josh817

Yep the Watanabe website is where I got the exhaust header photo that mentions a cyclone effect... They too sell the Wako 75S camshaft.... if that means anything to you guys. The head posted above is an L4 head. Pretty.

Unless you're running an oil cooler an accusump shouldn't be too painful. Just have to get the oil lines and fittings. There should be two lines, one going in one going out and maybe a bypass, I can't remember. Oh yah and be sure to use it properly. There have been guys that come into my dads shop to prep their cars for the weekend and we see that they have either set the pressure at like 100PSI so the accusump never accumulates (unless your oil pressure is above 100PSI...), or they leave the valve open all the time so it doesn't ever help with dry starts... the two main ideas I attribute to the accusump...........

Got them off ebay. They were on there for a while with no one buying them. I've been hush hush about it because I didn't know if I would want them or not. I'll be back to read your post, Tony. Have class right now.

How old is your system? The one I bought appears to be the same as advertised on their website as far as length and injector placement goes. The tubes are pretty long... Unfortunately Kinsler only offers one type of 1 13/16" ID tube and its 6" long and not full radius. Just to make sure everything matches and doesn't look Frankenstein-ish it may be better to just sell the 4 tubes I have and get a full matching set of six. $200 worth of tubes. I think I'll go Frankenstein. Another thing I'll need to look at is the throttle shaft. She said it turned freely but has no return spring. I'm curious if the shaft is sealed up well after all this time though. Going to guess it uses orings of some sort. I'll check to catalog.

It's a Hilborn system. Came from Krista Potter. She said Don was trying to retrofit it onto a 4 cylinder motor or something and that's why there are only 4 ram horns and its missing the two center throttle plates. Maybe he was planning on cutting the manifold up a little... Hopefully he didn't already do that.

Usually the housing itself (in the first picture) you can sand down back to clearance but the rotor and cylinder is all gouged. Oil pumps are cheap, I think its best to just get a new one instead of trying to salvage. Get the turbo pump. I haven't checked but the prices for a regular and then a turbo oil pump should be roughly the same I think... You can always prime the system and check for pressure by getting an extra oil pump spindle/drive, gut the gear off the rides along the crank. Put a drill on the end of it, through the distributor hole and spin it up. Or if you don't want to maim a spindle, get a rod and cut the one end to fit the key in the oil pump, then do the drill thing. It will be messy when you drop the pump to put the proper spindle in, but at least you find out if you have pressure and prime the system.

On the internet, a series of interconnected tubes. Needs 2 more air horns and then the two center throttle plates were missing too. Luckily all those parts are cheap. No but seriously, wait until I get home and I'm on my computer so I can find the source.

Mmm I love Optimus Gryme. I have all his mixes. I meant online radio.

Cliff's? That's just Tony I guess. Especially if someone like me gets him going. The dubstep on the radio sucks today. Nick I may need to pick your brains about Megasquirt and fuel injectors.

Thanks for your input, Tony and thank you to everyone else. I've decided to stick with it but just go to community college. Now the only thing I need to worry about is finances. I am dropping Chemistry for Engineers and going to take Chem 1 and 2 at a community college instead. As I said before, you have to hold your advisers feet to the fire for them to start opening up. As soon as I said I have a few question and depending on the response will decide whether I change my majors he snapped to attention. I figure when you have them as professors, they won't care about you until you poke them enough to get their attention otherwise they push you off to the side, they have work to do. I already posted my schedule on page 2, so you can see how much work there is to be done. I feel like I'm really far behind... good news is the classes I've been taking, everyone else has to take too. Comparatively, I'm still neck to neck. While I'm doing my basic math and sciences they will have to do their history, English, etc.

Hey Tony, look'it what got! I'll need to buy two more similar air horns. Kinsler has some in the right diameter but only 6" long. Product hasn't arrived yet but I'll need to see if there is a lot of taper to the air horns pictured, otherwise I'd like to cut them down to 6" to match the Kinsler ones. I'll make another thread so we don't fog this one up. In the next thread I'll try my best not to ask for direct info. I've already got a plan in down but its the technical stuff with injectors and megasquirt that I may need to look around for. Yayyyyyy

After meeting up with my adviser and seeing how many courses can be taken at a community college, I think I will tough it out as an AE. You can take all the weed out classes at community college. I had to hold the advisers feet to the fire for a while until you let up. He tries to scoot you along until I say I'm thinking about leaving.

The whole argument is moot, Tony. This wasn't whining, this was explaining my situation and asking others, is this normal, do I just suck at it and need to look elsewhere, is it the school and not me. I clearly stated that there are so many variables going on right now and I only have so many chances to screw up. Likewise, it seems like lately every thread I make, you come in and you're helpful at first and then you start complaining about how you don't like someones mindset, how someone is mistaken, or how the system is all wrong despite your efforts of being a white night. We can go back and forth all day. I'm not going to be humble to you about this, regardless of the wondrous things you have done in your years. In one thread you said to be humble to your elders because its true they known more than I do. I absolutely agree. Fact is, at this point you aren't helping and despite what you have been saying, I have said thank you for the words that had value to them. I'll admit, that a lot of the threads where you come in, you shut me down, you have a good argument and it makes sense to me and we stop everything and let it die, lesson learned. This is not one of those threads. This was posted on the internet, I get it, its public. I could care less if you read it out loud, read it on the toilet, whatever. My question to you was WHY did you read it, knowing the engineer was behind you. WHAT response were you looking for. If you were looking for "this guy is a big ****** and he needs to get his panties out of a wad [insert laughing here]" then clearly you were making a joke. If you were reading it out loud with the intentions of maybe this guy has some words of advise, like everyone else here has put in; something along the lines of "go to the alumni and see what their job entails", then that's fine and thank you, again. I don't mind being made fun of and poked at. It gave me a little chuckle at my own expense. But if your intentions were to seriously make a joke out of me then not cool. Sure, my fault for posting on the internet but your fault for letting yourself, a man with such high moral values (remember how you taught me that one), do something so uncouth. I may joke about you and we all have a "har har very funny" moment, but if someone were to ask for a referral, I'd say you. I have high regards for you. I don't know what sort of life you lived and how your brain works but we are two different people and we don't have the same mindset. It would be wonderful if you could get off that horse of yours thinking you were sent down from the heavens, and start responding as if you were in my shoes. Put yourself where I am now, so you can go "you need to figure out what you like and if this isn't it then leave" rather than being like "IN MY DAY I JUST KNUCKLED DOWN" <--- Does it pertain to my situation? What's you're degree? In all the wisdom filled years have you been in this situation? Did you pick the right degree for you the first time so when you "knuckled down" you knew you just had to get over it for the best? Or was it like I am where, yah I could knuckle down but it could just be I hate this and don't want my career in it, so knuckling down would just make my situation worse. As you can see, you're tough it out story, is not helpful. Indeed you could be an elder, a wise man, a wizard, whatever you want to call yourself, I'd like to say a man with experience. I could be humble to you and just say Tony you're so right, and just end it there, but that's not how this thread is going to work. I firmly stand on saying, you are not being helpful as of right now, you are now here for the soul purpose of stirring things up. You could sit there and maintain your "I have years of experience" reasoning but lets face it, you're a human, I'm a human, we do some things wrong. Just because you're old and smart doesn't mean you're perfect. You don't hit the age of 45 and say "well I've lived 45 years, I've had 45 years of mistakes and learning. It is now inconceivable for me to be wrong." Would you like to hear a story from me or is it irrelevant because I'm only 20 years old? I'll tell you anyway. I once asked my grandfather, Poppy, if he was a ladies man and how he did it. He proceeded to tell everyone at the dinner table about how he would drive in town and knock up a ton of girls because "all the guys knew they were easy" there. We stopped him midway, so we didn't have to hear more. Were we wrong in doing that? Should we have let him continue because he is our elder and he knows all? There are two main points in that story. -Firstly there is a time and a place for everything, that's an easy concept and we all know this. Your gallivanting doesn't belong in a thread that has to do with someone who is at a confusing point in their life. You wouldn't gallivant in JSM's thread a while ago about how he was having a hard time. You wouldn't say "you're whining too much JSM" and go around talking with your colleagues, making jokes saying he needs some panty protectors because of what he's going through. You could but you wouldn't because you're better than that. -Secondly, he may have been answering my question and giving me some words of advise in a very crude way, but that doesn't mean in helps me at all. Telling everyone that you had sex with multiple women on the weekends when you went into town with your buddies, does not help. Amusing, but a moot point. You're taking advantage of the "I'm an elder" thing, you're milking that cow to the fullest extent. It wore out its welcome when it wasn't constructive anymore. I may be young and you guys may feel like whatever I say doesn't matter, but old men must be humble to a certain extent themselves. I admire your honesty and bluntness on the situation and I would much rather have that then a load of misleading ****, however I think the line has been crossed. I KNOW that you know the difference between rude context and an honest/blunt context. Example: I wouldn't say honey you look freaking fat, I'd say honey you look big (I don't recommend that at all lol). Honest and blunt but not rude. So finally, I'm not the boss of things around here so I'm not even going to get into saying stop. I will however ask politely for you to contribute rather than cloud up the thread in back and forth arguments. Considering there is already enough confusion on what I should do and where to start, a clear and concise thread would be very helpful as you can imagine. Thank you for your words of advise Tony. I take the knuckle down thing to heart and I will apply that but first I have to figure out what the right major is for me.

When I go to my adviser today I am going to ask him: 1)Does it get any better after these weed outs, I've said this before and I've read a lot of mixed responses 2)How many classes can I take at TCC. One thing I didn't know is they will allow Cal 1 and 2 at TCC but not 3. The kid who told me that said he appealed his Cal 3. When the adviser said you can't bring Cal 3 in and the student said fine I'll appeal it, the adviser was like..... we've never had anyone appeal it in. Fact of the matter is the option is there, they won't tell you about it. As you can see I'm teeter-tottering between changing majors. When I was typing the last post an hour ago I was for sure going to change. Typing this, now I'm thinking I can bypass weed outs and get into that program. I don't know if its safe, going in without friends to do group work. Joining a club would be nice. I guess I would just take a light load each semester so I have time for a club. That's the only other way I can see things working. Other option is to just study all day long like some of you have said. I just called up my dad and said I may be changing my major. Judging by his tone of voice, he highly objects. His approval on how I do things is very important to me but part of me feels that he has let me down the past couple of years so his approval shouldn't matter I guess. He told me to call him tonight or come over when he gets home so we can "talk about this". I need to think about this. If I'm changing majors, I may want to at least get started working on it next semester rather than next fall. Problem is I don't know what to change to, don't know if I want to change, and if I stay with engineering then I'm basically all out of classes to take until I get Cal 1 done. Here I have marked in red everything that I have done. When I look at this, I don't get a gut sinking feeling... I think I may be misleading myself though: The worst thing about this is that I should trust my own instinct but I don't. I tell myself one thing and then... myself says don't listen to me... I wonder if I can do a business major with an engineering minor but I don't think so. Engineering seems like you either do the full program or not do it at all.

The price range I mentioned isn't that high in my eyes. I fully expect to start in the 30's range and eventually/hopefully work up to the figures I said. Obviously I want to be able to make enough to support myself and any future family I have. I don't see it as being a greedy person, I just see it as pick a field that you enjoy with the best pay. I never said I wanted to torture myself to make a lot. I entered college as and engineering degree for the money, yes, and thinking its something I want to do, now I see its not up my alley and I'd be more than willing to cut that paycheck in half or whatever the difference is and do something I like. I refuse to be like my girlfriends parents where they are happy as can be, but they're in an endless pit of financial... situations. Her mom runs her own designer business. A lady says I want a couch reupholstered. Her mom does the job, lady says she doesn't like the material. At this point I would say well you picked the materials so you owe me this and if you'd like to change it, I'll do it for you but not for free. Instead her mom says she will take the couch back and eat the cost of the it all, with money they don't have. Her reasoning was she will "give it to God". Its not my place to be nosing around their business, but I'm not going to be a bliss soul and be in the gutter. I'm not going to lie, money is always nice to have, as well as your sanity. It would be unrealistic of me to say I'm not worried about the money. I figure engineering is pretty high ranking, you all said graduating as an engineer says something about you. Just the fact that you made it through. However, if I can do something I like, and I'll keep referring to accounting but I wouldn't know for sure... Major in business, minor in a general science. Makes me a well rounded individual, get my graduates degree maybe, come out with hopefully something higher than the X GPA from a bachelors in engineering. The little people in my head tell me this will level you out with those who have an engineering degree, but obviously two different fields. By the way news flash: Chemistry For Engineers test 2 grades were released today. Class average was in the 50's. His excuse was "you only need a C to get through this class, so these grades are good". Such is life. Also Tony, what was your goal when you decided to read that out loud to your friend? I don't necessarily appreciate you making a joke out me or my situation, although its uplifting on a very minuscule level. My words to anyone who say "back in my day they paddled me"... its not your day anymore, its my day and in my day some of those things don't happen. Things are different and maybe classes are easier, maybe they're harder. I wouldn't know. So, we can all waste time and make stupid comments like your colleague in Walmart or we can be constructive and steer the confused person in the right direction. If you're pissed at me about something in another thread, leave the red mist there. This is a new thread, start out clean and fresh. Regardless, both of your bost have been constructive and I appreciate that. Thank you.

I can't figure out if you're ahving a good time or just trolling, Tony.

Hear off plenty of stories about "reliably" like... doubling that weight. lol

Oh I thought you passed the 2009 fall Cal we had. You had taken it once before, so that was your second time.

Nick, I hear Cal. 2 is the worst of the three. From what I've seen in the high school course, for some reason it is. Cal. 3 I've heard was either the same level or easier than Cal. 1. I'm curious what UTA counts as fail rate. You and I were in the same class my first semester and we saw how by the time the drop date came, half the class was gone. Remember, we went from having a seat at the back to having a seat in the middle. Of those people, I want to know who passed and if the people who dropped counted as a fail. You passed. How long did you spend preparing for those tests? Granted my first semester I was screwing around way too much and that dictates my grades. I should have gotten Calc. 1 but I didn't. I don't mind that, its not my biggest problem. I already said they offer lots of opportunities to get help if you needed it. Just a stupid freshman. Depending on how this goes... I probably won't change my major until next year. This way I can get on track with people entering the degree plan. They set up your degree plan/schedule because some classes are only in the fall or spring. That means I have spring semester to take classes that either go towards the direction I want or boost my GPA. I was honestly thinking about maybe doing a welding course or something. Obviously something that I like doing, maybe do a personal project, and is an easy A-B. I know some of my dads friends go to the community college every semester to a painters class because they get to use their paint booth, only need to buy supplies. There's this 70 year old guy who's been going back for 10 years. Helped him out a lot when his bath rub Porsche in CVAR flipped and burned. I think perhaps if I go into a different degree and take the extra step to go to graduate school I can look to be as useful or prestigious to an employer as an engineer. Do you have to do graduate school for the degree you have your bachelors in? A change in majors would call for action to be taken to participate on campus and around the community so I look like an outstanding citizen compared to Jo Shmo who has nothing, I think. Also note, I think UTA has a limit to how many times you can drop a class. I think its 6 times, plus they allow for 10 credit hours for "grade exclusion" which means its not in your GPA but employers and other school will still see it. I have used 4 credit hours to exclude Calculus. Only problem is that they split your GPA into 3 sections: Engineering courses, Math + Science + English, and Overall GPA. These 3 numbers must be above like a 2.0 or something. I'm below on Math + Science + English... My grade exclusion didn't help because I made a D in physics and two C's in English, but they're only 3 credits compared to 4 for physics. Last semester when I was first on probation I made 1 C and 3 B's. I thought I would be out of probation but because I didn't take any math or science courses, that GPA didn't change. That's why this chemistry means so much to me. I have like a 1.7-whatever for that GPA. All I need is a C to pull me out of probation but if I get a D or fail, its a step back. I can persevere but knowing there is an obvious limitation to how many times you can run away, I don't want to use up all my chances and then just get destroyed when I really need them. Yet another reason to go to community college so if you don't do well it doesn't transfer. I'm happier now that I've talked this out. Having all these things in my head was really spinning me around. It didn't help at all for my Chem. studying, couldn't get any sleep. Now that I have it all typed out I can sleep and come back the next day to review my thoughts and organize. Thanks guys.

I don't care about fuel economy when towing. I only care when I'm daily driving, so yes it will be my daily car too. Events aren't that frequent and when they are I can't afford to spend $300 every other weekend. I was also thinking about the wear and tear on a little truck. I could see transmissions dying and rear ends. If I got a small truck I'd probably have to invest in a bigger tranny oil cooler and stuff unless if it came with some sort of tow package. I'm just having a really hard time down grading from 35-40MPG on my little beater Honda to... 25MPG max on a truck? I don't have a light switch throttle foot. I'm usually really good about coasting and gently getting up to speed. I know that's important when you have a big honkin' motor/truck combo.

All your advise really helps guys, especially from those who have graduated and are living out your careers. The amount of hours I'm taking is 13-14. Academic probation limits you to 14. My first semester, according to the degree plan, had everyone taking 17 hours. My biggest gripe about that was say for instance this Chemistry class. Its 4 credit hours. I translate that to be hours a week. Wrong, we all know that's wrong. I spend 2:40 a week in lecture and 4:00 a week in lab. "Yah its a 4 hour class, but you're in class for almost twice that.... mhm" As you can see, 17 sucked. Even the kid who bailed was taking 14 hours. I still don't know if I want to persevere though. What you guys say is invigorating but when I look at how far behind I am already it kills me. I only heard 90% fail rate from someone, Nick do you know anything about that? It may be private but if you guys don't mind me asking. What positions did you start at for your first job and how was the pay. I agree I shouldn't be concerned about pay but I also don't want to negotiate for something less than what I can make while still enjoying it. My job only requires me to work a few select weekends per month. Its not really a job, I'm a corner worker at track events, so I don't have to compete with hours. I know I have a little more juice in me to push on and places where I can improve but I don't know if its enough to make a difference. Say I get through all this and get into the department. From the sounds of things, it never lets up its now just more personal. I personally feel that if I'm going to have a headache every day by enduring this and then getting out into the "real world" and its once again the same thing but like you said bigger problems that are harder to pin down and better equipment... I'd rather just cut a portion of my check and go into something I'm good at and enjoy. I get enjoyment from being good at something. I enjoy doing stuff on the Z because I understand how to do it before I dig in, so when I get to it, its like clock work. I know there will be things to overcome in life but I don't want everyday of my career to be a hurdle that I don't know how to cross, constantly making me worried. I would seriously like to see careers of an aerospace engineer. I want to go in there and see what they do and the things they have to do. My ignorance of the real working world makes it so bliss for me. You see shows of people working in cubicles doing the same thing over and over again with no promotion and then you see shows where its all in depth hands on type of job. For example I haven't a clue what your job entails, Michael. When you say aerospace research do you mean your boss says hey I want to know this by the end of the week, and you create a presentation? Honestly, I'M CLUELESS. Again the question becomes, how many times do I retake this. I can't make the placement grade I need as of right now because like I said I haven't had precal in a very long time. The Physics was basic physics or physics 1. I'd like to blame the teacher who spoke Engrish but it was my first semester and I screwed around that semester too much anyway. I will continue to take at least 12 hours. I think you already know this Nick but its 12 because that counts as full time to get financial aid. I get a good amount of help considering the family situation. I recently learned from someone in class that you can take 8 hours of community college and 4 hours of UTA, and those will add up to 12. I thought you had to have 12 at one university. This is a good thing so I don't have to risk leaving UTA for community college and then trying to re-apply for UTA and they tell me no. Once again let me reiterate. I chose aerospace simply because I was like hey I like working on mechanical stuff, it pays well, and I could possibly apply it to cars. Indeed I like doing those things and problem solving, fabricating, etc. but I may just like it as a hobby... but it just sounds so cool with all the machines and stuff! I saw a think for an "internship" which was basically working with a professor in the lab. Pays $12/hr and 10 hours a week. I wrote down the email and I am needing to reply. I need to figure out how next semester is going to work before I tell him I can work. As you can see, all sorts of doors are open for me to take which is why I created this. I need a little bit of guidance, considering its going to affect my life. First thing is first, talk with advisers and counselors, get a list of other degrees and what sort of job opportunities come with it. I think another area for concern is that it seems almost as if an engineering job sets you up well for the time being but if you ever lose your job its going to be a pain to get back up for whatever reason, your education may be outdated or whatever. When my dad was laid off he didn't have anywhere to go because his education was from the 80's in an electronic field... Then again I see that happening for any degree... except for journalism? It gets off subject and I'm clearly ignorant of whats going on out there, but it seems like a secure job isn't something that happens anymore. Our generation is beep-bopping around. Edit: Kamikaze I really like what you said. I hope its how you explained. I told my mom the same thing I typed. I jumped into aerospace because I thought airplanes were cool, that doesn't mean I want to build them really.. I just think they're cool. Who thinks jets are cool? I figured even with any other degree. If I like airplanes so much, get something that has me working in the office of Lockheed rather than the assembly line or research facilities. If I go with something other than engineering, I'll probably go back for my masters just to make me more useful. I'm not going to lie, I feel the family pressure. Sister is doing sociology, which I make fun of her for but she makes straight A's and is going all the way to the top with her Doctrines. Her husband, Kyle, is like a manufacturing engineer doing his graduate school online. Mom has her masters. Dad I'm not sure about. He may have an associates or bachelors and it would be in EE. He emphasizes my education though because he is a perfectionist. He finds no reason to make anything but A's, considering he went to school while my sister was a little baby. Plus since he did the whole military thing for a while too, he feels that I have a great opportunity here, going to a full blown state university and he wants to see me do well. So I'm being compared to family here, but when I ask them about it they say no I'm not because engineering is way different than sociology, a good excuse not to make straight A's. I don't think it helps my efforts that I've propped myself up on this "engineers high horse". I can't say liberal arts without giving a little bit of a dirty stink eye squint. I'm not even in engineering just yet and its busting my chops. Considering anything else always seemed like a downgrade to me of course until now when I bow out.

Lol good advise but scary at best. I really wish I started out as an undecided major. Undecided's get to take classes from any program, without being in the program. Allows you to poke your head around and see what you like. The only reason why I didn't transfer this semester to a different school (Tarleton) was because I had so many unknowns. Housing, courses, registration. I didn't want to rush in it. I talked it over with my dad and I know his true intentions are to keep me lingering around Arlington so I can work on the BMW that he knows I'm not interested in however he did make a good point. IF I went to Tarleton I would have to change my degree to mechanical. With AE, there are like 20 kids. He said think about it like this, all you guys graduate, company has 10 spots. 50% you get hired, as compared to ME where there are 200 graduates. Plus he said something, I think he pulled it out of his ass but it was "an AE can do the job of an ME but an ME can't do AE"........................... I kinda rolled my eyes at that one. I'll honestly say that when I get into this degree, I wasn't thinking about the future. I wasn't thinking about job stability, security, if I can even get a job. I just said hey I'm good at building ****, hey I kinda like airplanes lets do that it sounds cool. As you can see, the way I view things now is I never really wanted to sit down and design all this crap. I like designing and building as a hobby. I'll build myself a shed, not an airplane. I awnt to look at other alternatives that can satisfy my demands, as stated before, opportunity, stability, security, salary, those sorts.

Oh trust me I know what you mean. My mom has been a teacher for over 25 years and the past couple of years things have been going down hill. Without getting too much into politics, I honestly think it was the no child left behind thing. They didn't fix anything, they just lowered standards. Mom gets pissed about it because get this, she's a 6th grade teacher and the principal has now announced to the staff that late work can't be punishable. NO POINTS TAKEN OFF. I'm young but BACK IN MY DAY you had 30 points off for 1 day late AKA best you can do is pass. Mom describes it as a joke, the accommodations she now has to make. She's told that if a student is doing poorly, make him have tutorials during recess. She laughed because recess is 8 minutes long. By the time a 6th grader sits down and focuses, recess is over. She has told me this year will be her last. She went to the doctor and asked about a stress test, apparently 3 other teachers have been there about that. Mom says she's meeting up with her teacher friend and hubby because the hubby works some government job. Apparently the government is hiring tons of people (wonder why?) and with that job it is set hours. From 9-5 he works. One day he tried to stay a little after to finish up something, they told him to go home. He said he will take his work home and finish it up, can't do that its confidential. Mom wants that. She's tired of having to start her day at 7 and end it at 6 or 7 after all her meetings with parents and staff. Then she has to grade papers when she gets home. All this with no pay raise. They asking Mom to go paperless. That's great but their computers are old and never work even with a technician. I remember being in 6th grade and the log in never worked. So there is some insider tidbits from the Texas education system as it is today. My academic adviser who I'm speaking to seems to be as clueless as the others. Last time I saw him I said I was planning on going to a community college. He asked me why, with like a surprising look. I wanted to be like "Are you even real? Is there someone sitting in that chair or am I all alone and going insane? You have my grades right in front of you. You are a professor in the department that fails over half its students out and you've been working here for how many years but you can't seem to understand why I want to go to a community college for these credits?" To cut to the chase. I'm still just a name on a list to him. When I went through orientation we were told numerous times to interact with our academic advisers since they will be with us every step of the way and "guide" us. When I failed calculus I asked him how to go about it, what are my options. He said to just take it again next semester. Was there any thought to that advise? Once again, are you even real? Do you exist or are you just a figment of my imagination, just another one of those little people in my head that always mislead me. Retake a class known to crumble you. To say the least, in two days when I go back, any crap he pulls will be dealt with an increase in vocal volume considering his door is open during the advising.

Yah I understand what you're saying. No one said it would be easy but honestly I am not enjoying it at all. I resent college and I hate resenting it. I tried to get myself excited but anything that has to do with engineering, its that sour taste. Last semester I was actually eager to get to economics, this semester I'm eager to get to political science. I'm so tired of hearing my friends talking about how excited they are to go back to school at the end of summer. I want to be excited to but instead I wish I was in high school again. My buddies are to the point where they are bored with coming home to Keller and being with their parents, they count down the days they have left in Keller so they can go back to their apartment/dorm. I'm the opposite. I think last night it finally clicked for me when my one friend that I managed to have another class with (and hopefully more classes) said he wasn't interested in it and maybe it just wasn't for him. Not only did he put the bug in my head but because he was like the last survivor who didn't change degrees or universities, hearing him say "maybe I'll see you around" I was like now I have no friends and if I make more, will they all fail out or leave too? For math, I'm good at it but not as good as I use to think. I just excelled at it at first probably because it clicked for me but not for others. For the longest time I was the math wiz and made better grades than everyone but it was a "growth spurt", if you want to call it that. Calculus 1 and 2 were the classes that put me in my place. Little Johnny who I use to make way better grades than is now making the same or slightly better than me in Calculus. My talent leveled off. If I were to make an accurate prediction, probably by Calculus 3 I'd be busting my butt to make sense of it. The math part of engineering would be difficult for me. Just got off the phone with Mom and she was surprisingly calm when I mentioned it. Rturbo: I think the problem may be that certain teachers, generally older, have forgotten what its like to be a student. Or perhaps "back in their day" they didn't do the things we do or face the things we face. From what I've seen in all other classes, teachers within 10 years of getting their PhD's or whatever are generally pretty cool dudes. They aren't easy tests but they teach in a way that they know will work. They utilize computers and powerpoint slides rather than a blackboard. They know how to grade a test. Perfect is 100, I made 85's and higher, which is ok by my standards. I try to avoid saying its UTA Engineering Department because the definition of being "good" seems to be open. I'd argue that being good doesn't mean the system is built in a manner that kills everyone but a few but then again, you have to weed out the crowd like JT said. They're good because the people leaving with their engineering degrees worked for that and made it through the mine field. As I stated before, they either stayed for like 8 years and persevered, they were smart and got it without a fight, or it was tough but they managed. However that brings up another issue but its more like an all around "its just how it is" type of thing. That is, if someone gets a different teacher who isn't as anal, they pass with flying colors and they may not even know the material as they should. Therefore some just get the pick of the litter while others get the crappy teachers. Without a set standard on tests and grading policy, how is any degree legitimate. The university trusts in the teachers to make good judgment and setup a system that works but lets get real, once the teachers teach for so long they can't be gotten rid of unless a major infraction occurs (I forget what the term is for that). There are some that just make retarded systems knowing nothing can happen.

Hey guys. Some background info, I'm a sophomore at UTA for Aerospace Engineering. My problem that I have right now is I am not enjoying anything that pertains to the subject, at all. I failed calculus (90% fail rate at UTA), made a D in Physics, and just took a test in Chemistry "For Engineers" which was the second one that was ridiculous, I'll probably at best skate by with a C. Now I understand college isn't meant to be easy but this is horrible. I'm going to try to word how I feel, as accurately as possible so any ideas you may have will be helpful. First my list of complaints: 1)Anything that has to do with engineering, it seems UTA automatically makes ridiculous. 90% fail rate in Calculus? I took Cal 1-2 in one semester senior year in highschool, made and A and a B. I understand this is college now. So I expect a fair C for Calc. One and haven't even made it to Calc. Two yet. 90% fail rate, and that's with supposedly the "best" teacher on campus according to statistics and Ratemyprof.com. I admit, he explains things well and they have tons of free services to help you. I did perfect on the homework, raped on the test. The class was too focused on whether you could follow instructions. Why? Because he handed out 50 problems twice a week. Fine with me. 2 hours worth of homework turned into 10 pages and 6 hours each night because he wanted you to write out the instructions from the book, show work, answer in complete sentences. This is easy, its busy work but painful. Here is where I disagree; when grading, he tells his people to grade only 5 problems which is fine. However, say he grades problems 10-15, if on problem 2 you didn't write something in complete sentences, your paper doesn't get graded and you get a 0. This really wasn't a problem for me, but its still ridiculous. 2) Just took a Chem test and it was also ridiculous. Why do I hate that class? Because he is the type of teacher who has the mind set of "a 70 is a good grade in my class". Really, why? My idea of grading is if its perfect, you get a 100, if you have minor (seriously, minor) errors, its a 90, and if you missed a few here or there its an 80. 70 is barely skidding by. However he seems to think otherwise and his tests show since class overage was a 62. In a room of 200 students, if a 62 is a class average, its not the students fault its his fault for being a sucky teacher. A good test isn't one that has a below 70 class average. I view this as just another thing that college throws at you. However shame on UTA for making a Chemistry for Engineers (different then general chemistry by far) and choosing him to be the professor. 3) I feel like I am fighting against the current. I don't expect for this to be easy but I also don't expect to not be able to pass ANY engineering class. I made A's and B's in English, history, political science, drafting/autocad, etc. As soon as you enter into Physics, Calc, and Chem, all for engineers, its ridiculous. This qualifies under what I said in #2, a failing rate that's high, doesn't make you a good engineering school, it means you aren't doing something right. As I previously stated, I feel like I'm fighting up current. I feel like UTA is trying to fail me out rather then help me PASS. I didn't say help me make perfect grades but just to PASS. I know you may be saying well there are tutors, make study groups, talk with the professors, maybe its your study habits. I admit I have a hard time trying to effectively study. I have had several classes where I study in bulk for hours a night a week before a test and still bomb the test. That's not the problem though, otherwise I wouldn't have done well in any class. First semester during orientation, UTA gathered the students, you were all crammed into a room with your adviser and then he TOLD you what classes you will take. Then they put us in a room with computers and said select your classes. When you were done you were scooted along so someone else could use the computer. AKA no one used rate my prof, we didn't learn about that concept until 2nd semester. However this meant there were some of us that had the same schedule. There were 7 of us, this was our friend group. We studied together for all classes. This is important because my brother in law who has graduated as an engineer said I need to make friends so when you get into your professional courses you know people to study with and do projects with. So I thought hey I'm on the right track. By the time we finished Calc. 1, 2 of us had passed barely (not me). Because of this, we automatically get put onto academic probation and then we can't move onto the next courses because the way the degree program is setup you take cal 1, 2, 3, back to back. You bomb 1, then you can't take a handful of classes that require it. So now our friend group is dead. My second semester I'm a hermit, but that's ok because it was English, history, those sort of courses, I did fine. This semester in Chemistry, I see one of my buddies from Calculus. He is in Calc. 3, but Chemistry has killed him and Statics. I call him just last night to see if he is ready for today's test and he said he's dropping chem and changing his major, which is what struck this whole thing up. So, out of all of us friends, we either failed or just left the program. I am friendless now and getting closer to my professional courses, if I can even get through. I was under the impression that these classes are weed out classes and it will get better once you're in the department. If I'm wrong, I don't want to have anything to do with engineering at UTA. Ideas like go to another school are possible but I ask myself, how many times will I switch schools, retake classes, etc. before I finally get it. All that wasted time and money and I'm just spinning my wheels. How many failed courses is it going to take for me to say its the school, or its the class, or its my studying, or perhaps its just not for me. I wanted to be an engineer because I love building things and working with my hands and I was good at math. The true test started coming with Calc. 1 and 2 in highschool. Now I'm in college and you go further than Calc. 1 and 2. Its difficult and when I try my hardest and can't get it, I get a sour taste in my mouth for the subject. I'm starting to wonder if being an engineer just isn't for me. I constantly tell myself that these calculations won't come around to haunt me in my career with whatever company but I am 95% sure that it will. Knowing this, I'm not to sure if I want to go down that path. Like I said, I don't mind a challenge but if I barely scoot by college, A) who will hire someone with a horrible GPA (not my worst fear), B.) will I even be able to do the tasks they ask of me? I look at my girlfriend and she's a first semester nursing program at UTA. Apparently UTA is really good at nursing too. What did they do? They have to take an Intro course the size of 30 people and it sounds dinky but its all about making friends and participating around campus. They make them sign up for clubs and talk to certain people. She has many friends that will probably stick with her through her college years. I have 0 friends, going down a path that requires teamwork and group effort studying. I try to make friends and when it happens, like I said, we don't all make it through certain courses and some just get tired of it. I haven't met a single engineer at UTA that hasn't gotten raped in a more then one class. I was told to talk with the alumni from UTA engineering departments. I can try but I don't see how that would work. When this is a barrage of ridiculously hard classes, the few that make it through with their sanity are the ones that are alumni. Generally speaking they will have stories of how they either A) spent a lot of years and money just to get there, B.) it was easy for them because they're brilliant, C) say they had difficulty but pulled through. So being super smart, not me, having difficulty, that's me, but "pulling through"? May not work out, and then spending a lot years and money to just to graduate, no that's not me. That would be filed under the "at what point do you change majors and find something you enjoy rather than wasting a hell of a lot of money and 6-8 years of your life retaking classes until you get it, if you get it." So after that long rant, I'm seriously considering changing to a different major before I sign up for a second semester of classes that lead me in the wrong direction. I want something that I will enjoy, and that pays well. When I talked to my chem buddy who dropped on the phone, it was the first time we had a serious moment. He told me he wanted to be an engineer for the money but after seeing what its all about, he hated it. I don't necessarily hate it, but I can't see myself doing these calculations for my career. I'm good at math, I like math, I don't want ridiculous math. I'm thinking about maybe changing to Accounting. I was also thinking a teacher but if any of you guys have read some of my stuff, I suck at explaining things if I'm even right to begin with. Accounting has numbers, taxes, etc. I Like that stuff. I can work on a computer all day if I have to. I looked at the career outlook and accounting is skyrocketing like nursing is. I've seen estimates of $40-56k salary, which is fine by me. I don't need to be rich but I don't want to be in a financial hole. My mom is a teacher for over 25 years, she gets around the salary I just mentioned. Single mom, two kids in college, she has her tight months but we still have the finances to have family fun and live in a nice town. I figure I can be like my father and have a job that doesn't require him to design things or do ridiculous calculations but instead he gets his mechanical enjoyment by working on his personal race car at one time. I have my Z, as long as I have the funds to tinker, have a race weekend every once and while, I'll be happy. I think when I said I liked doing this sort of thing, I meant on a hobby level, not on a serious, build a bridge if it falls lose your job, level. So after that huge rant, my mom would typically say "so whats your plan". I'm meeting up with my adviser to discuss next semester courses. My adviser is also a professor for the AE department. I want to ask him if once I'm in the department, will this nonsense end. Will I have a relationship with my professor? Will I be a name and not a student ID number, unlike all these classes that have 200 students and 20 pass? No matter how hard you try to interact with the professor, he doesn't care who you are or your problems. I can voice these opinions to instructors and UTA all I want, it won't change anything obviously. The answer I will get is "welcome to college", which is one I would typically assign to some boob who expects his teachers to give him a free A. Hopefully you understand that's not what I'm looking for, nor am I looking for special privileges. As you can see, I went in with the hopes of perhaps having a ridiculous class every once and a while but having that feeling of "woo, I made it through, never have to go through that again" but when there is a barrage of these classes and when its likely that your career is based on that stuff, then no. I don't know if its a good idea to tap out and change majors. My direct family would be disappointed in me. They were all saying "be an engineer, its a prestigious job, you love that sort of thing, you won't have any trouble finding a job because its a great degree". To them, changing degrees would be a sin, if I didn't bother going to Tarleton University (where my brother in law went and everyone loves him) and giving it a shot. Its a smaller university and Kyle keeps in contact with his professors even though he has graduated. Of course he speaks highly of the school and everyone but my dad wanted me to try that school to see if I do any better. Once again, how much money and time will I invest before I decide yah I like it or no I hate it? If I say its not for me, I will then be at Tarleton, a place I don't exactly love (out in the country), and the only reason why I packed everything up to go out there was to pursue something I may or may not like. At this point it would be a bad idea to call up the people who adore Tarleton and say help me pack my stuff up and transfer over to the school that gave me hell initially. That wouldn't make sense to them. Thoughts? Degree advice (good pay, good demand, math, etc.) EDIT: Oh yah and I'm trying to get into Calculus and Physics at our community college but can't even score high enough to place in Calculus. My highest score had them saying I need to start 4 classes below Calculus. That's 2 years of math just to get into a class I should have had my first semester. Granted I only took the test once and surprised me. Obviously it would be over precal, which I haven't had in almost 4 years now. I was planning on retaking it ofter reviewing through an old precal book I have. Even then their scoring system says I need a 105 to get into Calculus, I was making an 80-something, and its 20 questions no calculator. Not sure how their grading system works but I obviously didn't know enough to take Calculus.... even though I have now taken Calculus twice, I know what its about.