What's it like majoring in Engineering?

<p>I've been looking into majoring in Engineering in college, but I'm kinda skeptical about it. To those majoring in engineering now or for those who have, what's it like? What do you normally do in class? Btw, it'd be helpful if you said what college you attend and what type of engineering you do (chemical, bio, etc). Thanks :)</p>

<p>I’m doing Mechanical Engineering. The first half of your college career will be weed-out classes. In calculus, chemistry, and physics, expect a large swath of students dropping like flies around you. I did my lower-division classes at a community college, and most of the students in these classes had the smarts to complete the class, but they lacked the dedication. As these students dropped, they had an attitude of, “I am too good for this class, and it’s going to be fun to watch you suckers struggle!” It was poetic justice to tell them later, that I got A’s and B’s in those classes.</p>

<p>All engineers have to take engineering graphics, a computer programming class, statics, circuits, and properties of materials. Although these classes are hard, most of the students enrolled in these classes, stayed in these classes.</p>

<p>Then you get to your junior year. In Mechanical Engineering, you take dynamics, fluids, thermodynamics, and mechanics of materials. These classes are usually curved, and your grade depends not only on how well you know the material, but how fast you can crank it out on a test, relative to the people sitting next to you. Again, few people drop, but there will be a lot of C’s in these classes, and student morale usually gets crushed.</p>

<p>Next, you take experimental methods, which are lab courses. My instructors didn’t curve these classes, but they had strict standards. In order to do well in these classes, you need to be good at writing and communicating your results.</p>

<p>At the same time of taking experimental methods, you’ll also be taking mechanical design (which is basically applied mechanics of materials), heat transfer, system dynamics, control systems, and a senior design project. By now, your classmates have been pretty much filtered down to the most determined students. Don’t expect much of a curve an any of these classes.</p>

<p>At UC Davis (my school), you are required to take six technical electives, four of which are engineering electives. My four technical elective classes included internal combustion engines, mechanical design 2, engineering applications of dynamics, and vehicle stability. The difficulty of these classes range from moderate to very difficult, but it is neat to see how you can apply everything you learned in a practical setting.</p>

<p>Alright, I hope I didn’t scare you out of engineering. Good luck choosing a major!</p>

<p>I go to Case Western Reserve University and study Macromolecular Science/Engineering.</p>

<p>Its like majoring in anything else. You go class, take notes, do homework, study, take exams, and thats pretty much it. Usually when you get up into your sophomore/junior years, you do research, internships, and/or co-ops which gets you experience. </p>

<p>The thing to have is dedication. One bad grade is not the end of the world. Always work hard and make room for a social life. NEVER pull an all nighter for any exam unless absolutely necessary. Its all about balance.</p>

<p>Hope this helps</p>

<p>I am a computer engineering major attending CSULB. The first two years are pretty much how hesdjjim said them. GE and engineering foundation courses like calculus, physics, and engineering self integration classes here. Being a computer engineering major, I also am required to take many computer science courses, especially computer science as it applies to hardware. I am still a freshman, so thats as far as I can tell you atm :)</p>

<p>I went to Penn State for Electrical Engineering. As others have mentioned, your first two years are dominated by “general education” courses like freshman English, although as an engineering major you will see a harder level of math and science classes than other major have to endure. While some may call these “weeder” classes, the reality is that if you cannot do well in these classes then your chances of graduating as an engineer are very low. At Penn State you will have an engineering seminar, basically a one-credit fun course meant to really introduce you to the study of engineering, but as this was introduced after I graduated I cannot really give any details.</p>

<p>Starting towards the end of your sophomore year you start on your core major classes, and this is where most students really feel the pain. Most students will struggle in one or more of these classes, possibly even to the point of needing to repeat the course(s) one or more times. In the long run this is not a big deal, as engineering is so specialized that avoiding that one “difficult” area is not usually too bad. In the short term it can be disheartening.</p>

<p>Most of your senior year will be spent in technical electives - they all trigger off one of those core courses, and selecting your electives is what gies you specific job qualifications. For the most part these courses are not too bad - you are over the hump, about to finish, and have selected courses in an area that you both liked and in which you had some talent.</p>

<p>In general, engineering courses are mathematically intensive but otherwise similar to all other classes - lectures, homeworks, etc. The difference is that there is little discussion in classes (lots of questions, though) and lots of labs - most of which are pretty fun.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

<p>Thanks! These were really helpful:)</p>

<p>Are there a lot of classes with discussions? Also, are girls majoring in Engineering generally looked down upon more?</p>

<p>Depending on the class you might have some good study groups. Typically I’ve found, the harder the class, the more people want to study with others. I think that’s a very effective way to learn, much more so than discussion sections.</p>

<p>The only discussion sections I’ve had consisted just of a GSI solving problems on the board. Not actual discussion about the material. Typically not very useful. </p>

<p>Girls are not looked down upon at all in engineering. At least not in academia - I’m not out in industry yet so I can’t really speak to that.</p>

<p>At my school (University of Illinois), there is a special dorm for Women in Math, Science, and Engineering, and they get special access to certain resources and programs.</p>

<p>In a male dominated field, colleges are eager to encourage women into engineering.</p>

<p>Girls throw themselves at you it’s awesome.</p>

<p>Here at USC, there are special programs in place for women in engineering. They also target female engineering majors more for department scholarships and the like.</p>

<p>@you<em>of</em>eh - They do?? Man! What school do you go to? That certainly wasn’t my experience, here!</p>