<p>Hello, I have a few questions and any help is immensely appreciated.
I was wondering how good at physics you need to be to be a mechanical engineer?</p>
<p>What personality traits do you need to have to be a successful engineer?</p>
<p>What grades do you believe you need to make in calculus and calculus based physics to be able to tell if you are able to be a good engineer?</p>
<p>MechE’s rely on classical physics a lot in the rest of the curriculum, so it would be ideal to get at least a B in that. Strive for better but sometimes you cannot help that one horrendous teacher or accidentally bombing a test.</p>
<p>Regarding personality traits, I would say this: good engineers tend to be curious about how things work, enjoy tinkering with equipment (like taking stuff apart, putting it together, fixing things, building things, etc.). </p>
<p>Adding to the personality aspect. You have to be comfortable with spending an immense time alone studying some of the most difficult classes offered by your school. The last time I went to a party was a term before my first calculus class which was one year ago !</p>
<p>1) Regarding physics, you need to have a solid working knowledge of the topic to be a successful mechanical engineer. You don’t have to be a physics genius by any stretch, but you do need to understand the basic concepts, especially things like Newton’s laws or the principle of wave motion. Depending on what particular subfield you venture into, you may need some more advanced concepts.</p>
<p>2) There are no universal personality traits necessary to be an engineer. You do not need to be a tinkerer. There are plenty of engineers who are, but acting like that is necessary to be a good engineer is silly and paints a very narrow view of what engineers are and do. It definitely helps to be curious about how things work (and by things I mean anything from machines to clouds, your choice) and it helps immensely to have a good work ethic without someone having to hold a gun to your head to get you to do your job.</p>
<p>3) Don’t get so hung up on grades. I know it is tough to see that now, but ultimately, if you make a B in a class but can understand the material well, you are better off than the guy who got an A and just blindly memorized the patterns to solving problems. Go into classes with the goal of learning the material, not making a grade. You, again, should have a solid working knowledge of calculus and differential equations for mechanical engineering.</p>
<p>You need to be pretty good at physics to endure the mech eng curriculum. After graduation, the amount used will depend a lot up on the job. </p>
<p>I’ll also add that you do not have to be a hermit and never go to a party or out with friends. I graduated with a high enough GPA to get several job offers and graduate school offers all the while attending every home football game except for two, every home basketball game except for two, and going out with friends, on average, probably 2 nights per week. It can be done. You just need time management skills.</p>
<p>Math takes top priority in my book. After all, physics is a combination of math and science, and as you progress through your physics classes, a solid understanding of math becomes increasingly important, if not crucial.</p>
<p>I second bonehead, my friends friend has a 3.7 at GT, GT as a CE, and still had time to get drunk everynight and Facebook/fool around. </p>
<p>Boneh3ad: Thank you for all of the wonderful advice! You make some very good points and I definitely appreciate your input. I used to love (by love I mean they were literally the only type of toys I ever played with) making legos, I took most of my toys apart to see what was inside them and later so see how they worked, and I enjoy learning how things work. The problem is that while I do like learning how things work, I like learning about biological things more than how mechanical things work. I mean I love learning anyway, but I guess my point is that I’m not the type of person who just sits there and only reads about why my refrigerator works or all about how plane engine works. I mean I’m definitely interested to know, but I don’t spend my free time doing it. You said you don’t have to be a tinker, but do you mean be curious about how things work and why they do in general?</p>
<p>Thank you everyone for your input! It is definitely appreciated!</p>
<p>I mean you just have to have some degree of curiosity about the world around you. Whether it’s how your washing machine works, how your car transmission works, how te software that let’s robots see in front of them works or how the physics around you every day in te world work, you have to be curious about something. If you aren’t, you will have a hard time motivating yourself to keep learning.</p>