<p>Any ME's out there? </p>
<p>Do you like the ME Dept faculty, TA's, classmates, facilities...? </p>
<p>Also, I know ME isn't as imacted as EE at Cal. Does that mean it's more relaxed, cooperative and easy to get a decent GPA than the stereotypical intense omg-I'm-going-to-fail-and-take-you-down-with-me that we hear about for engineering majors in general? Please say yes. </p>
<p>(deciding between Cal, LA and SD, all for ME)</p>
<p>hey hiker, would you like to share your stats? i got into ME for Cal as well but did not get into LA</p>
<p>hiker:</p>
<p>None of the engineering majors have the "omg-I'm-going-to-fail-and-take-you-down-with-me" mentality. Not at all. I know that EECS has a very clear "omg-we're-all-going-to-fail-so-lets-fail-together" mentality. I've had some real bonding moments with fellow EECS majors during the most stressful times. Take a way a little bit of the "omg-we're-all-going-to-fail," and you get ME.</p>
<p>"I know that EECS has a very clear "omg-we're-all-going-to-fail-so-lets-fail-together" mentality...Take a way a little bit of the "omg-we're-all-going-to-fail," and you get ME."</p>
<p>calstudent86: So it's just "lets fail together?" LOL. I like your attitude.
A sense of teamwork makes things so much more pleaseant. </p>
<p>Do you like the engin dept? What do you think makes it #2 ranked (vs. LA's #19 rank)?</p>
<p>ccbound: there have been some strange either/or admits between Cal and LA this year. Who knows why...Did you want LA or are you happy about Cal?</p>
<p>im happy about CAL since it is ranked second. it made the decision so much easier</p>
<p>hiker:</p>
<p>It's not my attitude; it's the attitude of all the students, and the nature of the assignments. It is very, very common to work on problem sets as groups. As for projects, I know that in EECS, most upper division projects are group projects. In industry, engineers work in groups; therefore, as an engineer, it is very important to learn to work well with others, and Cal (along with many other engineering programs) realizes this.</p>
<p>As for whether I like it...</p>
<p>I think it's a really great program, and I feel that I am learning a lot, growing, etc. At the same time, it's really draining, and it's no party ;).</p>
<p>As for what goes into the rankings, I really don't know off the top of my head.</p>
<p>While EECS get's the fame of being harder since it is impacted, it is sure not as damn harder than ChemE.</p>
<p>Yeah, I hear that about ChemE! Hang in there.</p>
<p>Do you think the cut-throat rep comes from lower division classes, where some are trying to qualify for switching majors or something, while students in upper division classes are more secure in their majors and just trying to learn and have a positive experience?</p>
<p>hiker:</p>
<p>Not in EECS. In EECS, there is a ton of cooperative work in lower division courses, so there really isn't much of a cut-throat attitude. People do compete for high grades, and some people do tend to resent the curve and the students who set it, but there is no "I'm going to take you down" mentality at all.</p>
<p>I will say that upper division courses move from "let's work together" mentality to the "we're going to fail if we don't work together" mentality :). And in upper division courses, I'd agree that students do tend to be more interested in trying to learn.</p>
<p>That tends to be the case not only in EECS, but all engineering majors. The coursework is designed so that you would have to work with others; unless your brilliantly smart. The homework, projects, labs, etc are designed for cooperative work. This is what I've seen when in my ChemE courses and also the ME and EECS courses I've taken in the past. So don't worry about it, it more about cooperation than being competitive. That's the type of bs that happens in Pre-med courses such as MCB-102, Bio-1A etc.</p>