Seeking advice from computer engineers/EE or engineering students, or college people in general

[Martin]

I'm about to finish my 2nd year of ECE (CE/EE split in 3rd year here), so here are my experiences.

1. It sonds like ECE is the right thing for you, but just to make sure, pick up a book on digital logic/systems. Building circuits/functions out of AND/OR/NOT gates and such. I had a course on this last semester and loved it. Can't wait to do more of it later on.

2. Say goodbye to your social life - more or less. The sheer amount of studying you'll do will leave little room for it. You'll be very jelous of arts students. Gotta deal with that.

3. fairly smart + good work ethic > very smart + no work ethic How true! Take this from someone who is very lazy and has poor work ethic. While skipping half the semester sounds like fun, its not come exam time

 

[SuperTool]

Originally posted by: MartyTheManiak
I'm about to finish my 2nd year of ECE (CE/EE split in 3rd year here), so here are my experiences.

1. It sonds like ECE is the right thing for you, but just to make sure, pick up a book on digital logic/systems. Building circuits/functions out of AND/OR/NOT gates and such. I had a course on this last semester and loved it. Can't wait to do more of it later on.

2. Say goodbye to your social life - more or less. The sheer amount of studying you'll do will leave little room for it. You'll be very jelous of arts students. Gotta deal with that.

3. fairly smart + good work ethic > very smart + no work ethic How true! Take this from someone who is very lazy and has poor work ethic. While skipping half the semester sounds like fun, its not come exam time

* > no work ethic at all.
but...
very smart + descent work ethic >> fairly smart + outstanding work ethic.
That's just how it is in some situations. You can replace a very hard working engineer with two half as hardworking engineers, but you can't replace a brilliant engineer with two half as smart engineers.

 

[jaydee]

One more observation, I can't speak for all schools, but at the engineering school I go to, there is practically no homework collected, and few classes have quizzes. It's really all about the tests. This past quarter, I had one class w/homework (Diff EQ, only because I chose a prof that I knew collected) and two with occasional quizzes. Other than that, grades were determined by tests and the final exam, so I hope you're a fairly good test-taker or plan on becoming one soon.

 

[Gerbil333]

Good info, guys

I'm not really set on anything yet. EE seems very interesting, and nothing else has sparked my interest yet. I know I don't want to have anything to do with language, history, art, the medical field/human services, or teaching. That limits my choices quite a bit. I enjoy thinking, solving problems (although I'm not always very quick), and other logical situations. I won't mind studying a lot if it's something I can enjoy. That's what I'm trying to figure out. If I have absolutely no interest in something, then I'll have a difficult time studying it. It's not that I won't study, it's just that my brain won't comprehend it. I'm terrible with history and anatomy for that reason. I can't remember events, people, anatomical vocubulary and their respective definitions, etc. I have a 99% in geography and a 100% in Anatomy right now, but I the classes are easy, and I had to work very hard to make myself remember the terms for more than 24 hours.

Chemistry and math come much easier to me. I don't have to study nearly as hard for terms in chemistry. Once I understand the method for solving a chemistry or math problem, I'll know it -- I hardly have to study at all. I study anyway, but these subjects aren't as difficult. If I don't understand something in these subjects, I have a tendancy to work at it until I do.