Advise me about college

[archcommus]

Originally posted by: Skiguy411
Wow, this sucks. Almost every thread I read on here about engineering says it sucks and its very hard work. Now I'd like to think that I am going to work hard and that I will be rewarded in the end. However, I honestly didnt have a good work ethic in high school. I really didnt do much.

I will be starting school in one week as a freshman at NCSU....engineering undeclared taking 18 hours Gahhhhhhh

Yep, this thread has pretty much turned into an engineering-bashing fest.

I think I will be okay. I'm sure a great deal of the people dropping out are ones who never wanted to put the work in in the first place. I am prepared to be devoted, and I love math and physics, and I really can't picture myself being more interested in anything else.

 

[ruffilb]

Originally posted by: zainali
engineering classes ==== not a lot of hot girls. i mean there are a few girls and only a few of them are good looking.

There were some VERY hot girls in my physics class @ UVA. And smart too

 

[rocadelpunk]

Probably the best advice I got was from an advisor

was that there'll be jobs for people who graduate with like a 2.5-3.5gpa in engineering...anything higher will probably be doing research/phd. Moral of the story is, the people who will become engineers are the ones who perservere (sp), just kept at it day in and day out.

You're gonna get frustrated, you're gonna be disheartened and question yourself a lot for the first couple of years...hell you might even suck at drafting in your intro to engineering course. Just have to keep on dreaming about that day when you graduate and all your hard work pays off. Honestly, the material isn't so bad if you keep an open mind and do enjoy math/science a lot. It is what makes staying up those nights worthwhile.

I was somewhat lazy in highschool and didn't have much of a work ethic...if you want to stay alive in engineering that's all gonna have to change.

I haven't had a difficult time maintaining an active social life...but I'll only go out once a week, whereas I have friends who will party from thirsty thursday all through weekend.

I still have plenty of time in the day to nef on anandtech , play tennis/soccer, work out yada yada.

There is just simply no time to procrastinate. You'll really need to get into the habit of not taking naps, doing work right after classes while stuff is still fresh in your memory and studying during the day..not the night. You will have to be very organized and really plan out your daily schedule...otherwise you'll just put stuff off and be up to 2-3 in morning doing crap.

I'm just getting into my EE courses and I struggled a lot my freshman/sophmore year. I'm a very active/social person and finding the right balance has been difficult...but you'll get there eventually. Personally, I can't see myself in any other major which makes me think I choose the right thing as the only other place I could see myself would be going into medicine and med school would be hella lot worse .

What they've been saying about lack of girls is very true. Hopefully...you're not a huge introvert/geek , and in your elective courses like psych/history of rock and roll/whatever you can chat it up with the opposite sex. If not, join some clubs as that's best way to meet people with similar interests. And party.

I honestly wouldn't worry too much about what people have been saying. Engineering is very tough and it's not meant for everybody, if you're not serious about it then you should not apply as you'll be miserable...probably why people try and scare others off haha...unfortunately you won't find out how serious you are till about a year or two in and maybe after an internship/coop ;0

try and find a parent of someone/talk with a professor and ask what it's like in real world/doing research.

 

[timosyy]

I'm going to UIUC in a week for Computer Engineering, though I'm thinking of switching to Civil (?). I dunno... working for a software company right now and its boring as hell. I dont know if I could handle the cubicle life (Office Space always comes to mind) for the next 30-40 years. Civil sort of appeals to me cause you're working with physical materials I guess, but thats probably just some random flight of fancy. That being said, if there are any Civil engineers reading this, could you pm me or something with what you do?

Meh, i'll probably end up transfering back in-state to UVA or something and going liberal arts. 5's on both my AP English exams and 100 points higher on SAT verbal than SAT math.. not to mention every single teacher who reads my essays tells me to consider a major change :roll: ugh. But I can't really see myself being a writer either so.

Yeah, Civil? Biomedical seems interesting too but thats a huge shift from all the gearing up i've done for computer eng...

 

[bonkers325]

engineering is great as a major. as a career, its not so fun. you really don't end up "changing the world" as you are led to believe in college... often you will end up dancing around paperwork and writing up reports. its still a great profession, but thats just some insight to what engineering is at the firm i work at.

fyi, i am currently doing environmental remediation so the paperwork/reports are a must-have (DEC/EPA forms mostly).

also if u choose engineering for your major, be prepared to give up your free time in college. if you want to maintain a nice gpa, that is.

 

[RollWave]

Originally posted by: ShazK
Bleh. My dad seems to get the idea that it will be useful, that I can go on to whatever graduate school and use it and that if I have an engineering job, some companies will help pay for my school.

I'm gonna have to talk this one over with some more people.
Indeed.

Yeah I know a few engineers that had the masters and now their PHD paid for by their company. Talk about cushy ride. They are getting PAID to get a masters and and PHD!

 

[RollWave]

Bah, screw JH and Duke. Come to Northwestern University! GO WILDCATS!

We're a BIG10 school so its fun to see the good sports teams come in and play AND we're right next to Chicago--one of the greatest cities of the US. Once you get a fake ID or turn 21 this place is GREAT fun. Oh, and this school was recently (within the last couple years) ranked #1 for academic experience (not the USNEWS overall rating) .

 

[Jawo]

Unless you really know you want to do engineering, do Business. I have seen so many people drop out of CS, EE, CE, etc to go to business its amazing! More drop out for other more science majors. They actually ahd to restrict my major b/c so many people were trying to get in it and out of CS.

By the way I'm doing Business Information Technology at Virginia Tech.

 

[Legend]

Can you give me some examples of the kind of homework you would have in EE courses?

Physics, Chemistry, Calculus stuff. It's easy.
Assembly programming. Annoying because it's hard to debug
10 hours of signals and systems HW/week. Easy but long.
Small electrical board design. They'll give you chips and you'll find data sheets and you wire up something. It's only hard because you have to be in a lab to test it and the damn TAs will only be available during weekdays when you're taking other classes...at least that's my experience /rant

Engineering takes relentless perserverence. It's easy, but long. Don't expect any elaborate social life. Expect to work on weekends no different than weekdays.

I don't know about the people having trouble getting jobs. I've co-oped several times. The people that bitch about jobs typically have low GPAs and don't have any experience when they graduate.

Think about it. You're the employer. You can either hire the guy with the 3.5+ GPA and 1 year experience from co-op and interns. The guy is slick at the interview because of experience. OR, you can hire the guy with the 2.5 GPA, no experience, and doesn't know how to work interviews.

 

[magomago]

Originally posted by: ShazK
I figure, though, that I could apply to engineering and if I did not like it switch out after my first year and still graduate on time, right? Easier out than it.

Check your school. Atleast at my school...for my specific major the first year I took NO engineering classes....just every single math,physics, and chemistry class. My first year was very typical of Physical Science majors.
Only in my second year I began to take engineering classes..but TWO of the five were PROGRAMMING, with the other two being my Biomedical Lower Divison classes (and one Chemical Engineering Class).

Only now in my third year am I REALLY going to see what my major entails about. IF I hated engineering, I probably would not have known it because after my first year I still had no idea...and even after my second year those BME classes were more like Biology classes with some math. I most likely still wouldn't know if I hated it or not (or atlesat I would decide I don't like Chemical Engineering).

But at the same time I know most engineering majors where they start the classes their first year. M Most of the "Engineering Major Classes" though your first year will most likely be programming of some sort.

For the first two years a lot of "engineering" classes are just crazy loads of math,science,chemistry, and programming. So you may not be really sure if you like it or not till your third year.

Sounds like if you want to be a premed I would do one of three things:
a)Major in Bio
b)If the school has a Biomedical Engr programming with a premed path, try that (although it'll be harder than Bio it will probably look better and prepare you more)
c)Do any freaking major you want, so as long as you take your mandatory Bio Classes for Medical school. I know a few people with stuff like History Degrees and Dance Degrees who ended up going to Med School because their grades were good, their major didn't have alot of classes meaning they were able to take bio classes, and the fact they weren't a bio major helped them in the app processes

Originally posted by: zainali
engineering classes ==== not a lot of hot girls. i mean there are a few girls and only a few of them are good looking.

MY Biomedical Engineering major has more girls than guys I think its a 60/40 split with about 150 students

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: Wonderful Pork
don't be nervous! everybody is in the same boat as a freshman, so getting nervous wont help anything.

Seriously, try it out, if you dont like it, change to something else. It's not a big deal. I went from CS to Comp Eng before I decided on EE.

CE and EE are the same major at my school.

They are very similar At my school I think its a 4-5 class difference between the two degrees...so similar that last year they stopped offering EE and CE and isntead offered a combined EECS degree that does both

 

[Wonderful Pork]

Originally posted by: magomago

Originally posted by: zainali
engineering classes ==== not a lot of hot girls. i mean there are a few girls and only a few of them are good looking.

MY Biomedical Engineering major has more girls than guys I think its a 60/40 split with about 150 students

REAL engineering majors don't have many attractive girls (kidding! )

They are very similar At my school I think its a 4-5 class difference between the two degrees...so similar that last year they stopped offering EE and CE and isntead offered a combined EECS degree that does both

CE is just specialized EE. Though they do more programming and less Linear Systems Analysis.

 

[habib89]

i think it's alright to go into college starting as an engineer.. you start off with all your ge classes anyway.. the english and history classes.. you also take high level intro science classes (if that makes any sense)... it'll be hard.. it'll be taxing, but if you can hang with those, and enjoy them, then you knwo that you're at least cut out for it..

the engineering program isn't easy... but if you like it.. no.. if you LOVE it, then it'll be fun.. i agree with everyone here that you do have to love it.. i love it.. i just graduated this past may with a BSME, and love my job.. it's definately not for everyone though, that's for sure.. so i suggest you go into engineering.. you can switch, and still have the same if not better requirements for transfering into anything else..

edit: wanted to tell you about the girls and parties and the college experience.. people say there's no girls, and that is really true.. but you knwo what? you can go to the business building, hit on the girls, and still do something that's worth while (haha, just messin with you business folk)... you can still party.. just learn to prioritize and get things done early.. that goes for any major, not just engineering.. i had a lot of fun as an engineer.. i think it's great

 

[BChico]

I am an upcoming senior. I started out as a comp e at a top 20 engineering school. I got to my first EE class, and I failed it, maybe it was because it was at 8am and I didnt go to class. So I decided comp e wasnt for me, since its pretty much ee and compsci anyway. So i switched to information and systems engineering(industrial+compsci+business). Its alright, some of the optimazation and operations stuff is kinda dry though.

This is where I am going to differ from everyone else, although they share the opinions of alot of other people. I think engineering is easy, easier than it would for me to get a biology or english or journalism degree, cause i cant stand those classes. I have enjoyed all of my engineering classes with the exception of EE, it might have been the prof though, didnt stick around to find out. I thought it was boring as sh!t, and all you did was plug it into a comp app anyway, like pspice, to figure it out for you...woo hoo.

I also have a good social life, I dont hang out with engineers though. My close friends consist of marketing, journalism, religion, and finance majors. They dont do work, their classes are even bigger jokes. The biggest joke major has to be BIS though, that crap is so easy i could teach my 13 year old sister to do it, and go to grad school for it...

Im in a frat, I study my share, more than other majors, but not so much it kills me, Ill party almost every night, unless I have a test. My gpa is 3.2 and 3.6 in major. College is what you make it out to be. If you want to have fun, have fun, do your work when you get home from class, go out at night. Dont only have engineering majors for friends, you will have no fun. I have a job offer at a fotune 250, and i am going to get my mba when i graduate, im thinking upenn or columbia.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[serialkiller]

Originally posted by: archcommus

Originally posted by: Skiguy411
Wow, this sucks. Almost every thread I read on here about engineering says it sucks and its very hard work. Now I'd like to think that I am going to work hard and that I will be rewarded in the end. However, I honestly didnt have a good work ethic in high school. I really didnt do much.

I will be starting school in one week as a freshman at NCSU....engineering undeclared taking 18 hours Gahhhhhhh

Yep, this thread has pretty much turned into an engineering-bashing fest.

I think I will be okay. I'm sure a great deal of the people dropping out are ones who never wanted to put the work in in the first place. I am prepared to be devoted, and I love math and physics, and I really can't picture myself being more interested in anything else.

You asked for advise so we gave you advise from first hand experience or word of mouth..... I don't think this is a engineer bashing thread... you gotta keep in mind that alot of us were engineers at one point. All in all WE cannot tell you how you are going to perform in college... only you can decide that. But one thing I will tell you is this.... DONT FVCK UP YOUR GPA!!!!!.. I REPEAT, DONT FVCK UP YOUR GPA!!!!.. CUZ IF YOU DO... YOUR FRIGGIN SCREWEDD....SCREWED LIKE A CHILD MOLESTER IN JAIL!!!!!

 

[ElMonoDelMar]

Originally posted by: timosyy
I'm going to UIUC in a week for Computer Engineering, though I'm thinking of switching to Civil (?). I dunno... working for a software company right now and its boring as hell. I dont know if I could handle the cubicle life (Office Space always comes to mind) for the next 30-40 years. Civil sort of appeals to me cause you're working with physical materials I guess, but thats probably just some random flight of fancy. That being said, if there are any Civil engineers reading this, could you pm me or something with what you do?

Meh, i'll probably end up transfering back in-state to UVA or something and going liberal arts. 5's on both my AP English exams and 100 points higher on SAT verbal than SAT math.. not to mention every single teacher who reads my essays tells me to consider a major change :roll: ugh. But I can't really see myself being a writer either so.

Yeah, Civil? Biomedical seems interesting too but thats a huge shift from all the gearing up i've done for computer eng...

UIUC is great fun and I think we've got the best civil engr program in the nation.

For the OP: engineering is very rewarding. If you think that's what you wanna do, go for it. Imagine what life would be like looking back on college 10 years from now wishing you'd gone into engineering. Try it out. If you don't like it, you can always switch majors. Sure you might be in school for an extra semester or two, but wouldn't that be worth it to get a degree in something you truely love?

 

[iwantanewcomputer]

engineering, physics, math are hard and will make you cry. buisness will get you good money, but you will likely be bored. liberal arts may be interesting and easy, but even with a PhD you will likely not get a good job.

 

[cchen]

Originally posted by: Jawo
Unless you really know you want to do engineering, do Business. I have seen so many people drop out of CS, EE, CE, etc to go to business its amazing! More drop out for other more science majors. They actually ahd to restrict my major b/c so many people were trying to get in it and out of CS.

By the way I'm doing Business Information Technology at Virginia Tech.

unless you graduate from a top undergrad business program (upenn, nyu, berkeley) its a completely useless major

 

[serialkiller]

Originally posted by: iwantanewcomputer
engineering, physics, math are hard and will make you cry. buisness will get you good money, but you will likely be bored. liberal arts may be interesting and easy, but even with a PhD you will likely not get a good job.

hahahahahhahahahahahha poor liberl arts majors....

 

[Legend]

engineering, physics, math are hard and will make you cry.

I finished my math in my early sophomore year. Easy as hell. Physics was only on a general level. Wasn't hard. Tests were ridiculous but there were mad curves.

Engineering isn't hard. Just time consuming.

What's hard is keeping a high GPA in your junior senior classes. There's isn't that buffer of people curving your grade to an A. You have to work hard to get B+ and As.

 

[rocadelpunk]

yah after a while, get used to working your ass off for a B

 

[ShazK]

Well, thanks everyone. I guess my situation is a bit different than a lot of what you've all been saying since I was thinking BME, which seems to be an extremely different experience than EE and such. I'm going to have a chat with some teachers and such and see what they think too.

I might get in touch with some of you, esp you guys at Duke, JHU and Nwestern, since I'm looking at all of them. I'll be visiting the former two sometime later this month. Road trip and such. Gonna see a game at Camden Yards. Indeed.

Oh well, no matter which school I choose to apply to I still have to go do those damn applications and those essays.

 

[bharok]

Apply at cornell.
They have a very good enginneering program and a very large liberal arts program as well.
Some of my friends who realized they did not want to be engineers switched to other things.
(I am a junior in ECE at cornell)

 

[ShazK]

Actually, i was going to apply there too. Go figure.

 

[archcommus]

Why do people think advise is a noun. :disgust:

 

[ElMonoDelMar]

Originally posted by: archcommus
Why do people think advise is a noun. :disgust:

?