Incoming college freshman

[matthugie]

OP, my recommendation is purchasing the book Strengths Finder 2.0 and taking the assessment. It is a fantastic source for helping you find your aptitudes, which can point you towards what you might be good at and enjoy doing. I know you are saying engineering, but if you haven't done anything above geometry yet you have absolutely no idea what you're getting into. Figuring out what your aptitudes are can save you tons of money and time.

My story: took AP Calc/Physics in HS, went to school for engineering as I thought that's what I wanted to do. I struggled with the work and spent 3 years bouncing around different engineering majors trying to find my calling. Eventually an adviser pointed out that my best grades were in my non-engineering classes, and perhaps engineering wasn't where I should be. I ended up eventually transferring to business, where I excelled. It took me almost 7 years to finish my degree, whereas had I been given some direction beforehand I could have saved a lot of time and money. Moral: if at all possible try to figure out where your aptitudes lie and start in the right direction.

[Jack89i]

After reading this, I kind of want to sign up for better math classes next year (Senior in HS). I really want to do engineering in college, I'm signed up for the most basic senior math class now..maybe I should at least go for calculus..


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[bmwman91]

Yeah, if you can manage to get calc done before leaving high school, your chances of success in engineering go up a lot.

[lambo]

^ Yeah but don't let that dissuade anyone. You might have a spend a little longer to get your degree but it's completely doable.

[mitchlevy7]

might as well chime in here. Im a super senior mech e student (only because I took a co-op, I will be done with 8 semesters of classes). Id consider myself done as I am taking 3 classes this semester this fall and only one of them is engineering.

few tips: figure out what works for you. may seem simple enough, but as everyone is saying dont skip class here, I get nothing from lectures and I am better learning from the book. I may be different. I skipped about 30-35% of my classes last semester and I got my best GPA. I am NOT saying skip class, I am saying to figure out how you learn best and go from there.

use gen ed (or whatever your school calls them) as GPA boosters. Find the easy ones. Get good grades. I made a mistake here and screwed my gpa a bit.

even if you can pass this way DO NOT bullshit your math classes. You have no idea how much you use diff eq in upper level mech e classes. Learn that stuff, make sure you understand it.

get internships and do extracurricular activities. I have learned that when you don't get to really apply what you learn in class, the understanding isnt as great and it fades away. Classes give you so much information and you don't get much of a chance to use it. FSAE is one of the best programs you can do. It helps get jobs, internships, and you get a hell of alot of good practice for being a real engineer.

Never too early for an internship. My first 2 internships didnt really require anything past freshman year knowledge. Even if you need to know more, the internship will teach you. (usually). Your first internship leads to your second one and they will usually get better. I went from a boring internship at the engineering dept of a local natural gas supplier, to designing state of the art wheels in a start up. I have heard several times that employers would rather have a lower (not too low) gpa with lots of experience vs just a high gpa. (both is good too)

have some fun too. greek life might be for you, takes up alot of time which you may need for school, but most people find it fun. you dont need to get blackout drunk to have fun. I have found that getting really drunk costs the next day because of the hangover, which I usually cannot afford. Its about relaxing and having fun, because after everything your going to need it. find some good friends, go to bars, have fun.

[lambo]

Never too early for an internship.

Yes. I got stupid lucky with my internship and I feel it's going to pay off big time. 3 summers of industry related experience right out of graduation and for all intents and purposes a job out of graduation as well. It can seriously pay off big time, don't slouch on applying for internships.

[freeride53]

Yes. I got stupid lucky with my internship and I feel it's going to pay off big time. 3 summers of industry related experience right out of graduation and for all intents and purposes a job out of graduation as well. It can seriously pay off big time, don't slouch on applying for internships.

Yes. This. I'm working for a fantastic company as a summer corporate finance intern and I love it. Look everywhere you can for opportunities.
What it comes down to is who you know, and it's a complete numbers game.

I'm going to be a college senior this fall and I feel more prepared for the professional world by the day, here at my internship.

[jrobie79]

construction is definitely on the uptick right now....civil engineering should have plenty of jobs when you graduate...my company has over 10 billion dollars worth of work in the short term future building luxury apartment buildings and high rises all over the country...I'm not an engineer, but as a construction manager we deal with at least 6 firms on each project