<p>I must be proud to say that "I got out" in 2001. I am a planetary scientist now :)</p>
<p>I'd say that my upper-level courses have much more difficult material but (again I'm not truly upper level yet) but there are other factors that go into it and you can't ignore those. It would be pretty sad if the upper-level courses were actually EASIER than the lower level. That's not even close to common sense. I heard more about worse as it goes on rather than easier as you go up the more I got into it. Guess people think you're committed now so no turning back.</p>
<p>You are a sophomore in ChemE, I believe, lemme know in a year or two.</p>
<p>This has all been really helpful in giving me a sense of how hard engineering courses are (or aren't).</p>
<p>Some may end up dropping it b/c it's just too hard, but others b/c they didn't like it enough to stick with it.</p>
<p>I'd love to hear more about if people LIKED engineering once they got into the program. Like someone said, most freshman don't really know if they'll like engineering until they start. They didn't have it in h.s. </p>
<p>I'm really interested in how many people start it and like it versus start it but hate it and drop it. Applying to engineering majors means you didn't apply for something else, so you're giving something up in the hopes of liking it. I guess I'm worried about the "likeability"...</p>
<p>I didn't really know what engineering was when I started out. i just knew that I like buildings and structures, and I was engineeringly-inclined.</p>
<p>The intro sorts of courses, I didn't really like. Much more theory than practice. I couldn't really see the applicability yet, and so I was a bit panicky that I'd made a terrible decision.</p>
<p>My senior year, everything magically came together for me. I knew enough about engineering that all that theory started to click into place, and I really got a sense of the bigger picture of what being an engineer actually means. That's really when I feel like I <em>became</em> an engineer, as opposed to just studying engineering in college.</p>
<p>Since then, it's been a lot of work, but it's paid off. I know I'm in the right field. It's a blast.</p>
<p>I agree with aibarr and Lancer78. Freshmen "weeder" classes were not so much 'hard' (compared to upper-level classes) as they were painful. They feel really hard for everyone because before that was high school -- a breeze. However, after your first year or two you kind of, for lack of a better phrase, become numb to it. The work gets harder, but you become more efficient, working smarter and longer. The classes are more enjoyable, and at least for me at least (aerospace engineering at Michigan) you see the same people in your classes again and again, who become your friends and colleagues. It feels like the kind of camraderie you get like you've been fighting a war together. At the end of the day, I like it, even if other people are having a lot of ease in non-engineering courses.</p>
<p>Good post, MatthewM... Only thing I'd changed is "become numb to it" to "developed thicker skin." ;) I totally know what you're talking about, though, and I definitely agree.</p>