<p>So I just got back from college orientation and I was pretty shocked at how badly our math placement test destroyed most of the people there (with the exception of myself and a few others). I saw math majors score 12/25, with the highest of 'em being 18/25. I saw CS majors score 11/25 and engineering majors get anywhere from 9/25 -16/25</p>
<p>So I have to ask, then: how do most people survive engineering programs? Engineers have to take boatloads of sophisticated mathematics, physics, engineering courses, etc. So how can people who can't get a 50% on a math placement test (it was SAT Math level) end up doing the intellectually demanding coursework and, eventually, handle the realities of the engineering world? </p>
<p>A lot of schools weed out engineers at the freshman level, knowing that there are rigors ahead that students may not be up to. They want to let the frail at heart know early that they are not up to the task, rather than let them go through two years of an engineering curriculum before finding out that they can’t cut it. Keep at it, don’t quit, you can do it. It does take some determination, and it is work, but don’t think it is impossible.</p>
<p>I remember what one of my earlier employers told me. He doesn’t hire engineers for their knowledge of chemical, mechanical, or materials engineering…he hires them because they are problem solvers. They know how to problem solve.</p>
<p>I have been an engineer for 30 years. Have a BS Chem Eng. ME Env. Eng and am a Registered Civil Engineer. Have loved it every step of the way…it sure opens doors.</p>
<p>I’m not sure how your can make judgments about the program or your fellow students based on placement test. The purpose of the placement test is to determine where a student should start, not where they’ll end up. You can’t pass or fail a placement test, and it wasn’t a contest, although it sounds like you guys treated it as one.</p>
<p>There are very, very few undergrad engineers that actually know what they’re doing. Luckily, a lot of engineering jobs are catered to these people. It’s the grad students that really kick ass :P</p>
<p>Exactly. You have to design the test to center at a point far enough away from the bounds to show variability. If the test was designed for an average of 24/25, everyone who scored 25/25 would be “above average”. You wouldn’t be able to distinguish the “slight above average” from the “substantially above average” students.</p>
<p>Now if the test really was incredibly easy and engineering students were bombing it, that’s a different story.</p>
<p>i dont think a stupid placement test is any indication of how kids would perform in college…most of these kids probably didnt take the test seriously and made clumsy mistakes…</p>
<p>You can’t “bomb” a placement test. And these aren’t engineering students, they are high school students preparing for their first semester at college.</p>
<p>Isn’t SAT math about 10th grade level at most (or has it changed)? That’s somewhat worrying but, hey, this is why you go to college.</p>
<p>In any case, undergraduate level engineering doesn’t really have much difficult math or physics in it. It’s the graduate level where it begins to get heavy.</p>
<p>I don’t care if you get that wrong on a placement test, on a college exam, on the SATs, on while sitting on a bus. If you get that wrong, you have no business going into engineering school.</p>
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<p>They’ve already graduated high school. They’re not college students enrolled in an engineering program, which makes them engineering students.</p>
<p>DH and I wonder how all the structural engineers who were C students in college get by in the real world! Maybe they’re just promoted to management really quickly. Kind of scary, though.</p>
<p>which high school in the country teaches 5th grade level math?</p>
<p>I took a placement test when i was going into college and i had to review some math…trig rules,algebra and stuff…that material wasnt as intuitive to me as it is right now…and mind you I’m not a ■■■■■■…i took AP calc in high school…</p>