I am a Canadian CEGEP science student, which is the equivalent to year 0 of engineering school I guess. I started looking into ChemE when I realized I didn’t have the grades for pharm or med, but it went from being a backup plan to something i was really excited about as I researched the program and the job more and more. only problem: I am terrified I don’t have the math/or other skills to survive the program. I started my CEGEP journey as a social science with math student, due to dismal grades in high school math (60s, I tried my hardest but never finished exams) and took Cal I to see if i could get into science instead because I was bored. Surprisingly, I got a 92. Pushed by my newfound math skills, I transferred, and had a terrible first semester as a science student mainly due to lack of motivation and overconfidence (I skipped every class except Cal II at least once a week) . I came close to failing (60s and 70s) nearly everything, even chemistry, which I excel at. I did fail cal II with a 30%. I retook it next semester and mustered a 78% (the teacher had very tough exams, the average was failing) without much effort (I didn’t do any of the homework after the first exam). Last semester i took Linear and it was extremely easy (I did the homework and skipped at least once a week). I scored in the high 80s. I am set to take Cal III next semester and have sworn to put in all the effort i can (no skipping) as a test run for engineering. I am also studying Cal I and Cal II at home over the summer to improve my math background. To give you an Idea, Cal I at my engineering school is the equivalent of cal III but harder and more i depth (stokes, greene’s theorem, etc). I know a large part of my problem is my study habits and my class participation, but even before I became accustomed to skipping and not studying, I was struggling with math.If I put in a crazy amount of work, could I realistically score a 4.0/4.3 GPA (so I can not only graduatebut get a second bachelors in med? )
The most important thing for you to do is to attend all the classes. This is really the key, along with hard work, to succeeding in engineering. You know you can do the work and get good grades but you have to put in the effort on a consistent basis. Surprisingly, this is the kind of thig that is needed to succees in a career. You have to go to work every day. i don’t think that employees who skip days will lsat long in any job…
You know what you have to do to make it in engineering, you mentioned it yourself. Talk is cheap though and you have to back it up with a change in how you behave.