about their job security, etc. There are also career guide books. I mention this because there are really 2 aspects here. First is the schoolwork, which for engineers is pretty much 4 years of applied calculus. Then there is the job which is quite different from the education, applying the theories that you learned but not at all involved with grinding out proofs or solving complicated equations.</p>
<p>I also have to say that I’ve seen posts like this in the past, and almost inevitably the person raising the “will I only study question” ends up leaving the major, even though it sure sounds like a fair question to ask. I think the reason is the people that make it thru challenging areas like engineering or premed are dedicated to the end result and are willing to put up with what it takes to get there. They are satisfied with the fun and social life that is left over after they make sure they are getting it done. In contrast people that raise “I want to have a college life” will always be noticing pals in easier areas of study that seem to be having a blast in college. They feel deprived, and in a relative sense they are. </p>
<p>^Good point, mikemac. I never thought to ask that question. I enjoyed the rigor and I enjoyed the partying! I was a real grind in high school, and it was so much fun to get to college and party with my smart classmates. 
Then I married one of them! I’m sure glad I didn’t skip engineering because of the fear of hard work.</p>
<p>You should have plenty of free time if you learn to manage your time well. I probably had a few hours on average each day to pursue hobbies and have fun with friends. The rest of the day was spent either in class or doing homework/studying. Designate a time block to do homework/study and remind yourself (as motivation) that once you are done with your work, you can get out and have some fun. </p>
<p>FWIW, the students who generally had no social life and also got poor grades were the ones that intentionally overloaded themselves with credits (try staying at around 16-18/semester), and also studied with too many distractions - getting up every 10 minutes to go do something, watching tv, playing on the internet, etc. Avoid these pitfalls and you’ll find that you will stay more focused on your work, and get it done sooner.</p>
<p>The people I see with no time for a social life generally fall into 2 categories:</p>
<p>(1) Those who have poor time management skills and spend a ton of time procrastinating and/or have bad hibits like fractalmstr described.</p>
<p>(2) Those who over commit to other things outside of classes, like clubs, research, etc. (I fall into this category…)</p>
<p>When you’re still in high school, it’s hard to realize just how much time there is in a day. In high school, you’re in class for 7 hours a day, plus after school activities. In college, you’re usually in class only 3 hours a day. That leaves over 12 waking hours a day plus weekends for studying and social life. You can do a lot with the 100 hours a week that you’re awake and not in class.</p>
<p>My son is a rising junior in electrical engineering. He plays volleyball for the school, is officer of two clubs, goes to parties, works out, hangs out with friends–including his girlfriend, attends every football game and many basketball games, watches NFL on Sundays with his two fantasy leagues (of which he runs one), watches several TV shows, plays some xbox, and still has time to study enough to keep a 4.0 GPA. It can be done.</p>
<p>It’s all about time management and priorities. During my ME studies, I tried to follow two simple rules - </p>
<p>1.If there is studying that needs to be done, do that first.
2.Put down the books on Friday afternoon and do not pick them up again until Sunday afternoon.</p>
<p>Granted, you need a little flexibility on rule 1, or you won’t stop to eat/sleep/etc. But as I recall, I only violated rule 2 twice, and one of those was a weird exam schedule that fell on a Saturday. It was amazing how many free evenings I had during the week.</p>
<p>I appreciate what everyone has said so far. It sounds like going into ME won’t be quite as horrible as some people say it is. I will definitely have to find a balance, but I feel like high school has helped a lot when it comes to having to find a good mix between academics, activities, and fun stuff. I’m willing to put in the work that it takes to do engineering, especially since it interests me. I’m just glad to hear that it won’t be entirely studying and working. It will be nice to have a little down time.</p>
<p>It also helps not to go overboard on the “formal” activities as these can eat into your free time as well. By formal activities I mean career related things like joining technical clubs, research, etc. </p>
<p>You need “you time” in order to avoid getting burned out. The best, most stable students are the ones who have hobbies and passions outside of school which allow them to stay fresh and motivated when its time to return to school work. These ‘outside’ things help to keep everything in perspective, which is important in the long run.</p>
<p>If I were to audition for and make a university’s marching band (such as TBDBITL at OSU), do you still think I’d be able to have enough extra time to complete all my school work?</p>