<p>just following the trend...</p>
<p>What's the life of an engineering major attending a large, prestigious, science school like?</p>
<p>Study, study, study, study, study....</p>
<p><em>five to six years pass</em></p>
<p>Tears of joy flow down your cheeks as you realize that everything you'll ever need for your well-paying job is located in a manual.</p>
<p>Monday - thursday, go to class and study.
Friday night - Possibly go out at night
Saturday, football games, possibly get some work done in the day, go out at night.
Sunday - do work during the day / night.</p>
<p>why not ask in the engineering forum. Most regular folk don't have a clue of what it really takes to be a engineer.</p>
<p>when I was a undergrad, I spent around 12 hrs a day studying, plus classes. That was for Computer Engineering.</p>
<p>EE:
Mon-Fri: ~4 classes/labs a day, plus ~10 hours of work. Oh, and ignore all of the non-engineering idiots around you that are constantly harassing you about "working too much". Laugh at that thought that one day you will make $70K+ right out of college if you survive, whereas they'll be lucky to even have a job upon graduation. Eat every once in awhile. Sleep if you can.</p>
<p>Fri night: go out and get trashed, but be a bore after about midnight because you're so exhausted from the week. Go back, pass out.</p>
<p>Saturday: wake up hungover, go to the football/basketball game, come back and try to do work, fail miserably, take a nap, eat, go out again and go nuts to release all of the stress.</p>
<p>Sunday: wake up with a worse hangover, cry at the thought you have hours and hours of work to do, seriously consider switching majors. Get the work done, maybe watch TV and catch up with the real world, then try to start the week off with more than 6 hours of sleep, but fail.</p>
<p>Repeat, for four or five years, then graduate with a ridiculous job and never use 98% of the knowledge you gained in college.</p>
<p>EE major @ University of Maryland-College Park</p>
<p>typical semester:
2-3 homework sets a week: take AROUND 3-8 hours each.
one lab a week: around 4-7 hours of work outside of the lab.
9-12 exams a semester: study around 8-15 hours for each.
papers: 2-4 a semester.</p>
<p>in the end, engineering is not that bad. it is about time management. and you got to be smart. you don't need to be top5% in your high school, but top 40% sounds about right.. haha. most kids drop out because they can't even handle general chem, calculus, or physics. just remember that you must work HARDER and LONGER than the average college student. engineering is harder. so unless you are a freaking genius, you will have to work hard.</p>
<p>i am in the honors program, a frat (Alpha Kappa Psi), club team (table tennis), cultural club, and two Christian Fellowships, go to church, go to sporting events, lift, I also worked OR researched 3 out of 4 semesters (9-10 hours a week). i have a modest 3.49... all you need is 2.0 to graduate, and most internships and jobs want you to have a minimum of 2.8 to 3.2... so I think I am doing alright.</p>
<p>There are days where I work non-stop (class, quizzes, exam, office hour, study, hw) all in one day... sucks. BUT there are other days where I just go to class and just chill all night (play CS:S, gym, go out). Engineering is tougher than most if not all majors. but it is do-able. UNLESS you are an idiot who decided to do engineering even though you got ZERO aptitude in math, sciences, and problem solving. it's like me trying to major in art/graphic design/etc... i am creative but not artistic... or if i chose to major in dance or voice... not my thing.</p>
<p>you gotta love it.</p>
<p>wow i'm definately changing my major if i have to study more than 6 hours a day...is civil engineering considered on of the less intensive engineering programs?</p>
<p>same goes for pre-med/Biology majors.</p>
<p>You can get by on less than 6 hours of studying per day... if you attend class and pay attention, and have an IQ of more than 130. Then maybe 3 will do.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Laugh at that thought that one day you will make $70K+ right out of college if you survive, whereas they'll be lucky to even have a job upon graduation.
[/quote]
You don't seriously believe that.</p>
<p>bahha, nerds don't run anything. Bill Gates is NOT a nerd, in the traditional sense-he's a very slick businessman who happens to understand computers. You guys are gonna be so mad when that jock with the 2.0 in marketing is a VP at some company because he networked and got on the company's softball team. All the while, the lowly engineer will be stuck in the same dinky job, w/no room for advancement, as he lacks leadership skills and is too akward to muscle his way into the boy's club. That 70k/year is pretty much fixed. Oh, and engineers are terrible with women almost without exception.</p>
<p>You're either a beta or an alpha male. Most engineers are beta.</p>
<p>The skills and attitudes learned during participation in sports teams lend well to business related fields. I don't see the big surprise. Of course Johnny Joe, the charismatic first string quarter back is going to do OK, with or without a high GPA. He knows how to work a crowd and inspire those around him.</p>
<p>There' a reason charisma was called "gift from the gods".</p>
<p>20% of top CEOs were engineering majors</p>
<p>Stereotypes suck. "Engineers are terrible with women almost without exception"? Please tell me you are joking. The jock will not be the VP in marketing. The Asian will. They are good at numbers.(Please notice the heavy sarcasm).</p>
<p>not every Jock or businessman becomes Bill Gates. While most engineers are will live upper middle class lives. Most business majors live a lousy life with low pay. Engineering and Pre-med majors may be nerds, but you know what, I would rather be called a nerd, have a high income and a good life than a jock or these so called "business" majors who are currently "cool" but will very rarely succeed in the future.</p>
<p>none of the people i know who are starting with engineering are nerdy...but classes haven't started yet so we will see</p>
<p>All engineers are terrible with women? I'm a woman (engineering student), and my boyfriend is an engineer. Hmm.</p>
<p>Where are you getting this 70k? You're most likely not going to make 70k...try 40-50k. And as for a job, I wouldn't expect one right away.</p>
<p>I make 85K starting out at IBM. But They needed to pay me that much, well im worth that much to them.</p>
<p>If you think pre-med is comparable to engineering, you obviously haven't taken a class like Dynamics or Electromagnetic Theory. In my undergrad I have a great friend who is not in medical school. He was a Chemical engineer, a very brilliant guy. He would always go about how pre-med courses were like a vacation.</p>
<p>BTW I played 3 sports in HS, Football, Track and wrestling. Went all city(NYC) in all of them. I am a engineer. Im also a darn good investor, so ive got the technical and the business skills.</p>
<p>
[quote]
not every Jock or businessman becomes Bill Gates. While most engineers are will live upper middle class lives. Most business majors live a lousy life with low pay. Engineering and Pre-med majors may be nerds, but you know what, I would rather be called a nerd, have a high income and a good life than a jock or these so called "business" majors who are currently "cool" but will very rarely succeed in the future.
[/quote]
i think that's a bit extreme that business majors "rarely succeed" in the future (and even then, you'd have to consider what it is to "succeed" in life...what if that business major is a nice amiable guy full of charity and happiness, but not exactly rolling it in?). but i also agree with the idea that engineers lacking social skills (of which there are proportionally many) can be stuck in the same sort of job they've been in because they can't be dominant or confident. i'd say it's somewhere in between.</p>
<p>why can't that engineer be an athlete? or be charming/dominant? it's not like those who are are exceptions to the rule (maybe in the minority, but not exceptions :P). i'm not saying i'm like that per se, but i'm not awkward either. i party when i can, i go running and hit the gym, play several instruments (no, not classically trained haha) and have jam sessions, and take girls out on dates. i know more than a few people like this as well. i'd say definitely all engineers have to be "nerdy" to some degree, but they don't have to be "nerds."</p>