<p>I have heard that the engineering program is very hard, and that less than 50% make it out of their first semester. Was this because people were just being lazy O.o? I don't get it, are the classes super tough? I want to know if it's doable. I got accepted to the Engineering program and what I've heard has caught my attetion. I'm currently taking a lot of math oriented classes: AP Chem AP Stats AP Physics B and AP Calculus BC(I skipped AB btw) and so far I've gotten A's in all of them. AP Chem surprised me somewhat, I thought it was going to be hard but it's a breeze. AP Stats is also a breeze. AP Physics surprisingly a breeze too. AP Calculus BC is the only one I won't say it's a cake walk but that's because I've had to learn at much faster pace since I never took AB and need to study independently all the time. This is basicly how I feel about them, not trying to sound arrogant. For junior year I took AP English, AP US history, and AP Bio which I got a 5 in. Do you think I can handle it?</p>
<p>So Purdue does have some classes in the first year engineering program that might not appeal to everyone. More specifically, ENGR 131/132 (assuming that’s still the course numbers). </p>
<p>Anyway, here’s the main reasons why people quit engineering:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Some people aren’t 100% sure if they want to do engineering, their classes demoralize them and sometimes it hard for people to look at the bigger picture. This is unfortunate, since I think a good amount of these people could be engineers, but they just quit too early </p></li>
<li><p>They’re lazy. A lot of people didn’t have a lot of work in high school, college is a bit different and so not everyone is willing to put in the effort to get an engineering degree. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>It’s typically a combination of the two: not sure if they want to do engineering/not motivated enough and not willing to put in the effort. </p>
<p>AP courses don’t mean anything. I was a TA for PHYS 172 and I had some kids slack off and tell me they’re not worried since they took AP Physics in high school; most of them ended up with a C or D.</p>
<p>Is engineering hard? Yes. Is it do-able? Yes. </p>
<p>BUT understand it all depends on you:
- Can you look at the bigger picture and realize that 1st year engineering classes are not what engineering is really about (especially 131/132)?
- Are you willing to put in effort to learn? I’m not talking about 50-60 hours a week, but still a decent amount (You’d be surprised how many people can’t deal with 3-4 hours of homework/day).
- Are you willing to change studying methods, ask professors for help, go to TA hours, stay on top of your reading if you’re struggling and you need to change how you’re learning?</p>
<p>If you can say yes to all 3 questions, you’ll do great.</p>
<p>Euroboilermaker is 100% accurate with the assessment. And this applies to any major where it is a bit more of a challenge and requires calculus as a part of your major. My son is a senior in HS and is at the top of his class. He is smart, but he works his tail off–or I should say he is disciplined. He often puts in 3-4 hours per night as a high school student --he is a full IB diploma candidate. For college, as it has been stated, you need to treat college like a job. Put in about 40 hours, including going to class, and getting your homework. You still have plenty of time to hang out, go to events, take a day off --like Saturday. But you need that discipline for 5 days a week. My son will do computer science–and like engineering–it is challenging and you need to put in the time. Too many college kids find it difficult to adjust to all the freedom–especially the freshman year and somewhat the sophomore year. The real tougher classes will begin the junior year–so you don’t want to develop bad habits and get behind. Many students choose not to do the work, want a much easier major where they don’t need to study as much–can skip a class once in awhile–and if your are at Purdue --don’t do that. Go to class, do your homework every day–set time for studying–and like I said–a 40 hour work week. You will be fine. And do ask for help–it is there and the profs will remember those people who come to see them --and it just may make a difference in a high C to getting that B, etc. It did for me many years ago–and I did not get that message until I was a junior–and my GPA suffered a bit. Enjoy your time at college, but be smart about it. By the way, if you can handle Calculus and Physics your first year at Purdue (like at least a B in those classes)-- you will likely be fine with Engineering if you apply yourself. Many kids simply do not want to do the work and are not committed enough.</p>
<p>40 hours work week. I have that now in high school except it not a job. I don’t really works my tails off with the exception of AP Lit. but somehow manage to be at my best. Someone like me cannot handle excessive studying or working but if i take it medium (not study like crazy) I tends to do extremely better.
But I think the problem is that people did not have hard or time-consuming classes in high school (like my AP Lit or AP U.S. History), so that they’re not prepared when they jump into the frey. However it all come down to determination imo. If it is strong enough that’s all it take.</p>
<p>As a follow up question, how large are the average class sizes for Junior and Senior level engineering classes?</p>
<p>Is it possible to do engineering as a pre-med, or just really difficult?</p>
<p>average class sizes for Junior and Senior engineering courses: it depends on the engineering major. In electrical engineering, we could have anywhere between 20 to a 100 kids in a class. Though understand we had about 200 students in ECE in every year. Other engineering courses might be much smaller, it’ll really depend on how many students are in your major.</p>
<p>It is definitely do-able to do engineering and pre-med. A few things though:
- Biomedical Engineering is quite popular with pre-med students for obvious reasons.
- You could also do electrical engineering as it can relate to neuroscience and some upcoming fields where electronics are being integrated into medical applications</p>
<p>The trick though is to ensure you have a balanced course load. I have a minor in Physics, so that took up some extra space in my schedule. You’ll probably have biology, organic chemistry and what not, but it’s the same principle.</p>
<p>Though this is highly subjective and it really depends on your course worksheet, my suggestion would be to test out of as many courses as you can (calculus, physics, chemistry, french, spanish,…) and take gen ed courses over the summer online. </p>
<p>Allow me to explain: I tested out of 4 credits of math, 4 credits of chemisty and 9 credits of french. It opened up a lot of space in my schedule to take 3 additional physics courses, an entrepreneurship course and have a few semesters with just 12-13 credits. </p>
<p>Also, you have to take 6 Gen Ed (general education) courses to graduate. Those 9 credits of French I took care of 3 Gen Ed courses. Something like that might not be always possible, so I would suggest taking some of the gen eds online over the summer. They cost $1000 per course, but there’s a few advantages:
- It’ll free up your schedule during the regular year so you can take pre-med courses
- If you do that, you don’t take to take regular summer courses and so you can go on medical internships or do summer research, which hopefully pay and can offset the cost of online courses</p>
<p>But yes, in short, if you plan it out and leave some flexibility you can definitely excel while combining engineering and pre-med.</p>
<p>Nice! I was planning on switching to biomedical engineering from computer engineering to do pre-med</p>