<p>I am a current senior at a mid-sized public high school (700 kids). I am hoping to attend Case Western Reserve to major in ChemE. However, I feel rather inadequate. I have had NO engineering experience, interships, etc. On top of that, my only classes really applicable for a ChE degree are AP Chemistry, Honors Calculus, and Honors Physics. There is very little STEM emphasis at my school. The only other STEM class I could have taken would have been AP Bio, but seeing as the class average exam score is a 1, I didn't want to waste my time. Also, I lately have been struggling in Calc. My teacher is in her last year and she basically doesn't teach us well at all. You can tell she has given up because she never acted like this when I had her for Algebra II. She just gives us notes and runs through a lecture very fast and thats it. I realize this is what college is like, and I have no problem teaching myself, but it is frustrating because when you ask for help, she gives you some vague answer and isn't sure of the answer herself. I am still getting high B's in calc (A- with extra credit), but calc is a huge part of engineering and I don't want to be the one person there who doesn't know how to correctly differentiate. I am scared I will not be prepared for the classes in the fall and the weed-out classes will force me to change my major.</p>
<p>How can I prepare myself for my first year? How did you prepare yourself?</p>
<p>First, most kids don’t come in having had engineering classes in high school. Your high school courses are very typical. So don’t worry about that.
And most kids do feel “inadequate” which is a normal and healthy thing, after all, you will be taking harder courses and have smarter classmates than in high school. Just remember that the school wouldn’t have accepted you if they weren’t confident about your ability to succeed there!
It will be good for you to feel confident about calc, even if you are going to take the full set of calculus courses. It will help your transition. Have you tried using the Khan Academy to get additional instruction and practice problems? It is really great! <a href=“https://www.khanacademy.org/math/calculus[/url]”>https://www.khanacademy.org/math/calculus</a></p>
<p>You don’t necessarily need any calculus experience coming into most engineering programs, as this will not be assumed knowledge. You will take calc1, calc2, and calc3 and the most important preparation will be to make sure you have very solid mastery of algebra. Review precalculus over the summer and if you like, you can also preview calc1 as this will give you a head start.</p>
<p>It is great that you have taken AP Chemistry, as that will give you an idea of the level of rigor to expect in college intro chem and physics. But I would not suggest placing out of general chemistry, especially since your intended major in ChemE, because general chemistry in college will go in more depth and at a faster pace than AP Chemistry.</p>
<p>The other thing you can do during the remainder of time at your high school is hone study skills. Focus on improving time management, do more practice problems than are assigned in both math and science, go beyond requirements in all written assignments, and generally try to develop independent study habits now so the transition to college will be smoother.</p>
<p>I have the same issue, but far worse. I came to the U.S. a little bit more than 2 years ago and I’m very behind in every subject. I’m barely taking algebra 2 h. this year and I haven’t taken any physics. For some miracle I got accepted for Electrical Engineer major at Cal poly pomona but I’m scared my unpreparedness will mess me up at college. However I’m planning to teach myself these subject during the remaining of the year and take the CLEP exams to see how far I got.</p>
<p>Engineering degree programs are usually structured with the expected preparation being:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Good understanding of high school math through precalculus and trigonometry. High school calculus is a bonus, but not generally required (AP scores may allow starting in a more advanced calculus course).</p></li>
<li><p>High school chemistry as a prerequisite to college chemistry. AP is a bonus, but not generally required.</p></li>
<li><p>High school physics as a prerequisite to college physics. AP is a bonus, but not generally required.</p></li>
<li><p>High school level English reading and writing skills sufficient to handle college level work in general, including typically-required English composition courses and humanities and social studies courses as well as science and engineering courses.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>CWRU uses a math diagnostic exam to determine math placement. However, it does not seem to be available yet. In the mean time, you may want to try this math placement test to check your knowledge of various high school math topics up to precalculus and trigonometry:</p>
<p>High school graduates are not expected to have significant work experience in engineering, though some do have computer programming experience due to the common availability of computers these days.</p>
<p>ucbalumnus- thank you thank you thank you! The test definitely helps. I am taking AP Lit as well as AP Gov and I took APUSH last year. And our physics and calc classes are modeled after the nearby public university’s intro to physics/calc 1. So I have that advantage.</p>