<p>edit: wow... "What do you really need to do to do good in engineering?</p>
<p>I'm going to Michigan and plan on majoring in Comp. Sci. or EE. Is studying all you really need to do to do good, or are you destined for mediocrity if you're not naturally super-smart?</p>
<p>I'm talkin about >3.5 gpas</p>
<p>I don't want to bring up my ACT scores because I didn't study one second for it and am pretty sure I was hung over when I took it... wasn't too great though. and my last math class that I took in high school I did not do so good. The teacher was a hooorrrrriiibbbllee teacher though and I wasn't too devoted to that either. I've done a lot better with math at community colleges.</p>
<p>Learn the difference in usage between ‘good’ and ‘well’ for starters. Today’s engineering students have to take multiple writing intensive courses and good English skills will serve the student well.</p>
<p>Next, choose your course load wisely. Distribute the intensive technical courses over several semesters and intersperse easier gen eds into your schedule.</p>
<p>Finally, continue to develop good time management skills, work hard, and stay focused.</p>
<p>every time you said ‘good’ instead of ‘well’ I literally wanted to scream. It bothers me more than you would imagine when people do that.</p>
<p>Math, math, and more math.</p>
<p>Being good at math helps in engineering school, but to be a good engineer, it really takes a good intuition about your subject. It’s the ability to pretty much know the answer without having to grind through an elaborate math problem to spit out the number. It especially helps in situations where the math becomes too hard to do and the situation too complicated to model very well.</p>
<p>Time management. I still struggle with this after 6+ years of engineering school at the undergraduate and graduate level. Seriously, learn how to do it.</p>
<p>At U-M here (not EECS though, that’s a different ballpark all together). I’ll agree with boneh3ad on this one. Time management is always something you can improve on. I just smile now when I hear people complain about their course load. It’s really not that hard if you manage your time well.</p>
<p>Throw in a 20-hour part-time job, extracurriculars, and a family life, then it becomes difficult, but still manageable.</p>
<p>My favorite time to study is Saturday mornings. Seriously. I can hammer out a couple problem sets by the time all the people start stumbling into the library around noon. Also, nobody is there to check out the course reserve books, so I don’t need to worry about purchasing my own.</p>
<p>P.S. You should have used “well” instead of “good”. Improper grammar won’t hurt you immediately, especially in engineering, but it’s good practice.</p>
<p>I’ll admit, I fall victim to improper grammar and writing, so I won’t point out what everyone else saw in the thread title…heck, even I didn’t notice it, thats how bad I am ;D</p>
<p>Anyways, regardless of which engineering field you study in college, you will no doubt have late night study sessions, cramming days, loss of sleep, horrible professors, horrible lab partners, headaches <em>cough cough</em> no-life-semesters (or quarters) etc and the list goes on. But hey, thats life, college…and sadly engineering. I totally agree with what several above have stated; time management. I am horrible at it myself. I live off campus and go to a “commuter” like university. Most of my time out of class is either walking around campus, finding something to eat, driving, finding a place to sit in an overpopulated library and other annoying nuisances. By the time I’m settled to do hw or study, class is quickly approaching or the campus is dead and I just wanna get out (more driving time) Man have I gone on a ramble? lol So yes, manage your time efficiently!</p>
<p>From my experiences as a senior CivE undergrad, if you want to succeed and do well in ANY of your classes, its not how SMART you are, its about how much EFFORT you put into what you are doing. I’ve been in a lot of lab groups, teams for projects/assignments where I literally have to step up as the leader because my teammates are ridiculously lazy in terms of work ethic. Don’t be that type of person. Work hard, even if you don’t know what you are doing. Your peers will benefit from it. Effort is effort and that will make you a well rounded student and engineer. glhf!</p>
<p>Lol thanks man. English isn’t exactly my strong suit but I’m thinking about retaking it haha. If effort’s what I need then effort’s what I got.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC App</p>