Engineering Study FAQ Thread

[crazzyass]

Okay, so I've finished off the first semester of my engineering degree. My major is electrical engineering, but the first year is pretty much the same for everyone (except some of the programming classes I'm taking).

If anyone is looking at the field and wants to know what the first semester/year is like, feel free to ask questions. I also know tons about random occupational information, grad schools, research, consulting, etc etc.

Fire away!

[Trix Are For Kids]

How dedicated do you have to be to it? What are some prereqs? What kind of math are you taking/will take?

[L33tz]

how much harder is it than say something like biology?

When i look at the courses all I see is classes that heavily involve physics.

how intensive is it really?

I would more likely go with civil.

do you have free time? Did you get As?

[crazzyass]

Originally Posted by Trix Are For Kids

How dedicated do you have to be to it? What are some prereqs? What kind of math are you taking/will take?

You definitely have to be pretty dedicated. If you aren't interested in math or science very much, you either need the self-discipline of a monk or a different major. My school requires a 28 or higher on the ACT math portion to enter the College of Engineering. If you don't have that high of a score, you start out taking college algebra and precalc for your first semester. If you score high enough, you go into Calc I or Calc II. I already took Calc I from a community college so I finished up Calculus II this semester.

Next semester I'm taking Calculus III and probably Differential Equations I. In addition to that, Matrix Computations are usually required, and that's the general math curriculum for most engineers. Since I'm EE, I have to take a few more computer science/math classes than most other majors, but they're all applied mathematics offered through the EE department, so it's pretty specific to my major.

Originally Posted by L33tz

how much harder is it than say something like biology?

When i look at the courses all I see is classes that heavily involve physics.

how intensive is it really?

I would more likely go with civil.

do you have free time? Did you get As?

Engineering is probably one of the hardest undergraduate degrees there are, simply due to the volume of difficult classes and workload. Engineers take less electives to water down the rough classes. I know in my Junior year I will have 5 classes per semester, all electrical engineering, all requiring calc II and III level work, plus new stuff, plus junior and senior level physics. Granted, it's only about electricity (to understate), but since that's my specialty I gotta know fucking everything about it. So the material isn't very broad like physics or chemistry or biology, but it's very, very deep in the sense that you know everything about that one, narrow field.

So yeah, make no mistake. Verrry intensive. But time management is everything. I party every other weekend and usually go out once or twice a week under normal conditions. That's not a lot compared to my normal party animal desires, but it's pretty good I think. On top of that, I still find time to work some freelance assignments and do campus activities.

You have to make sure you schedule and plan well in advance, though, otherwise you will get fucked. Finding time to work and study in between classes or during lulls in your day will help you have more time in the evening for stuff that doesn't make you want to kill yourself. Around exam/project times though, you will work around the clock for a day or two. Overall, I'm alright with the balance.

I partied moderately and scored A's.

[Nik0]

Did you work a part-time job while going to school for EE?

[crazzyass]

Originally Posted by Nik0

Did you work a part-time job while going to school for EE?

Yes and no. I work at Textbroker.com writing freelance articles and do some political campaign work, but I can accept or refuse assignments whenever I want on textbroker, and the campaign work is very, very temporal and I can, once again, accept it when I have time or refuse.

So yes I work part-time and make decent money, but no it isn't a traditional job where you have a rigid schedule. One of my engineering instructors talked about working a security job in college: he'd go to classes all day and then go to work at 4 PM. He'd walk the occasional patrol around some warehouses but mostly sat at a desk studying until midnight, when he got off work.

If you're going to work part-time with an eng. degree, you want to find a desk job that involves you helping people on an as-needed basis (like in the library) or doing security so that you can study during work. Otherwise there just isn't enough time in the week.

[crazzyass]

I'm reviving this thread due to me nearly being finished with my first year as an engineering student. Only exams are left at this point, really. Anyways, I'm open to any and all questions. It's been a hell of a year.

[Optionryder420]

Keep up the good work.

[Mantikore]

Just wanted to chime in:

im midway through my first semester of my final year in a materials eng and biomedical eng double.

Holy moly i took the wrong classes. One of them anyway. Im doing a course thats pretty much electrical engineering in biomedical applications, and Im way out of my league.

[dysik]

preeety sure everyone on zoklet is an engineer of some sort.

lol! have fun with your first exams bro! if you think engineering has been hard so far.... i feel bad for you.

[crazzyass]

Originally Posted by Optionryder420

Keep up the good work.

Thanks man.

Originally Posted by Mantikore

Just wanted to chime in:

im midway through my first semester of my final year in a materials eng and biomedical eng double.

Holy moly i took the wrong classes. One of them anyway. Im doing a course thats pretty much electrical engineering in biomedical applications, and Im way out of my league.

That's some rough shit man. Biomedical is an unholy combination of all the hard parts of electrical and mechanical, plus with some chemistry thrown in for good measure. Still, you're almost done man. If you have any electrical questions feel free to ask, I'm not too far into the EE yet but I might be some help.

Originally Posted by dysik

preeety sure everyone on zoklet is an engineer of some sort.

Seems like it sometimes.

lol! have fun with your first exams bro! if you think engineering has been hard so far.... i feel bad for you.

Not my first exams. This is my second semester, I had exams last December. Exams aren't too bad at this stage of the game, really. They're comprehensive, sure, but they tend to cover a wide range of material as opposed to going very in-depth into any one topic. So it doesn't take much to do well.

[water bottle]

Cool thread. Maybe someday this forum could have designated advisors for their fields of work/study combined into some sort of megathread. Probably wouldn't work out well. Ah well. Thanks crazyass

[crazzyass]

Originally Posted by water bottle

Cool thread. Maybe someday this forum could have designated advisors for their fields of work/study combined into some sort of megathread. Probably wouldn't work out well. Ah well. Thanks crazyass

Yeah, I actually think it would be really cool if we could sticky some career/college FAQ threads where people could come for help and get questions answered.

[Optionryder420]

The only thing I have to say is don't waste your time getting a polisci degree.

[RealGangstaAssNigga]

Originally Posted by Mantikore

Just wanted to chime in:

im midway through my first semester of my final year in a materials eng and biomedical eng double.

Holy moly i took the wrong classes. One of them anyway. Im doing a course thats pretty much electrical engineering in biomedical applications, and Im way out of my league.

Materials and biomedical eh? What career-path did you have in mind?

I just finished by 3rd year of Mechanical Engineering. Anyone looking to get into engineering should make no mistake: it is an extremely difficult undergrad. Maybe my time-management needs work; maybe being a chronic while taking this course isn't practical; I don't know. All I know is that during midterms and finals weeks, I'm basically a big depressed stressed-out lunatic.

[crazzyass]

Originally Posted by RealGangstaAssNigga

Materials and biomedical eh? What career-path did you have in mind?

I just finished by 3rd year of Mechanical Engineering. Anyone looking to get into engineering should make no mistake: it is an extremely difficult undergrad. Maybe my time-management needs work; maybe being a chronic while taking this course isn't practical; I don't know. All I know is that during midterms and finals weeks, I'm basically a big depressed stressed-out lunatic.

Time-management can make a big difference, to be sure, but I don't think anyone can go through this without some degree of stress.

I kinda suck at managing my time as well, but I've noticed this: I can procrastinate and party all semester with almost zero stress and then pull it together at the end and cram my ass off while under a boatload of stress for a short amount of time, or I can work as I go and experience moderate stress all semester. I'm still not sure which one is best.

[Mantikore]

Originally Posted by RealGangstaAssNigga

Materials and biomedical eh? What career-path did you have in mind?

.

Pretty much everything made by biomedical companies need to deal with biocompatability, and this often varies composition, surface morphology and processing method. Also, everything is made of something, so a materials guy would fit into biomed at least as well as any other company.

But after 5 years, I sort of prefer non biomed jobs, unless theyre really, really materials based, like implant development.

[crazzyass]

So I've been bumping this thread roughly every semester so any new members or members looking at college options can ask questions. The same gig: ask whatever.

[Lanny]

So I guess you're closing in on the end of your third semester right? Have you done any interning? Do you plan to do any in the future? What does being an intern look like for an EE? For CS people, at least those interning in software firms, it's pretty much the same as a dev job except code reviews are more frequent and the assignments are smaller, but I'm not sure if that translates to non-software fields.

[Fanglekai]

I'm finishing my second semester of engineering next month. I already have 2 BAs and an MA but engineering will be actually useful for getting a worthwhile career.

[crazzyass]

Originally Posted by Lanny

So I guess you're closing in on the end of your third semester right? Have you done any interning? Do you plan to do any in the future?

No interning yet; I took summer classes this year, but that'll be the last time I do that. I have been doing research for the physics department for a year now, though, which I feel carries similar weight.

I plan on the next three summers being internships.

What does being an intern look like for an EE? For CS people, at least those interning in software firms, it's pretty much the same as a dev job except code reviews are more frequent and the assignments are smaller, but I'm not sure if that translates to non-software fields.

EE is a pretty diverse field so the internships are as diverse as the many jobs in the field can be. For instance, if you were to intern with a utility company you would be keeping track of power loads and such, or at least learning how to. It'd be a lot of sitting at staring at numbers.

At the place I want to intern at, I'd be R&D'ing (which is the only reason to study engineering in my opinion), so I'll be building and designing things, breaking them, and building them better. I also plan on interning at Fermilab for more of a scientific research endeavor.

[Lanny]

Awesome . Do you ever do hobby projects related to EE? Things like the Arduino are pretty cool, making at least basic stuff available to those of us with mediocre soldering skills. Would you use a premade proto-typing kit like that, or would you typically go to a store or something, buy a bag full of components and crap, and then mash it all together (obviously not _mash_ it, but you get the idea)?

[crazzyass]

Originally Posted by Lanny

Awesome . Do you ever do hobby projects related to EE? Things like the Arduino are pretty cool, making at least basic stuff available to those of us with mediocre soldering skills. Would you use a premade proto-typing kit like that, or would you typically go to a store or something, buy a bag full of components and crap, and then mash it all together (obviously not _mash_ it, but you get the idea)?

Yeah, I actually got started doing hobbyist/DIY stuff back in high school with various projects. I chose electrical engineering specifically because it was an area that I was least familiar with. I never particularly used premade kits, but I did follow a lot of guides on instructables and ehow and elsewhere. For components, I gutted computers at first and just played with capacitors and resistors and saw what happened.

I recommend online suppliers if you're going to purchase components, though. I used to use radioshack, but online you can get exactly what you want for very cheap and can select from a huge variety of brands and types.

[takedrugs_killpeople]

do you know anyone doing chemical engineering?

is it harder or does it have a lot more work than mechanical/electrical?

i just ask because i dont hear about people doing chemical as much, mechanical and electrical seem to be the most popular engineering degrees. at least as far as friends from high school i knew who went into engineering.

[Fanglekai]

They are all difficult. Chemical requires lots of chemistry and most people don't seem into it. Also depends on how good the university is in that area.

[Mantikore]

Originally Posted by takedrugs_killpeople

do you know anyone doing chemical engineering?

is it harder or does it have a lot more work than mechanical/electrical?

i just ask because i dont hear about people doing chemical as much, mechanical and electrical seem to be the most popular engineering degrees. at least as far as friends from high school i knew who went into engineering.

Depends, do you like:

or

[Mantikore]

I think the reason why there are few chemical engineers out there is because there are a lot of other alternatives to chemical engineering that also exercise chemistry knowledge (chemistry major, pharmacology etc), where as there isnt really much of an alternative to something like mech eng.

Oh yeah i just remembered my final exam ever is tomorrow

[dysik]

good luck!

[Lanny]

What's the highest pure mathematics course you have to take for an EE major?

[crazzyass]

Originally Posted by takedrugs_killpeople

do you know anyone doing chemical engineering?

is it harder or does it have a lot more work than mechanical/electrical?

i just ask because i dont hear about people doing chemical as much, mechanical and electrical seem to be the most popular engineering degrees. at least as far as friends from high school i knew who went into engineering.

Two of my roommates are chemical engineers. So far, my degree is harder because I have had to take more difficult classes together, but it will balance out in the future. They're all nearly equally difficult. Also:

Originally Posted by Mantikore

Depends, do you like:

or

That's exactly what I was gonna say. ^ I was looking at their homework and realized "Holy shit, we're doing the exact same stuff with different names". Mecheng is similar as well with heat and fluid flow being modeled similarly to currents in EE and mass transfer in chemE.

You use a lot of the same models. It's pretty cool actually. The similarities stop pretty quickly though. They have to focus on biology and higher level chemistry.

Originally Posted by Lanny

What's the highest pure mathematics course you have to take for an EE major?

I'm taking more math than I have to for a minor and also my own interest, but the highest required class is Matrix/Linear Algebra. It's a mostly proof-based class. Our exam was essay format. I shit myself the first time I saw it. It's the only noncomputation math class I was required to take. But like I said, I'll be taking a few more past that.

[TotseNative]

Originally Posted by RealGangstaAssNigga

Materials and biomedical eh? What career-path did you have in mind?

I just finished by 3rd year of Mechanical Engineering. Anyone looking to get into engineering should make no mistake: it is an extremely difficult undergrad. Maybe my time-management needs work; maybe being a chronic while taking this course isn't practical; I don't know. All I know is that during midterms and finals weeks, I'm basically a big depressed stressed-out lunatic.

A chronic what?

[Lanny]

Originally Posted by TotseNative

A chronic what?

He's a bag of weed dawg