<p>Hello.
Currently, I'm a freshman in Biology program. So far, I spent over two months in this program, but I don't think it fits me well. I have more fascination in and do better in math, chemistry, and physics, so I'm considering changing my program to Engineering. But I heard many people saying how hard it is. Is it really that harsh? Is it only for physics and math geniuses? Do engineering students really need to take like 6+ courses per semester? That is crazy! Please tell me what characteristics, qualities, abilities, etc. are required to succeed in this area, and what types of people are perfect match for this.
Also, compared to all the other majors out there, how hard are Engineering majors? What GPA is considered excellent in this major to get into Ivy graduate schools?
Thank you.</p>
<p>You have to be persistent and hard worker, no need to be a genius. You do need to be fairly intelligent. I have only taken 5 courses per semester , also you can take a extra semester and graduate a little late, it wont hurt you. I think physics and math are harder majors than engineering but engineering has a bigger workload. 3.5 is a excellent GPA for grad schools in engineering majors.</p>
<p>Hmmm many questions, where to start...</p>
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Is it only for physics and math geniuses?
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Not at all. You do have to have an affinity with physics and math, and are willing to work hard. You don't need to be a genius.</p>
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Do engineering students really need to take like 6+ courses per semester?
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You don't "NEED" to take a certain amount of classes. Most people take 4-5 classes per semester. Keep in mind engineering is generally a 5 year deal keeping with that regime.</p>
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Please tell me what characteristics, qualities, abilities, etc. are required to succeed in this area, and what types of people are perfect match for this.
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Driven, ambitious, hard-working, analytical, creative.</p>
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Also, compared to all the other majors out there, how hard are Engineering majors?
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One of the hardest majors out there. Average attrition rate in engineering is 50-70%.</p>
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What GPA is considered excellent in this major to get into Ivy graduate schools?
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First, when someone says top engineering school, nobody thinks of Ivies. They think of MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Berkeley, GA Tech, Michigan, UIUC etc. A good GPA in engineering is around 3.5-3.6. Concidently, that's about the average GPA of acceptees at top 20 engineering grad schools.</p>
<p>whoa...you're a God among men if you get a 3.5</p>
<p>Then you must bow down to me :)</p>
<p>I kid, but it does take a lot of hard work and sometimes sacrifices to do well in engineering.</p>
<p>I think Physics and Math are probably the only majors harder than Engineering. I think that's because there's more theory and abstractness.</p>
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I think Physics and Math are probably the only majors harder than Engineering.
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</p>
<p>Unless you're wired for it. I know some people that barely studied in math and excelled, but wouldn't write ten pages of literary criticism to avoid being tortured.</p>
<p>You will find that each person has a talent for a special area. Music, medicine, engineering, math, English, etc. The key is to find the natural fit for you. Being in your natural fit doesn't meant it will be easy though. I started out in computer science. While I quickly learned that it wasn't the right choice for me, I felt like I was only meant to be in a technical field. I switched to mechanical engineering and now I am a power plant engineer and I love my job. However, even mechanical engineering was tough but I made it through. It is a combination of your natural skills, your motivation to work hard, what school you go to, etc. I think the school matters because every school is different and you may learn better at one school than at another, like I did.</p>
<p>It's hard, but you certainly don't need to be a genius. I think you need to be extremely comfortable with math, but other than that it's possible to slog your way through if you put in tons of effort. Heck, I managed to get an EE degree with a 3.4 GPA despite having zero aptitude or interest in the subject but plenty of persistence and an insane work ethic (long story, parents pressured me into that major even though my talents tilted elsewhere). If I can do it, anyone with more interest in engineering than I did can do it too.</p>
<p>yeah so math/physics is harder than engineering but it doesn't mean if you do well in math/physics you will do well in engineering. it requires a different set of skills, I think. More memorization, for one. I'm lots better at physics than engineering like I never learned how to use a calculator properly. I actually kind of suck at engineering.</p>
<p>But not to say you shouldn't give it a shot.</p>
<p>"First, when someone says top engineering school, nobody thinks of Ivies. They think of MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Berkeley, GA Tech, Michigan, UIUC etc. A good GPA in engineering is around 3.5-3.6. Concidently, that's about the average GPA of acceptees at top 20 engineering grad schools."</p>
<p>Cornell???</p>
<p>What differing sets of skills are required in Physics/Math than Engineering?</p>
<p>applied vs. theoretical. as an engineer you have to be pretty meticulous, keep track of units, worry about fringe effects, factor in every little contribution to obtain a real-world final result. I think it requires a level of diligence that some of us do not have, a certain detail-oriented personality. Also, patience, maybe even endurance, for those particularly pesky standard notations that you have to memorize.</p>
<p>In physics we set the speed of light = 1, wield massless frictionless rods, assume inertial systems at every turn, fraternize with perfect conductors, make taylor approximations left and right... ignore air resistance... (something we most especially cannot do in aero/astro), and generally remove ourselves from the real world. Devoid of those challenges, I'd say physics requires a lot more derivation and a lot less implication. Which to me point to an emphasis on analytical thinking and problem-solving and theorizing (taking known concepts and extending them), whereas in engineering I'm mostly asked to master concepts already done to death and use them to create workable new systems obeying those rules. </p>
<p>it comes down to the fact that in physics you are asked to think much more empirically than in engineering. It's much easier for some to take a few basic concepts and use them on a million things in a million different ways and easier for others to take a million different concepts and a million different methods and use them on a few things. I think I'm the former and I keep forgetting what equation does what in engineering, and the fact that many equations are derived experimentally (or not derived for us at all seeing the absolute gore of having to wade through real world derivations) doesn't allow me to grasp the basic unifying concepts behind them and apply that to different sets of problems which is limitlessly frustrating. I don't know, my mind always has to do a backflip when I finish a physics problem set and have to start an engineering one and vice versa.</p>
<p>Fahood,
Cornnel University has a great engineering department. That is where I attempted to do computer science but the place wasn't for me. My brother got his chemical engineering degree from there. For me, if I would have gotten my degree from there and still got the job that I have now, I would have considered Cornell's program to be overkill. The name of the school did very little to help my brother since his GPA wasn't high on the scale. I transferred to a less rigorous school, got a high GPA, and got a job on my second interview. It took my brother at least 6 months to find a job. It seems to me that no matter what school you go to, a high engineering GPA is key.</p>
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Cornnel University has a great engineering department. That is where I attempted to do computer science but the place wasn't for me. My brother got his chemical engineering degree from there. For me, if I would have gotten my degree from there and still got the job that I have now, I would have considered Cornell's program to be overkill. The name of the school did very little to help my brother since his GPA wasn't high on the scale. I transferred to a less rigorous school, got a high GPA, and got a job on my second interview. It took my brother at least 6 months to find a job. It seems to me that no matter what school you go to, a high engineering GPA is key.
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</p>
<p>Exactly right. And that gets to something I have been saying for awhile - which is, why do these top engineering schools do that? Specifically, why do they feel that they have to grade hard? They're not helping their students when they do that. In fact, if anything, they are actually HURTING their students. From what I have seen, from an employment standpoint, it probably is better to get top grades at a mediocre engineering school than to get mediocre grades at a top school. The top schools would respond by saying that they are attempting to preserve the prestige of their brand name, deliberately ignoring the fact that, outside of a few select engineering companies (i.e. Google), most engineering employers out there don't seem to care much about the brand name.</p>
<p>One of my old friends majored in computer science and economics at Cornell. He works for some financial company in NYC and he said that the Cornell name gave him no advantage in the interview process, but I imagine most of the people who get hired by those companies are from top schools anyway.</p>
<p>I went to YSU and it provided a good fundamental education but didn't have nearly as many resources as Cornell....not by a long shot. But my performance was much better at YSU and it landed me a good job as a power plant engineer. The company I work for is slowly rebuilding its staff of engineers since many of the current employees are nearing retirement and the company doesn't seem to focus on recruiting from the big-name schools. Many of my coworkers got their degrees from "average" programs but did very well at their respective colleges. And students who like working in nice clean labs won't like working in a coal-fueled power plant. While I have cubicle I also spend a lot of time out in the plant, which can be dirty, loud, hot, cold, etc. I helped give a tour to some CMU students and one guy got upset because the hard hat messed up his hair.</p>