<p>Engineers have heavier course loads than do most majors. Do you suggest Engineering majors to work while in school? If so, how many hours per day and per week? Is it best to just focus on studies alone,and work only in the summers? If you are a senior in college and have majored in engineering, please share your experiences. If you have graduated from college with a degree in engineering, please also share your experiences.</p>
<p>If you can manage your time well and have an opportunity to work in your field, then definitely do it. I worked anywhere from 8 hours/wk to 20+ hours/wk during the academic year during my junior year, senior year, and during my 1 year MS program. It helped that during my junior and senior years, my office was only a 15 minute walk from school and during my MS program, most of my courses started late in the afternoon.</p>
<p>Not only is it nice to have some extra money, but you’ll have more opportunities to meet more people, which will only be beneficial for you when you look for a full-time gig.</p>
<p>I worked 20 hrs/week my last two years, getting a 3.85 gpa during that time, all while raising my young family. It is certainly possible, but the wisdom of doing so depends on your situation - you need to balance work experience vs gpa vs research (if you have any interest in grad school) vs sanity.</p>
<p>If you’re going to work, either you work in something related to your field so you can build up networks, or you tutor.</p>
<p>I’ve been paid 25/hour to teach people how to use the quadratic formula. I don’t think it can really get any easier than that…</p>
<p>During the regular school year, 20 hrs max and 1st and 2nd year only unless you are doing a 5-year degree. If you need to take a lot of electives or your degree program has its hardest courses the first 2 years, then shift the work more toward senior year. Summertime, work all you can unless you are taking a class or two.
Obviously working time is impacted by your travel time which may cut it down.</p>
<p>I worked 20-30/week my first year, and 5-10/week my second year. My classes were really spread out my second year and I hated working. However, I tutored Calculus and up so it really made me catch math mistakes quick/helped my math skills.</p>