<p>(Freshman at large state-school majoring in ME.)</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I was just wondering if anyone else has had similar experiences as I am currently having... </p>
<p>Situation: I'm currently enrolled in an Intro to ME class and boyyyy do I HATE it. To be fair, much of the blame is probably due to the absolutely awful teacher I have - yes, "teacher," not Doctor, not professor, not even "guy with Masters"... "Laid off engineer with good connects but lack of teaching skill" I suppose is the most accurate name for him - but back to my problem... I HATE this class!</p>
<p>Is this an adequate indicator of how I would enjoy engineering as a profession?</p>
<p>I like to think that I have respectable quantitative abilities, which helped lead me to the engineering career path I am currently on; however, I am quite certain that I would not be the least bit satisfied if working as an engineer is similar to this class.</p>
<p>Should I leave engineering and explore other options, or try to tough it out and see how I enjoy later engineering classes ???</p>
<p>If you have time, sit in on a couple of other engineering classes, just to see if you prefer the other teachers’ approaches. Some teachers are better than others. There’s no need yet to feel as if you won’t enjoy engineering, IMO.</p>
<p>What is going on in this class? I don’t think any of us have a clue what is covered in this “Intro to ME” class, so it is hard to say how indicative it is of later stuff.</p>
<p>yagottabelieve - Thanks for the reply. I appreciate your insight and suggestion of sitting in on other classes. Sounds like a good idea that I hadn’t thought of.</p>
<p>boneh3ad - specific topics that have been covered in the class thus far mostly relate to “manufacturing engineering” in my opinion (could be wrong?). A lot of what we have been discussing has to do with the different kinds of materials used in engineering processes, the different characteristics of them (i.e. - ferrous vs. non-ferrous metals), how they are transformed from a block of steel (etc.) into say an I-beam, and how different methods of producing the desired products affects the company’s bottom line, the quality of the product, etc. Most lately the lecture has been covering material related to “tolerances” and their use and need within the engineering and manufacturing industry.</p>
<p>Well while all that stuff is important to have exposure to, it is not going to have a whole lot to do with many of your later classes.</p>
<p>My intro class was an overview of the entire industry and it was taught by a Dean. It was great! They don’t do it that way anymore. Now rather than 45% of the school changing majors they want everybody to take the into to engineering class to help them pick a major. So you get an intro to every eng major and all the various industries covered. Then you pick your major based on something more than the opinion of your parents, your Uncle and your HS GC. This guy sounds like he is bogged down by the details. Or maybe he is going for a Mech Eng 101 rather than a overview of the profession. It sounds more like Intro to manufacturing than intro to the profession. Is he covering six sigma?</p>
<p>Ugh… Six Sigma is so boring. I absolutely hated getting my green belt, partially because I can’t stand the manufacturing/supply chain side of things, and that is mostly what it applies to. That is part of the reason I ended up in grad school.</p>
<p>That class doesn’t sound like a good perspective on MechE as a whole. I hated my materials, solid mechanics, and manufacturing classes… but I found new life in Fluids and Heat Transfer. </p>
<p>It will take some work, and I don’t know your program is like, but ask professor’s. Ask them about things you will be learning in the next few years, ask them to borrow an intro to Machine design, or fluids, or heat transfer textbook. Read over the intro chapters, see if anything sticks with you. Seek out a Junior or Senior, see what they have to say. Maybe everyone hates that class and just stuck with it.</p>
<p>I think changing a major based on a single class is a little rushed, take the time and seek out some of the information yourself. You are only being exposed to a single vertical slice of the major, ME is fairly broad.</p>