Thank you for clarifying!
I just have to ask. You don’t seem to really like anything about civil engineering…courses are too hard, FE was too hard, etc.
So…why are you pursuing this career?
And I go to my post above. If you are hired by a firm…be prepared to do a LOT of on the job training, and learning the ways of that firm. It’s the way it is.
I’m a structural engineer. If you think school is hard…
In school, assignments are laid out for you and there is always help available. On the job, YOU have to figure out all the parameters - “Here, design the foundation for this paper mill building.” So besides having to do all the analysis and design, you have to learn about all the equipment that goes in the building. You have to (almost literally) drag out the information from mechanical engineers who don’t understand that you need loads and EXACT locations of their equipment before you can design the foundation.
And you also have to deal with architects. Oops, no offense, @mathmom. There are some good ones out there, fortunately.
Enjoy school while you can. 
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I don’t think you meant to reply to me…
Hit the wrong button. I do that all the time.
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I enjoy Civil Engineering curriculum. It is just FE Exam holding me back finding part-time or full-time jobs. Plenty of the companies I applied to don’t want to proceed forward with my application just because I have not pass FE Exam yet. Even Tesla practically said to me ‘come back later after you pass FE’ when I had interview with them for Construction Technician position.
Even Though I don’t officially have part-time or full-time jobs, I still have a prior internship experience but in seasonal position as Field Inspector in structural engineering firm. Also, I am a project manager for seismic design in ASCE club and have been holding this position for more than 3 years.
Why would I hate Civil Engineering curriculum only just because of Statics, Thermo, and Transportation Design courses? I found plenty of courses were interesting like Soil Mechanics, Foundation Design, Sustainability, Air Pollution, Design of Highways, Traffic Ops, Pavement Design, and Groundwater Engineering. In fact, I even opted to take Advanced Foundation design course for grad education since this class interested me a lot and also just in case things go wrong for Steel Design course. I already took Concrete last fall and did completely fine, so I am not concern about this course.
So, I enjoy the curriculum. It is just I am having trouble with one or two classes, and having pretty difficult time finding a job with my undergrad degree.
Haha yes.
Given: not much.
Find: who really knows. It always changes. We can’t even get the project name to be consistent.
Assume: uh whatever you assume will be wrong.
Solution: no good ones unless you have 10x the money they have to spend.
School was much easier!
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I don’t see why you would have a hard time finding a job in this economy. Employers are desperate for engineers.
Even at a huge school, I knew only one student who didn’t pass the FE exam. I literally put “C” as the answer to all the circuit questions because EE confounded me, and I still passed. It’s concerning that you didn’t pass it. Take a review course and work hard.
Statics is a foundational course. A lot of times, you will get a really oddball design situation and you have to know statics backwards and forwards.
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Even doing precast concrete detailing, I can’t get answers. On a project I’m working on now, I have redrawn a lot of the areas five times. Five times! The architect can’t get their act together. I feel bad that my client has to pay me. At least I charge hourly and will be paid for my efforts.
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So then you know what you need to do. Get a tutor. Maybe a graduate student, and take a review course. They are offered and knock this road block out. Success in any field is getting past the limitations and obstacles in your way. Life isn’t perfect. Persistence is the key here. Come back and let us know when you passed the FE test.
Lots of companies want engineers now. It might not be civil but look at indeed etc in your area. Experience leads to opportunities. Sometimes the road has twists and turns and is not always a straight line. Those twist and turns is what makes life interesting. You can do this!
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As a rule, civil engineering is an easier career than pure structures. It probably won’t pay as well, though.
For any students reading this who are interested in structures and not other areas of civil engineering, I recommend majoring in Architectural Engineering. That major focuses on building design. A lot of of people don’t know about the major, although it’s been around forever (it’s what my dad majored in, in the late '50s). I didn’t have to learn about highway design, wastewater treatment, hydraulic studies, etc.
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Good advice. That was my kid’s path. BS in architectural engineering and a masters in structural. Great foundation in buildings. It did create a bit of a dilemma regarding which PE exam to take. She took the civil/structural PE I believe but she has a coworker with the same degree combo who planned to take the architectural engineering PE. She has since gotten her SE license as well.
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Cool! I took the civil PE exam because it was easier, ha. I don’t think that’s an option in Maine anymore, though. That’s great she got her SE license - that’s very challenging.