Back To School!

[FlatBlack]

Hopefully the MCAT's wont completely occupy my life, though I fear they will. But alas, I've accepted the fact I will have no friends until I'm hitting the strides of graying hair.

 

But then you'll have money? Maybe?

[turboHLS30]

Well im not in college yet im a sophmore in high school and im takin precalc chemistry English honors im also studyin for architechture and im taking drafting so i got a lot of stuff on my shoulders and all of my classes are honors....... not really up to what yall are doin but soon.......i sound like a geek but im far from one im just smart and love cars

[rturbo 930]

Well im not in college yet im a sophmore in high school and im takin precalc chemistry English honors im also studyin for architechture and im taking drafting so i got a lot of stuff on my shoulders and all of my classes are honors....... not really up to what yall are doin but soon.......i sound like a geek but im far from one im just smart and love cars

I see all that hard work in English honors is paying off

[turboHLS30]

LOL i know my run on sentence and my mispelling thats just cause im not in school

[rturbo 930]

LOL i know my run on sentence and my mispelling thats just cause im not in school

I guess I should let you know that on HybridZ, using proper spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation is a rule. Run-on sentences, poor spelling, etc, makes posts hard to read.

[turboHLS30]

well my bad i guess ill have to be proper

[Challenger]

Did you read your last post?

[JIM73240Z]

Yep. Back in school. At 36 years old. This economy has punished me for not having that piece of paper. Today I went back to the CC to find out what i need to finish my AA or AS. 1 dam class was all I need. Not that I think that it would get me a job right now. I am changing majors from civil to software engineering. I have been a structural engineer for 7 years but without taking the FE exam, which I am able to do, I am nothing. I just need a change and of pace. Good louck to all in their respective studies.

 

Jimbo

[Challenger]

Engineering has definitely increased its prospective students... there were 203 new engineering students at my school up from 130 like 3-4 years ago.. Its been steadily increasing through those years.

[Rustyfriend]

Yea, it seems that a few years ago an "engineer" was such a B.A. title, and now schools around the world are churning them out one after another.

[MAG58]

Engineering is the new business. That's why I went pre-med. There is no room left for innovation I feel. At my school it was just a bunch of cookie cutter engineers getting chucked out one after another. I felt that I was being shown how to fix other people's problems and pitch some meaningless idea to a bunch of accountants than actually doing something useful. With pre-med, it really is as much technical information and all that jazz as ME, you just have a chance to actually make something of yourself.

 

...At the cost of being poor, FOREVER.

[bschiltz]

Agriculture and natural resources is a huge field that's often overlooked. I'm majoring in "Grassland Ecology and Management". Depending on what I do for grad school (if/when I go) I can do anything from wildlife management to wildland firefighting to running a cattle ranch.

Then again I just spent the last two hours memorizing the tribe, genus and epithet of 19 different plants. O_O

[PanzerAce]

 

...At the cost of being poor, FOREVER.

 

 

Go talk to a history major some time if you want poor

 

It's weird having graduated and all my buddies going back to school. Now I just have to find myself a real full time job so that I can afford to start *really* messing with my Zs

[h4nsm0l3m4n]

I guess I'm lucky, my school doesnt start classes until the 28th.. though working a summer job 100 miles away from where my car is sure doesnt help with wrenching on it.

 

Engineering is the new business. That's why I went pre-med. There is no room left for innovation I feel. At my school it was just a bunch of cookie cutter engineers getting chucked out one after another. I felt that I was being shown how to fix other people's problems and pitch some meaningless idea to a bunch of accountants than actually doing something useful. With pre-med, it really is as much technical information and all that jazz as ME, you just have a chance to actually make something of yourself.

I dont know about that... I think that all depends on your school and how one approaches their education. What I will agree with you about though is that most of the engineers seem the same. Its always funny to see that more than half of the guys doing mechanical engineer are car guys wanting to go into the automotive industry or work for race teams. I've actually had another ME student say to me "oh so youre another car guy " when I was talking with her. I definitely think its important to distinguish yourself if youre going to be an engineer so youre not so "cookie cutter," which is something I definitely planning on working on over the next year.

 

Anyway... this term I'm taking Applied Stress Analysis (aka advanced stress analysis/FEA), a measurement and instrumentation lab (doing stress testing, screwing around with LabView and stuff) and my senior design project class. Its going to be a fun term!

[Challenger]

2nd day back. Taking thermo, fluids, circuits, mechanics of materials, materials engineering... I already feel behind. haha

[Tony D]

Yea, it seems that a few years ago an "engineer" was such a B.A. title, and now schools around the world are churning them out one after another.

 

If every school in the US graduated every student NOW, there would still be a shortage of Engineers.

 

The 'cookie cutter kids' are exactly what most industries need: people with a sound technical theory background to teach a business to and cultivate long-term. Unfortunately lack of hands-on skills limit their usefulness, and the Colleges cultivating a mythology that with a degree you won't get dirty gets a lot of these noobs into a very dangerous trap.

 

I have been on jobs with noobies who were absolutely shocked that they had to touch a wrench or hang over a hot steam turbine for 4 hours of a day... and who quickly quit quietly soon thereafter.

 

Someone has to do failure analysis in a lab, and someone has to do it in the field. And when they can't figure it out in the lab....well...someone's going to stand over a hot steam turbine for 4 hours of a day!

 

My son is now loving the 'Show up the first day and see if someone is a no-show' to get off all his waitlisted classes. He was waitlisted on everything, he might get his math next Wednesday. If he only gets one class, I sign him up and pay for a correspondence course that will keep him busy. Something related, or not. But you got to keep at it or it's hell geting back into it after the break!

[rturbo 930]

But you got to keep at it or it's hell geting back into it after the break!

Ain't that the truth. I'm in the process of getting back on track in school. I last took a math course seriously in 2007/2008 (kind of). I am now doing Calc 1, and despite the fact I was doing quite well when I last did this material, I am TOTALLY lost. It's really just embarrassing. We're doing Pre-Calc review... and I'm lost... Edited September 2, 2010 by rturbo 930

[datsun723]

Glad I'm a PR/Communications guy

[Leon]

If every school in the US graduated every student NOW, there would still be a shortage of Engineers.

 

The 'cookie cutter kids' are exactly what most industries need: people with a sound technical theory background to teach a business to and cultivate long-term. Unfortunately lack of hands-on skills limit their usefulness, and the Colleges cultivating a mythology that with a degree you won't get dirty gets a lot of these noobs into a very dangerous trap.

 

I have been on jobs with noobies who were absolutely shocked that they had to touch a wrench or hang over a hot steam turbine for 4 hours of a day... and who quickly quit quietly soon thereafter.

 

Someone has to do failure analysis in a lab, and someone has to do it in the field. And when they can't figure it out in the lab....well...someone's going to stand over a hot steam turbine for 4 hours of a day!

 

My son is now loving the 'Show up the first day and see if someone is a no-show' to get off all his waitlisted classes. He was waitlisted on everything, he might get his math next Wednesday. If he only gets one class, I sign him up and pay for a correspondence course that will keep him busy. Something related, or not. But you got to keep at it or it's hell geting back into it after the break!

 

And that's why I loved Cal Poly SLO! Tons of hands on work that really lets you dig into the stuff you're studying. I'm still trying to find work but I feel confident that I can take on whatever task is at hand whether hands-on or not.

 

I've been waitlisted for all my classes and gotten then all. Gotta be persistant! It is definitely going to be weird not having classes anymore...

[Michael]

Wow, one of the immortal threads!

 

To all of the engineering freshman of 2008: how do things feel now, two years into the process? Are you glad to have completed the preliminary/weed-out classes? Any preliminary thoughts about the specialized upper-level classes?

 

Yes, engineering does seem to be seeing a resurgence, now that finance/business suffered such a setback with the financial crisis. But my impression is that we have too many engineers – NOT too few. There is not enough technical activity remaining to justify the employment of so many engineers.

 

Then again, an engineering education is an excellent foundation for careers potentially unrelated to engineering. So get that BSME, even if your eventual job will be primarily Powerpoint!

 

Now here’s this for a question: how many of you engineering undergrads are seriously considering… graduate school and eventually becoming professors yourselves? Now that’s a competitive field....