Any Engineering Majors Out There?

[Justin]

Yea, not gonna lie I did it because its something not many people can do. It's something I'm proud of myself for doing.

I did them all at the same time. My third year I did my core classes for BME, my fourth year I did my core classes for ME/MSE and then my fifth year I did all my senior design classes. Your last 2 years you're not going to have a life. I'm going to tell you right now. Third year engineering is brutal and your senior design projects in your 4th will take up a lot of time. Take lots of elective classes your first two years if you got the space esp beginning language classes (most fun and you get to meet lots of cute girls)/

[Traindom]

Nice, man! And yeah, I'll consider taking on electives, but I have to wait to see how I will adjust to the courses and college life. I'll see how it goes.

I do want to study abroad as well for the experience, so that'll be nice. Especially sophomore year, during which I will have more time to explore Sydney, Australia.

Thanks for the advice!

[Justin]

if you want to study abroad, you might have to do a 5th year or at least find a college/program that will count towards your engineering degree. The path to an engineering degree is pretty rigid for the entire 4 years taht you're there. if you skip or take a break for an entire year.... you'll be pretty behind.

[Dizzy]

I study chemical and biological engineering for two years now (in Germany), and like the others I can tell you it's no joke. The stress and the requirements left marks on all of us. But when you love what you do, it's worth it, and you learn how to cope with it.
And please, don't buy into the bullshit some of the professors are telling you. Ideally we should prepare, visit and follow-up every lecture and tutorial. Some professors act like chemical engineering is our only passion, hobby, life purpose, and they expect us to know things about raw materials, processes and engineering which one has never heard of. Also, the first semester was hard because I had to get used to the use of derivatives and integrals.
And don't worry about having no life. I study about 30 hours a week (exam period included), and I know a lot of student who study about 10 hours a week, go on vacation while the university is in session, and learn hardcore on the verge of the exames. I wouldn't recommend that though.
And if you plan having a social life, your will have one, trust me.

[mikemintz]

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3...=3&theater

[Traindom]

Oh no, sure, Justin. I'd still be studying engineering over there at the University of Sydney. So I'd still be on track. I forgot to mention that. Yeah, I imagine how it'd be easy to fall behind otherwise.

Thanks so much, Dizzy. Yeah, that was pretty much the way that advisor seemed to feel about engineering, as if it were going to be my sole passion for the next four years. If that his passion, that's great. But I'd appreciate it if he didn't act like it should be my only passion as well.

I've dealt with derivative and integrals, so I feel confident about Calculus going in.

Thirty hours a week sounds reasonable. I imagine classes are fifteen to eighteen hours a week?

Thanks, Dizzy. I plan to have one. If an engineering student can balance studying and working 20 hours a week, I'm sure I can have a social life and maintain my other passions.

I'm going to try to understand the concepts at a deeper level while practicing problems to make sure I can apply it. It seems that when people just study superficially, they seem to crumble when junior year comes by. I want to make sure I have a solid foundation from the start. Study Hacks is a really good site. I really want to apply the principles in this article: http://calnewport.com/blog/2011/05/18/an...-studiers/

I applied some of the principles in this article in my AP Macroeconomics class. I hadn't read the article at the time. My natural curiosity is just easily piqued.

Oh and mikemintz, that's pretty funny. If I had to choose, I'd go for option two, haha.

[Justin]

(08-14-2012 08:02 PM)mikemintz Wrote:  http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=3...=3&theater

I laughed and then I cried because its true. Almost all engineers will tell you how hard it was to date in college. Show this to many a engineer and they will say A fucking men.

[Traindom]

Haha. I can only laugh about it now. The tears might come in a couple of years or so. We'll see. For now, I'll just chuckle.