I need a down-to earth talk about life as an engineering student.

College Majors Engineering Majors
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<p>Wow, there’s an insight of information here. Thanks for every bit of it; I’ll read it over a few times today. :)</p>

<p>I do hope that I have the passion for math and physics that I believe I do now. I have never taken a physics class, but I’ve listened to the MIT OCW lessons some this summer just to give me a little heads up. I’m not going to force myself to stay in it if I’m sure that I don’t enjoy the field, but I will try to block out quitting when the going gets tough.</p>

<p>I’m in the honors program at my school, which is over half filled with engineering students, so I hope to have some mentor type people. :slight_smile: They also really encourage us to do research (actually, it’s a requirement) and I’m really excited to do that.</p>

<p>I suppose I’ll get a hands-on experience soon enough…</p>

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<p>Beta_Fist,</p>

<p>I understand that this forum topic has gotten a little out of hand, so if you have any other questions you can always PM me and I can answer them to the best of my ability.</p>

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<p>Agreed with some of the other posters here, PrincessBride cant really provide “first-hand” experience, and is probably looking at a very skewed set of engineering students. Unless you’re going to places like MIT or Stanford, I very much doubt that engineering is an “impossible, tough to complete” subject and can be done with with some common-sense, perseverance, and aptitude. You dont have to be a genius.</p>

<p>Also, by thinking that “engineering is hard, tough, etc” will simply bog you down. I had to mentally get over that pessimistic attitude in my freshman year and move on with life, and now i’m finished engineering. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions.</p>

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<p>Thank you both for the pm offers. I will certainly keep it in mind, but I don’t have any specific questions at the moment. I’m definitely not going to a prestegious uni…just a well-respected state school that has a large engineering department. </p>

<p>Medrobitics, it seems that mindset you developed is what I’ve seen in a lot of people. I will try to not develop it before I even enter school…</p>

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<p>D’s a chemical engineering major, going into her second year. She did use a ton of AP credit (45 hours, the most she could count) towards her major, and she started in upperlevel math (calc 3, as an example). BUT … she has an extreme passion for math and physics. It makes “intuitive” sense to her in the same way that literature makes sense to me. She’s so numbers oriented. She took an intro to engineering class to help her define which engineering discipline appealed most to her. ChemE won out, as she also has an interest in medical, in some shape or form, i.e. medical research from as an engineer. Anyway, she did very well her first year and was very involved with being in a sorority, participating in campus crusade, and going to football and hanging out with friends. But she’s VERY disciplined and as I said “freakishly, in a good way of course” smart when it comes to math and physics. One of her roommates who started in ME has already switched out, not because of grades (she had straight A’s) but because she wants to go a more liberal arts route … more “people” oriented. Her other roommate is ChemE, too, and she’s doing well and not having too much difficulty either. Again though … she’s also waaay smart in math/science. We’ll see how she feels once she takes Orgo this year, LOL. She started with Chem II and did well, but she didn’t particularly care for it. A chemE major who’s not overly in love with chem for chem’s sake.</p>

<p>zebes</p>

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<p>@montegut, </p>

<p>most of my engineering friends have taken the summer before and/or after freshman year to take any courses. I did a summer engineering program before my freshman year (no credits, just brutal classes and projects) and I’m currently doing an engineering internship this summer so I haven’t been able to take summer courses. If he really needs to take classes during summer, especially chem, I’m not sure he can do an internship at the same time. A lot of engineers get internships after their sophomore/junior year, which is perfectly fine.</p>

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<p>Beta Fist,</p>

<p>Do not listen to the fools who think they are in right mind to say it is hard/impossible.</p>

<p>Engineering isn’t hard.</p>

<p>You just need the right mind for it. If you actually have a true and genuine passion for engineering, you will make it through, and nothing will seem hard. </p>

<p>Do you think some of the greatest minds in history (Einstein, Galileo, Hawking…ect) did what they did because of the difficulty level? No way dude.</p>

<p>Don’t listen to people who say it is soo hard, so many people drop out. It’s a bunch of BS and they are just dissatisfied that they can’t pull through with it themselves.</p>

<p>You only as smart as you think you are.</p>

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<p>If you have enough mental (and sometimes physical) fortitude, you can and will complete and engineering degree. It simply depends on what your environment is like: classes, homework, social life, etc. I can’t really offer you any specific advice, but I do believe that engineering is a self-selecting field. Most people who sign up for it know they can complete it, and they do.</p>

<p>As for the ones that flunk out, it is often because they are simply not keeping their priorities straight and doing the work for the class. They’d have the same problem no matter what major they are.</p>

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<p>Anyone who says engineering isn’t hard does not know what they are talking about. Likewise, anyone who says engineering is impossible also does not know what they are talking about. The blunt truth is that engineering is one of the most difficult and rigorous degrees out there. Many people can’t handle it or are not willing to put in the necessary effort. However, if you are willing to be disciplined and develop great study habits, an engineering degree is definitely within reach. Just be prepared to see the business and liberal arts students having a lot more free time and a lot less work. At times it doesn’t seem fair but keep in mind that it will be worth it when you graduate with an engineering degree.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

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<p>This is the point that, time and again, I cannot stress enough. It isn’t really about intelligence, it is about being passionate enough to be willing to put in the work required for engineering. Einstein once said “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” Personally, I think that sums it up pretty good. If you are passionate about something, you will find a way to get it done, even if it is hard.</p>

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<p>Why do we need an endless fight over whether engineering is difficult or not?</p>

<p>Face the fact. It’s a subjective question. It depends on the individual.
Some people are gifted talent students.
Some enjoy engineering and what they do, but they have to spend extra times to maintain good GPA.
Some professors are on your hater list and you will never get 4.0 because of them.
Some colleges are more competitive than the others.</p>

<p>Although I have to agree with most people (including my physics teachers in high school) that to become a good physics major you have to be really good in physics. Memorizing formulas do not mean you are a good physicist. The ability to apply them and see the insights of theorems and laws are the real challenges. </p>

<p>But this is not a discouragement. Just a fact that sometime you might find yourself more comfortable and more talent in other areas.
This is why freshman year is very important - THE god-damn year to look into different engineering fields and other majors :)</p>

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<p>You need to have the passion and willing to put the time in the Engineering major. We lost 30% of our ChE class from sophomore to senior year. Many of the students that transferred into other departments were brilliant high school math and science students but just didn’t want to put the time and effort into Chemical Engineering. The students that stayed loved the major as the Junior and Senior year classes were much more exciting and interesting - and did very well in getting top jobs or into great graduate or professional schools such as Air Products & Chemicals, Schlumberger, Proctor & Gamble, MIT ChE, Stanford, Wharton and Harvard Business Schools, Oxford/Cambridge and Harvard Med.</p>

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<p>Engineering is as difficult as you want it to be. Breeze through classes with C’s and you hardly have to put in any work at all. B’s are a bit more difficult, and A’s require quite a bit of effort. </p>

<p>I pulled a 4.0 last quarter with 20 units all upper div engineering while working a part time job, doing research, and I was still able to party/drink/chill 2 nights out of the week and take a full day off each weekend. It really comes down to how efficiently you study and how you manage your time. My tactic has always been: study if you’re feeling it, and don’t if you’re not. This way I optimize my “chill” time if I’m not feeling like hitting the books, and put in great study time if I am. </p>

<p>As an incoming freshman I say you have very little to worry about. Just enjoy the college experience and make sure you devote at least SOME time into studying. </p>

<p>Btw, I never took calc in high school but still managed to score among the highest in virtually all of the calc classes. Make sure you take a breather now and then to identify your strengths/weaknesses. This way you can devote more time to subjects which you are not at strong in, think forward, and maintain an overall high GPA.</p>

<p>I do agree with the poster above me. If you have absolutely no passion in understanding engineering then you’ll end up like the majority of my friends who have failed out or dropped out of engineering. I’m moving onto my senior year and I would say for every 3 people I’ve known in Engineering since freshman year 2 have failed or dropped out. Most of which occurred even before we hit the upper div courses (i.e. lower div math, physics, chem) the rest left after statics, dynamics, thermo, etc. I only know one person who left towards the end of 3rd year. My class sizes have thinned out quite a bit so I’d imagine most people moving onto senior year with me are here to stay.</p>

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<p>Thanks to everyone else who’s responded. You’ve given me a lot to think about.</p>

<p>A question…is it bad to skip the introductory classes? I just found out that I got a 4 on both the chemistry and calculus ab tests, and that places me out of chem 101&102 and ma141. I was planning on taking those classes as just a refresher, but I’d like to hear from some engineers (chemE esp, but everyone really) about their freshman class experience.</p>

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<p>^ I’m with beta_first. It’s always a big temptation to milk all your AP credits for all it’s worth. (You’ve eraned it through hard work in HS, anyway). Also, you get more room, credit hours-wise, to take fun non-engineering classes you’ve always had an interest in. And those classes will probably boost your GPA more than an engineering class would.</p>

<p>Beta_first, the interesting thing is, if you follow your school’s curriculum (basically, act like you have no APs), it schedules that you’d graduate in 4 years.</p>

<p>I like the summer classes idea. Except that they cost extra. Eep!</p>

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<p>-OP </p>

<p>Most kids who didn’t study in high school tend to carry that work ethic into their freshman year as an engineering major. Many people find out the hard way that they need to apply themselves in order to be successful. I’d say you already have a leg up on your proactive approach to preparing yourself for your first year. There is no doubt about it, engineering is very challenging. The concepts and the amount of work. At the end of the day, if you’re generally interested in what you’re studying you’ll be okay. One key thing that you might not be aware of is that most engineering classes are graded on a curve. Their is no set scale on the syllabus. This really changes the dynamics in terms of studying. At least it did for me. I went to an elite engineering school where it seemed like everyone studied all the time. I considered myself to be an average student so I knew that in order to hit the curve or better on my exams I had to study the material inside and out before the exam. Very rarely did I walk into an exam only looking over the material. I did as much studying as I could for an exam as my schedule permitted. Final exams aren’t a treat either. They usually cover all the material that the class did terrible on from previous exams. So remember, it’s not just what you know but now well you know it relative to your classmates.</p>

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<p>I transferred in over 30 credits from various AP and Honors classes. Even though I was admitted my freshman year as a sophomore I still took the intro classes to get used to college life. It’s hard for me to say it helped when I look back on it and because now I wish I hadn’t wasted my time. From what I’ve read, it seems to me like you could handle skipping the intro classes and going straight into the upper level courses. It will definitely give you more leniency for the future whether you can graduate early, take more classes, or even re-take a class if you chose.</p>

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<p>@ beta</p>

<p>It might be a good idea if you are confident. People can get 5 and not remember any of the stuff they did in AP Physics C, AP Calc BC, and not able to progress in college. Because they forget so much, they have to pull extra and extra time reviewing old stuff.</p>

<p>Again, courses are taught by professors. They are human beings. They can be your stupid hater list forever. And bad grades will make you sad.</p>

<p>If you look at MIT’s admission, it says MIT wants transfer applicants try not to skip any introductory course. I have to agree with MIT myself. As an engineering major (especially as a physic and engineering major), I find calculus really interesting and have given a lot of insights into mathematics and science after taking calc 1, 2, and currently calc 3. </p>

<p>Here is a story. I never knew that tax rates is using calculus. :slight_smile: I thought people just came up with random good-looking rates. But the distribution of tax rate is a continuous function. </p>

<p>I didn’t take AP calc, but I had calculus in high school. I forgot some of the stuff.</p>

<p>Moreover, the decision is on you. Look. I am glad that I have good professors - professors that can actually teach you. Not those who look at the book and teach you. Right now I am taking calculus 3 (mutli-variable), and my professor write averagely 4-6 pages notes on the board. He just stands in the front and talk for 2 hours and a half.
He’s pretty young actually. I enjoy a lot.</p>

<p>So if you really want to skip the introductory course - no problem, but think about two things:</p>

<h1>1 Do you think you remember most of the stuff?</h1>

<h1>2 For science - is it revalent to your major? If you are civil engineering, you probably don’t want to skip introductory physics just yet. Our school offers tough physics program. Unless you get a 4 on AP Physics C, you can’t get away from calculus-based physics I.</h1>

<p>Again, think about those two things.
If biology and chemistry aren’t really that needed in your undergraduate program, for example, computer engineering. Hey, just skip them. If you are chemical engineering, you really don’t want to mess up your knowledge if you are not confident enough to skip it.</p>

<p>just my 0.3567 cent</p>

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<p>Montegut:</p>

<p>Check if your son’s school has coop; it’s usually a well organised program, and it gives you highly relevant experience with good companies.<br>
You can take evening courses while working full-time, but usually the max is 1.</p>

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<p>boneh3ad, my favorite quote of all and of Einstein thereof, “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.”</p>