Michigan Engineering - Dilemma? Advice needed!

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
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<p>Hi everyone!
I am currently trying to make a college decision, and Michigan is my top choice (followed by Notre Dame and Carnegie Mellon). I need to pay a deposit soon, but I'd like to ask for some advice before I do so because I have some major concerns. I got into the engineering school and I'm looking into studying MSE.</p>

<p>The biggest thing holding me back is that I'm intimidated by the school.
Michigan is very highly ranked in engineering, and I'm worried that I will be at a level below everyone else.</p>

<p>I live in a very poor area and my high school has really limited opportunities/classes. I took regular Physics (honors or AP isn't offered) during my freshman year, which was three years ago. To make things worse, my teacher ended up quitting and we went went through only half the intended curriculum, and I remember practically nothing.</p>

<p>I'm scared that I'll be entering the engineering school where all my classmates will have already taken AP or Honors Physics, whereas I will have a very limited, practically nonexistent Physics background. Physics is so important, but I will have no foundation in it when I come into the college of engineering. I'm worried that I'll be a student who understands nothing and can't keep up no matter how much I try because of the sheer level of the classes themselves.</p>

<p>Another worry is that I received an engineering scholarship from Michigan (which I never expected, but perhaps being a woman in engineering helped?) and this requires that we maintain a 3.0 minimum GPA in college--> could I even achieve this given my weak background? </p>

<p>I know I am a hard worker, but I'm not any sort of "genius." For instance, I am currently self-studying AB Calculus and I've been getting consistent 4's on my practice exams. I am in the top 10 (out of 150 students in my class) and I received a 32 ACT (33 on the math, but 28 on the science). I was hoping to take a Physics class over the summer, but my parents need me to work at their store which will be from 6 am to 6/7 pm every single day. (Yes, I know it's going to be a long and exhausting summer, but money is rather tight). </p>

<p>Can someone give me some advice and tell me about their personal experiences at the college of engineering, or their own opinions? Did you find your classmates to be just insanely smart and astounding? Or were many of you equally capable of doing the coursework? Was everyone able to keep up with each other? (Have you met anyone in a similar situation who was able to do well?) How were the classes? Was every week gruesome, or could you time manage and succeed? What can I do given my circumstances?</p>

<p>Personally, I would like a reassuring reply, but more importantly, I would like a truthful and honest reply. Thank you very much for your kind help; this means so much to me.</p>

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<p>I think you will be fine at Michigan, assuming you maintain your work ethic. If Michigan admitted you and gave you a scholarship, it is because they think you can succeed at here. A 3.0 GPA is not hard to maintain, although getting more than a 3.5 requires a lot of work.</p>

<p>By the way, I am not sure CMU would be easier than Michigan. Notre Dame would obviously not be as rigorous as Michigan or CMU.</p>

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<p>I was thinking that CMU would be just as difficult as Michigan actually; is it supposed to be considerably harder? I think their smaller size would allow a lot more opportunities to get close to the professors…
And I find Notre Dame to be the prettiest campus (hey, personal preference, I’m just a sucker for gorgeous scenery/buildings).</p>

<p>Regardless, I’m leaning towards Michigan because I’m getting the impression that their research opportunities are fantastic. :)</p>

<p>I heard that the average GPA though for engineering students at Michigan is <3.0 though.
Thank you very much for your reply though. Did you happen to study engineering there? If so, what kind?</p>

<p>If there are any current engineering students here, or CoE graduates, I would certainly appreciate your perspectives!</p>

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<p>Although CMU has a smaller undergraduate student population, it still has a large college of engineering (2,500 undergrads and 2,500 graduate Engineerings) and a smaller faculty than Michigan. I would say the personal attention and opportunities at CMU would be no better than at Michigan.</p>

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<p>My son is finishing up his freshman year in engineering at U-M. He’s working very hard, but also doing well. The classes take a lot of time and work, but are manageable. He’s also found classmates to be helpful (they’re all in this together) rather than cutthroat. There’s lots of ways to get extra help via tutoring centers, etc. Also, those who have taken AP physics will probably place out and not take the first physics class w/ you. He took physics as a senior in high school (not AP) but his schedule worked out so that he will be taking the 2 required physics classes at a local university this summer,</p>

<p>Advise re Calc and Chem…even if you’ve placed out of Calc I (unless you’ve already taken Calc II), retake Calc I at the college level. It will be more competitive and give you a solid bases for future Calc classes, while not being quite as difficult for you. Also, if you place out of gen’l chem at orientation (which my son did after only taking honors chem in 11th grade)…if you don’t need organic chem for your degree, take gen’l chem anyway…it’s not easy, and there’s no reason to put yourself through orgo if you don’t need it.</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

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<p>My son also just finished his first year in UM engineering. It is a lot of work, but manageable. He too has an engineering scholarship that requires a 3.0 gpa, so I understand your feelings on that. We were told at orientation that the average gpa in engineering after the first semester is 2.9, so he went in with his eyes wide open and was determined to be “above average.” He was well above that point first semester, and while he just completed finals for 2nd semester, he thinks he did pretty well.</p>

<p>He also did not take honors or AP physics in high school and jumped right in with physics first semester due to AP credit for chemistry. I would not be concerned about taking only regular physics in high school. I would, however, make sure you have a decent calculus foundation before tackling physics at UM. My son did take Calc AB in high school and got a 5 on the AP exam, so he did start with calc 2 at UM. His found his AP calc class super easy, however (never had to study, got straight A’s), so we were very confident in his skipping calc 1. Calc 2 was no cake walk, but he did fine. Your math placement exam at UM will be helpful in determining where you should start.</p>

<p>I agree with Alexandre - if UM accepted you, they are confident that you have the tools to succeed there. If they had doubts about you they would have given your spot to one of the thousands of other kids wanting to get in!</p>

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<p>@umich8790–thank you very much for the helpful reply. That’s good that they aren’t cutthroat; I like the whole idea of everyone working together in a peaceful manner. I think I’ll end up needing Organic Chemistry if I head towards MSE (and ChemE as well) so I’d rather get it done sooner than later.</p>

<p>@MichMom07–I appreciate your reply. The 3.0 is a huge worry of mine, but I think if I work hard I’ll be able to be “above average” as well. I think I’ll definitely count on the placement exam then and see where I end up; hopefully Calc 2 to save money, but if not, Calc 1 it is. Thank you for the encouraging note at the end as well!</p>

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<p>the placement exam will just tell you if you’re ready for calculus or if you should take pre-calc, so it really isn’t important for people who have already taken ap. that being said, if you get a 5 on AB there’s really no reason to retake calc 1, and if you don’t get a 5 engineering won’t let you take calc 2 first semester so everything will work out regardless.</p>

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<p>My high school was the pits too, bottom third in NJ. In numerous areas, I was behind coming in. But one can catch up. And so what you should do is take the entry level courses and don’t load up too much at first. Utilize the tutoring help etc. Minimize socializing and TV and do your homework. There are brilliant students at UM but not everyone is a genius by any stretch. That’s true at all schools. I have a Bible study group with two guys from Harvard and one from Stanford. Mostly they are hard working. They don’t knock you off your feet.</p>

<p>Engineering students aren’t the cut throat type. Pre-med might be another matter. One reason for that is that engineering students are all ready in engineering school. They just need to graduate. Pre-med are trying to impress.</p>

<p>I have been to ND. I prefer the Michigan campus actually; although both are pretty splendid. ND is likely a quieter atmosphere, too much for me I would say. If you are Catholic, it offers special advantages obviously for that.</p>

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<p>jellabo,</p>

<p>I’m a 3rd year Mechanical at Michigan. Like you, I had virtually no backgrounds in chemistry and physics. I was very worried when I came here. Physics covers a ton of materials. Till this day, no class has matched physics 140 in terms of breadth (breadth, not depth/difficulty). I knew it was going to be hard, but I didn’t take initiative to do more work than my peers, so I ended up doing just OK (got a B in the class). My study habits changed a lot after freshman year, and now that everyone is on the same page, I’ve been doing very well (3.6 after 8 ME courses during sopho year). Looking back, I could have done much better if I put in more effort. There’s a lot of help and study groups so you’ll be fine.
I’m alright in math, took calc AB and the following self studied BC in 2 months. If you put in the effort, and have somewhat reasonable aptitude, you’ll be fine. Some people are super stars in HS but they don’t do well here because they don’t put in the work most of the time.</p>

<p>You can probably start learning some physics over the summer by watching some MIT lecture vids on youtube, but I find that very difficult to do because you don’t really have homework, and motivation to do that is hard to come by too.</p>

<p>Good luck with your endeavors!</p>

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<p>@nomadba3–thank you very much; I’ll keep your words in mind.</p>

<p>@sealipper–I will definitely try to take it slow first. I’m not inclined towards partying or anything of that sort, so I’m positive I’ll focus more on my homework. Hopefully I will find a good study group; if I were to be on Central Campus (I’m thinking I could do MRC), would I be constantly going to North campus to meet up with other engineers to study with? Or are there plenty on Central too?
Do you think doing MRC is too much for my first year, by the way? I do want to have a decent load, but I also want to get that research experience. And thank you very much for the advice; I really appreciate it!</p>

<p>@square–That’s very good! I feel like if I work hard enough, I’ll definitely surpass that 3.0 minimum requirement. I’m glad to know that most things will be based on hard work rather than pure intelligence. Do you still have the time to devote yourself to any clubs or organizations, as well as any research? I remember I was watching a video on UM’s solar car team and that was pretty fascinating to me. :slight_smile: I agree as well, I will most likely be very unwilling to watch any lecture videos, but I think I’m going to buy a solid AP Physics book (or maybe just some Physics textbook?) to try to work through or something whenever I get the chance. Actually, do you happen to know what Physics textbook is used at Michigan for freshmen? Maybe getting a head start will help me a lot. Thanks for the advice!</p>