<p>Hi, I plan to go to college for aerospace engineering. I graduate this year and I will have a 3.5-3.6 weighted gpa at end of the year. I have a 570 reading, 580 math and 580 writing on my SATs. I’m in kind of a dilemma because I didn’t perform well my freshman and sophomore year of high school as much as I would have liked to. But I did bring my gpa up from 3.2 my freshman year to 3.8 my senior year.</p>
<p>My questions are:</p>
<li><p>Am I even intelligent enough to do aerospace engineering? I have great amount of interest in it but I don’t know how I will perform in college.</p></li>
<li><p>What kind of education in engineering will I get in the following schools:</p></li>
</ol>
<p>State university of New York at Buffalo
Penn State Mont Alto for 2 years then transfer to Penn State University Park</p>
<p>I’m just worried that these schools aren’t renowed for their engineering programs and I’m really not smart enough to get into schools like MIT, Cornell, Columbia, etc. Do I need to reconsider my options for school? Any kind of advice or suggestions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>SUNY Buffalo has a very good engineering department. I don't know specifically for aerospace, but I know overall it's good.</p>
<p>You can do it! Work hard, stay organized, get help immediately whenever something doesn't click, work with your fellow students, don't party a lot, and you'll be fine.</p>
<p>I can only judge for chemical engineering. I think I got a good education in chemical engineering - I did well and enjoyed the program. But if you want to work as an engineer, your first working years are extremely important and are part of your education. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, I was never able to secure work as a chemical engineer (very poor market conditions in Canada after I graduated). </p>
<p>After several years of doing highly underpaid and useless work in a consultancy, I switched to law. I can make 4 observations about law:</p>
<p>1) It is easier to apply law in real life situations than chemcial engineering concepts (too theoretical). </p>
<p>2) You are not dependant on finding work in a specific operational setting (chemical process plants, paper, etc) and there are many law firms of all sizes. </p>
<p>3) It pays very well!</p>
<p>4) Self-employment is a realistic option. </p>
<p>My advice is to do well in school and get the best job that is related to the field you want to work in. But whatever you do, avoid chemical engineering, it is a field that is long past its prime and is heading for dinosaur-ville!!</p>
<p>As for job availabilities in the future... I considered this a lot before choosing aerospace engineering to be my major. I have checked out all curriculum for both colleges and researched on internet. I found that jobs are going to be more available in the future because there is a good chance there will be somewhat of a space revolution in the future. Maybe not flying cars just yet but there's going to be more progress in the future concerning missiles, jets, and commercial flight. Things like Billionaire Branson's idea to get common man a tour of the space using his space jets seem convincing to me. </p>
<p>Toronto - Unfortunately, majors like law just don't interest me. I wan't to do something that I will be interested in for the 50-60 years I'll be working.</p>
<p>Getting good grades are a product of intelligence and efficient work. Its hard to tell how you'll do in college. Just make sure you</p>
<p>1) Never give up. If you flunk your first semester, learn from your mistakes and try again
2) Read some "How to study" books</p>
<p>You should never doubt yourself. I'll tell you a little about myself to give you a lil confidence boost. I barely passed Maryland's standardized math exam. I took SATs three times and first two times my math was under 600. My GPA in HS was a 2.9. My first semester at Virginia Tech(mech eng) I got a 2.55 GPA. </p>
<p>After HS I took schooling more seriously. After learning from my mistakes my end gpa at VT was a 3.43. I got a 750 on GRE math( not great but I came a long way from barely passing MD state math exam). Now Im in grad school for mechanical engineering at Columbia.</p>
<p>You shouldn't be chosing a major based on job choice. Especially chosing engineering for that reason, as its too much work and too many long nights. Chose something you're interested in =) Engineering is so broad, you can find just about any interest. I came in wanting to do AE, but now am EE, and i know plenty of others who have changed also.
As for the work, I sort of doubted myself too. But you'll be fine as long as you put in a bit of effort. And by bit I mean anywhere from an hour or two a night to five or six. Just remember, if you're truely interested, give it two semesters (unless you have below a 2.0 first semester, then really think about it). I know plenty of people here at Virginia Tech who have a 2.0-2.7 and are flipping out, but the best thing to do is just stick with it for a year and see. You never know, you may do amazing =)</p>
<p>I am not solely basing my choice on job choice. I think I mentioned that before. I am doing it because it's something I'm interested in AND it's one of things I wouldn't mind doing for the rest of my life. It's legitimate(sp?) to be concerned about that, right?</p>
<p>Anyways, I'm all for working hard and putting effort into my studies in college. It's one of those things that i have made up my mind I will do for sure.<br>
Plus I get around 89% in my AP physics class. I studied for an electricity test and scored a 100% on it whereas on the tests I didn't study for I usually got 85-90%... My point is that I can definitely do much better if I put a little more effort into my studies and I really do plan to do that in college.</p>
<p>Look, if you have the passion and resolve to work hard you will succeed. There is no intricate difference between a degree from say MIT and another school--it isn't like the MIT professors have actually discovered that f=m*a^2 and that all the other schools are wrong. </p>
<p>Engineering is engineering and though schools differ in rigor and professors, you will still learn the fundamentals of engineering.</p>
<p>Sure, an MIT graduate looks better on paper since MIT is established as a top school but that doesn't mean if you have stellar grades at your current university, you won't be competitive. </p>
<p>You need to ask yourself whether you are interested in the subject enough and have the conviction to push yourself to do well in that field. I don't mean to come across as grim and push a Military like persona to engineering, its just that many people view engineering as some esoteric field that they don't deserve to study.</p>
<p>In the end if you love what you do you'll succeed and engineering is no difference.</p>
<p>Penn State is one of the most renowed insitiutes in the world, especially within engineering. There is no one that is really going to look down on you for going there. Besides college is not all about presitge and achidemic excellence, it is also about having fun and enjoying yourself. Schools like PSU are leaps and bounds ahead of the Ivies and Tech schools in this aspect. I mean how many hot girls are there at MIT???</p>