<p>In an engineering major?</p>
<p>well, it really depends on you, your school, teachres, and so on. But seriously, it’s hard, really hard. But it is possible</p>
<p>How often do people get 3.5+ in engineering?</p>
<p>4.0 would be pretty challenging, a 3.8+ is quite doable. 3.8 is what’s required to graduate summa cum laude in engineering. With a good work ethic you can achieve that. I know people with 4.0s, but it’s really challenging to maintain that the whole way. The engineering college is the most challenging.</p>
<p>It also partially depends on your department, there’s perceptions about some being easier to get good grades in then others. Nuclear and Chemical are pretty notorious life killers.</p>
<p>3.5+ is doable, but doesn’t happen often. Just make sure your gpa is 3.3 or better.</p>
<p>With a 3.3, going to Stanford for grad school is over. Between materials and industrial, which has a better reputation for higher GPA’s?</p>
<p>What do you mean by “is over”? You saying not getting accepted? I should have clarified my min threshold of a 3.3 GPA. In my opinion if your GPA is lower than a 3.3, then your chances of getting a job is much harder (especially in this economy). If you want to go to a high ranked engineering school for graduate work, then I think you need a GPA of higher than 3.5.</p>
<p>FYI: Engineers call industrial engineering “Imaginary Engineering”.</p>
<p>My d and one of her roommates are both chemE major. Her other roommate, until last week, was a MechE major. All 3 of them their first semester at UF (taking classes like calc 3, phys 2060H, Chem I for engineers, Chem II, etc … and 14-15 hour credits) all got straight A’s, except for my d’s A- in Calc3 (she didn’t study for the final … ooops). This semester, my d and her ChemE roommate currently have A’s going in all their classes (diffyQ, physics 2061H, Chem2 w/ lab, chem2 for engineers, engineering stats, and tech writing for engineers and 16 hours of credit each). So, if you are disciplined, GREAT at math, had no trouble carrying a lot, a lot, a lot of AP credit in high school (and passing WELL) all the classes … then above a 3.5 is MOST definitely doable in engineering. BTW, these girls rushed a sorority in the fall (actives now), very involved in Cru, and are attending football games, basketball games, and oh yeah … they’re into girls gymnastics. So, I assure you … they don’t sit at home and do nothing but study. Discpline and aptitude … only you can be the judge of yourself with regards to that …</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>zebes</p>
<p>Imaginary engineering…I’m assuming that means it’s easier. What about materials science and engineering? Is that considered tougher?</p>
<p>Also, thanks for the info, zebes.</p>
<p>Materials has the highest national ranking of any of the engineering majors, at 8th. Nuclear is the second highest, at 10th.</p>
<p>Industrial engineering is a bit of a hybrid major, they take several business classes while the rest of us engineers take advanced physics and math classes, thus the perception that Industrial is a bit of a joke.</p>
<p>I agree with Zebes it’s easy to start with a high GPA, it’s harder to finish, differential equations is a cake walked compared to Computational Analysis or senior design labs. But I have a 3.75 in Nuclear and I have a life, 3.5 is doable in any major. The recruiters I’ve talked to have set the “Mendoza Line” at 3.5, if you’re above a 3.5, they know you’re legit.</p>
<p>Okay, great. I guess once I decide which major to pick I just have to work hard and I can do it.</p>
<p>Yeah Imaginary Engineering implies its the easiest. From what I could remember, when a student finds that their engineering classes are too hard and want to stay in engineering, they switch to Industrial Engineering.</p>
<p>I think the three hardest engineering majors are:</p>
<p>Chemical
Electrical/Computer
Nuclear</p>
<p>With that said, all engineering majors are very difficult and there is no way you will be able to do well if you just skirt by (even if its industrial engineering). It requires a lot of studying and lots understanding – so you gotta do more than just memorize formulas.</p>
<p>The Materials Engineering department at UF is outstanding and they do some amazing work. Take a look at their latest research that is getting very strong international attention:</p>
<p>[University</a> of Florida News - Water may not run uphill, but it practically flies off new surface](<a href=“http://news.ufl.edu/2010/02/24/water-phobe/]University”>http://news.ufl.edu/2010/02/24/water-phobe/)</p>
<p>Hmmm. I love both fields. I feel like going industrial would help me with a good GPA for a little less work, but materials holds more clout at UF. I could do well in both, I guess. Interesting article.</p>
<p>Engineeringjw, I have no idea where you live but I would recommend taking a trip to UF and just talking to many of the professors in the different departments. They will be more than happy to brag about the stuff they work on.</p>
<p>Also it’s not like you really have to decide right now. I wasn’t dead set on Nuclear till the start of my 3rd year, most engineering has very similar prerequisites until you get to Junior and Senior level.</p>
<p>There’s a 1 credit class called Intro To Engineering which has you go to each department and they give you a presentation. It’s useful if you have a hole in your schedule and you want to see what engineering has to offer. Some departments send the guy in charge (That’s what Nuclear did) some send a random graduate student (That’s what Mechanical did). It’s funny cause that really mirrors the contact you’ll have with the faculty, in a big program like mechanical you’re one of hundreds. In Nuclear, my professors know my name.</p>
<p>There’s lots of factors, but you have plenty of time to decide; you can always change your mind.</p>
<p>Actually, I have already been to UF once. Maybe I can go back. Can a person touring just go in and talk to professors? That would be cool.</p>
<p>I’m sure you can walk into some of their offices and they wouldn’t care. I could also imagine that some might be in the middle of some work or whatever and might not be 100% prepared to give their spiel. If I were you, I’d do some homework beforehand and schedule your visits during the professors’ office hours just to be on the safe side.</p>