COLLEGE!! which one? engineering as possible major

[ToyoHabu]

I would reccomend going to a school with plenty of opportunity for revelant co-op opertunities available, those schools in nice college towns sometime lack in this department. A smaller school is also a plus.

The school I graduated from is in a high tech/engineering community http://www.uah.edu/
it did not start life as a "teaching university" but a "research university" I had a lot of fun working at the "Center for Automation and Robotics" (they had a networked computer lab with powerful machines great for playing those new lan games:icon_bigg )

 

[Figit090]

MDC- lol...what??

MA71- lol at the security guards..what did you do anyway?

Mck. i wanted to join autox but no time for that now...i'm concintrating on college nowdays and to drive my car with that kind of spirit i want money for stuff that breaks, and upgrades...that means $$$ and i have no job. lol.

but anyway...

I believe calc classes at HSU ARE available over the summer, a friend of mine is in calc 2 or 3 right now...
thankfully i'm in calc and i've taken physics, bio, and i'm in chem and geology right now.


what do you guys think of going into environmental resources engineering? the HSU rep told me yesterday that they are #1 in the country and so on and so forth...and GM just announced that hydrogen car....and she also mentioned they were the first with a street legal hydrogen car....

any perspectives on that would be nice....i'm not so sure if thats the kind of engineering for me, but compared to other engineering majors maybe it will be the best for me in terms of the job market once i'm done with college as compared to...mechanical.

 

[1TuffSupra]

Believe it or not dude, NC State was ranked #1 in the country for engineering for years. I believe they are still near the top of the list. We have so many materials and tools you could use as an engineer its crazy, we even have a nuclear reactor on campus. I know its at the other side of the country from you, but its something to consider if your lookign for the best.

 

[ma71supraturbo]

what do you guys think of going into environmental resources engineering? the HSU rep told me yesterday that they are #1 in the country and so on and so forth...and GM just announced that hydrogen car....and she also mentioned they were the first with a street legal hydrogen car....

I've never heard of that particular degree, but it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It sure makes it easier to be "#1" when you're the only university offering it though Ask the HSU rep for the Student-Right-To-Know stats. It should give a break-down on the average employment rate for HSU graduates as well as the wages.


A quick google search for "environmental resources engineering" pretty much just comes up with Humboldt stuff. I doubt that any other university is teaching it...

 

[Figit090]

thats what i was worried about.

i'm guessing that other engineering courses would teach what i need to design hydrogen powerplants anyway...maybe? the field is so broad its not even funny. im also considering being an architect...i just dont friggin KNOW. but i want to...so i can jump on it.

maybe staying at home and taking GED courses and math at HSU is the way to go, then a transfer for my major? its confusing.

CR is pretty far BTW...but if that idea is good...maybe i should consider it?

it just makes me feel like i took all my AP/IBO classes for nothing if i went to CR.

 

[ma71supraturbo]

your AP classes were for nothing, sorry. Mine were too. You take a year's worth of a "college level" class -- 5 days a week for an hour a day. So one would think you would get 10 semester units... But you get like 3. And chances are, your college will require 4 so you'll have to take that class over again anyway. You would have been better off asking the school to attend the JC instead (and get the class out of the way in 1 semester).

Humboldt does do a lot with environmental stuff. When I attended, they made some minor break-through in solar-power... I'm just not sure there is much of a market for it in the "real world." But the student-right-to-know information should show if that's true, and I'm pretty sure that rep is required to provide it...

 

[TobyCat]

Come up to Canada

I'm working on my master's of applied science right now, and just graduated with a BEng from UVic in BC. The engr dept. is tight knit, lots of opportunities for co-op work experience (it's mandatory here making the degree 5 years), and many leaders in the CEng/EEng fields. I'm not too certain about the MEng program as that wasn't my major, but it seems to be in high demand right now with Alberta's oil industry.

Or go to MIT... If/when I do my PhD, that's where I'll go - hopefully

 

[he lives]

I didn't read through all the posts but I'll throw my opinion in anyways. Math definitely must be your strong point - your looking at calc 1-4, linear algebra, diff eq, stats, and possibly more. I took Ap Calc in HS and it really only prepares you for calc 1. As far as choosing a discipline...they are all pretty much the same until your junior year. My first 2 years were for a CE degree but this year (3rd year) I switched to ME and all the classes I had already taken were the same. I was accepted to UW as a freshmen but a local community college gave me a full scholarship. I got my AS at the community college but the effects of all the math classes left me with a 3.47 GPA...couldn't get back into UW. I transferred to WSU and it worked out find. If you plan on transferring make sure you check ahead of time about how the classes transfer...seems like your pretty safe if you complete an associates though. Another thing you need to realize if you want to go into automotive is that the majority of the businesses are in the south east / east part of the country. So things like internships will be difficult to find if you stay local. In my experience, the difference between going to a small school and a big school is very little in terms of instruction and course work. The big differences I have seen are research facilities, lab facilities, and the employers that recruit from larger schools. Good luck and don't be too shocked when you get your first C

 

[tte]

I'd pick UC Berkeley.

I heard it a very good school. My boss and his friends and some other people I know went there. A good school is good but I think your work experience is valuable too.

90% of the freshly graduated engineers who worked for my boss's company have learnt alot and all have jobs with LockHeed Martin...I am next.
I think its because my boss and his friends were senior design engineers in Lockheed till they started their own companies and besides quality work, that is also the reason we do jobs for Lockheed Martin.

Cheers,
Roy

 

[Figit090]

i'll probably apply to UC berkeley, i'll make my final decision later but you guys are sure helping.

he lives- thanks for that outlook, i'm thinking about taking calc 1 this coming semester to bolster my knowledge, and i'm not sure exaclty how that will work...if the course is re-starting or if i'd be jumping in...i dont know how colleges work. if its starting over i think it would be a good idea...and then during the summer (maybe) i'll get into calc 2. one of my friends is in calc 3 right now, and compared to my current lesson plan based on this silly CPM curriculum...its much better and i look forward to it.

i'm thinking that i can get into the system and start taking math and GED at HSU maybe, cheap and close to home...then i'll transfer and depending on my knowedge maybe i'll go to MIT, caltech...or stanford or something. who knows.

i'm probably applying to those NOW and we'll see what happens, but all this is helping me a lot, thanks again, i appriciate this!

 

[suprarx7nut]

University of COLORADO!!!! I go here and its good. But you're looking at some fucking bigtime schools, so this isnt really a recommendation unless you find those way too expensive or difficult. But seriously the College of Engineering here is really nice. They tell us its around top twenty, not sure if thats true, but it is good. Great looking campus/Location. LOTS OF GRADS from here GET HIRED to LOCKHEED MARTIN, a LOT. and they make bank. I'm in-state, but i hear its really easy for out-of-state kids to get a ton of scholarships. GOOD LUCK!

 

[Figit090]

i find those schools way to expensive and difficult.

-----EDIT!!------

your school sounds nice. what are you studying? how much is the "bank" you speek of? starting wages? what kinds of jobs are they getting/what do they work on?

my guess is lokheed martin is mainly areonautical engin. related?

i was hoping for the scholarship thing


which brings me on the topic of dealing with the stress associated with this...i have two brilliant friends, and they have a large family and a moderate but not great income...but because of the family's size...they get full rides... not that it isnt deserved, these girls work hard and they are smart enough to get this...but....it doesnt seem at ALL fair that other kids (namely middle class) canNOT pay for college without significant extra work!! (jobs and such)

how the hell do i let that go? it doesnt bug me much anymore but i want to completely forgive and forget the fact that our society is by no means fair...how do i do it??

 

[Figit090]

ok, i edited my post and figured you probably already read it and had to edit again so...

you should read the edit.

and i found out with google..(sorry i forget its there!) that lockheed martin does other things besides making jets. lol.

but yeah, what do the people you know of do?

 

[suprarx7nut]

Most the kids are mechanical engineers, Lockheed hires around 3 times as many Mechanical as Aerospace engineers, so i hear. and they make around 45-60 with just a bachelors. this is first year out, first real job. within five years you could easily hit 75 grand without a masters. Just a lot of hard work and a lot of hours. Im not really sure exactly what they do on a day to day basis, but whatever it is, it pays really well.

As for me, Im mechanical and Im really liking it. Im not a genius, but I think im a little ahead of the cuve and its been pretty managable so far. A lot of math and physics, plenty of free time if you focus when you do your work. Its easy to doddle with your HW and end up with no real free time, but manage your time and everythings great. Boulder is really a great place. Its not hippies and treehuggers like most think. outdoorsy but thats about it. Great skiing and boarding, only 45 mins to good resorts.

 

[Figit090]

ok, i can learn to ski i guess...lol

is this colorado school of mines?

i hope so!!

--EDIT--

ok apparently not. i did a "golden scholar" applicaiton to that school because it was free. knew basically nothin about them besides being told its a good school.

 

[Supramatt90]

I am in my first semester at Wisconsin and I am going for Mechanical Engineering. I love it here. If you don't mind a bigger school it is great. The life outside of class is as we are the number one party school, which is always a plus.

We are also ranked I belive in the top 10 or 15 for enigineering. One thing that is nice here is that in my first semester I am already in a hands on engineering class. My class consists of 15 people and we were given a project to work on for the entire semester. It is the introduction class and we go over all of the basic steps a normal engineering project would include.

I would recommend this program to anyone. It's a lot of fun and they throw you into it right away unlike many colleges that you need to fulfil a lor of prerequisites before you even talk about engineering.

 

[Figit090]

supramatt- nice. so what happenes for the prerequisites? i'm sure you still need the background, so do you take the intro class and mess around while you learn the technicalities and proper math skills in other classes simultaneously?

 

[Supramatt90]

Yea the class we have is an Introduction Course. I am also in a Calculus II, thanks to AP credits and chiemistry. I will still need to take all of the physics, chemistry, and math. The idea behind the course is to get some hands on experience right away as long as you enroll into the college of engineering.

 

[Figit090]

sounds fun.

 

[Figit090]

when talking with my old physics/current geology teacher today i learned that got a degree in Mechanical engineering and worked on making parts for Boeing, Lockheed, and several other companies, and he said it was cool at first but got old because once you design something you spend years after that working on the SAME part... he has a friend that's been working on "blow-out doors" for airplanes for 20 some years!!

he said if he could go back he'd be a civil engineer because it would be cool to design bridges, or a geologist.

what do you guys think of that? will mechanical engineering get boring? he also mentioned that automotive engineering would be more interesting, and i you could use a MEng degree for that....

but...whatever happens i want a job i like, and i'm not sure that sitting at a computer designing the SAME part and making it better for several years is what i want to do. i need another angle on this one.