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Recreations in Logic posted:Yeah for real...I knew people who made $20k over a summer back in undergrad. Pioneer gave my friend (MechE) $11k moving bonus-he drove from TX to CO-and then some pay rate close to $30/hour...It was probably among the high end of intern pay I would expect. It pays to play in oil :P
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Oct 22, 2009 00:41
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snusnu posted:B.S. in Systems Engineering here. Just graduated, been in the work force for roughly two months. I am very interested in Systems Engineering, but I haven't seen many BS-programs for it, and don't know too much about the exact work that it would do. Can you or any other Systems Engineers provide some specific examples of projects you have worked on, tools you've used, interesting experiences, etc? Systems Engineering needs to get more love in this thread. (not referring to the software-exclusive flavor of Systems Engineering)
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Oct 22, 2009 01:30
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Woodstock posted:I am very interested in Systems Engineering, but I haven't seen many BS-programs for it, and don't know too much about the exact work that it would do. Systems engineering really has no reason to exist at the undergrad level. You really need to build up to the controls and systems stuff from some angle, be it electrical, mechanical or chemical. Its an interdisciplinary field that focuses on how complex projects should be organized - you need some experience with simple stuff first to really get into it.
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Oct 22, 2009 01:36
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All right, well I got tired of not hearing back from any of my job apps and signed up last Friday to take the GRE today. I got 600 verbal 780 quant, and along with my 3.3gpa (3.5 engineering), and an academic internship(some analytics and modeling) Would it be unreasonable for me to apply to some top universities? I am a BS ChemE, graduated in May and want to apply to either Mining or Petrolium Masters/PhD programs. Is this a good idea? Is there a point in getting a PhD in either if my goal is to work in industry? What schools should I apply to? So far I'm thinking UT Austin or USC, Berkley and Standford for more ChemE. All I really really want is my school not to be tiny as gently caress and in the northeast (not: U Rochester). Edit: I want to be outside/on site doing cool poo poo, and cracking out some sweet calculations with my rubberized laptop. Also if you work for any of these companies could you send me a pm? They will be at ColumbiaU for a job fair this Friday and I will be speaking with them I hope. Con Edison Continental Industries Group, Inc. ENVIRON International Corporation General Dynamics Electric Boat (Best name) H2M Group L'Oreal USA Procter & Gamble Sensitron Semiconductor Structure Tone Inc. Sunoco, Inc. WyrmHunter fucked around with this message at 02:19 on Oct 22, 2009 |
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Oct 22, 2009 02:09
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WyrmHunter posted:I got 600 verbal 780 quant, and along with my 3.3gpa (3.5 engineering), and an academic internship(some analytics and modeling) Would it be unreasonable for me to apply to some top universities? I would say it's worth it, though, to be frank, you look rather uncompetitive from this brief portfolio. Get very strong reference letters and write dynamite research statements. WyrmHunter posted:Is this a good idea? Is there a point in getting a PhD in either if my goal is to work in industry? What schools should I apply to? There is no point in getting a PhD unless you want a career in research. That can absolutely take place in industry or academia. You should apply to schools that have research programs that match up with your interests.
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Oct 22, 2009 03:04
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WyrmHunter posted:All right, well I got tired of not hearing back from any of my job apps and signed up last Friday to take the GRE today. Your GRE scores are fine* (they are often the least important part of your application), but your GPA is just a smidge low to be a solid lock into top ten programs. It's not impossible at all though; what kind of undergraduate research experiences have you had? It doesn't matter if what you did isn't what you want to pursue in graduate school, just that you did something. Do you have solid letters of recommendation (sometimes just as important as GPA)? There's nothing wrong with getting a PhD if your ultimate goal is working in the industry. Plenty of PhD chemical engineers work for big oil, the pharmaceutical industry, bulk chemicals, etc. It's a great terminal degree and will open a lot of doors (it will close a lot of doors too, like entry-level process/floor engineering-type stuff). The vast majority of my friends who graduate go into industry rather than academia. You might find your preferences will change over five years though. The real question is this: do you like research? If the answer is 'yes,' then go for a PhD. If not, stick with the masters (which really won't give you much of a leg-up but is nice to get out of the way). A PhD is about three things really: research, research, and research and anyone who tells you differently has no idea what they're talking about. Will you do research once you finish? Not necessarily, but then you just might as well had gone for an MBA if your goal was management. UT Austin is amazing for petroleum engineering. Back when I applied to graduate schools Stanford had lost a lot of faculty and it was not a place you wanted to go. I hear it's better now though. Berkeley is cool too. I don't know anything about USC besides their horrible football program and stupid fight song and stupid glib fans that don't ever shut up about how great they are. *Some people might tell you that in order to get into a top engineering program, you need an 800 on the quant. This is complete bullshit; I got into several top-ten chemical engineering PhD programs with a lower score than you (I had a high GPA and good letters to compensate). Just get above a 700 and you're usually fine with most departments. Phlegmbot posted:I would say it's worth it, though, to be frank, you look rather uncompetitive from this brief portfolio. Get very strong reference letters and write dynamite research statements. Every time these sorts of stats pop up and my first thought is "no way, what's he/she thinking when they want to apply to MIT with a 3.0," some dude posts an anecdotal story about the guy who got into Hopkins with a 2.6. I don't even try to predict admissions committees anymore. Foyes36 fucked around with this message at 03:12 on Oct 22, 2009 |
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Oct 22, 2009 03:06
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WyrmHunter posted:All right, well I got tired of not hearing back from any of my job apps and signed up last Friday to take the GRE today. I really do hate to be blunt, but you're not going to get into Berkeley or Stanford with that GPA. That's almost exactly what my GPA was -- 3.35ish overall, 3.55ish ChE. Of the top schools I applied to, I was rejected from almost all of them, despite having a fair amount of research experience and good letters. They just have so many applicants, and a GPA in this range puts you way down the list behind a lot of other spectacular applicants. Now, I did get into a top-tier school for a Ph.D. program and am very happy here, so I'm sure you can do the same, but you do need to recalibrate your expectations a little. If you're still in contact with some of the faculty from your undergraduate program, they can advise you a bit more, or if you want you can PM/email me. You'll also likely find this thread useful: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3194477
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Oct 22, 2009 04:00
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Woodstock posted:I am very interested in Systems Engineering, but I haven't seen many BS-programs for it, and don't know too much about the exact work that it would do. yeah the post below you is right and I also said previously that academic systems programs vary from technical project management to mathematical simulation to a kind of electrical engineering lite. The old timer establishment doesn't quite know what to make of young engineers in that field, as traditional systems tasks are usually performed by other discipline senior personnel who adjust their technical viewpoint from "specific" to "general". That's not to say they don't get hired, they do, but in this case the difference between academic and industry is even larger. A lot of large companies don't even have an entry level systems engineer grade, as the very nature of the job requires a senior person. but with all engineering questions ymmv very greatly. CatchrNdRy fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Oct 22, 2009 |
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Oct 22, 2009 04:09
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:23 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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Oct 22, 2009 04:53
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WyrmHunter posted:I got 600 verbal 780 quant, and along with my 3.3gpa (3.5 engineering), and an academic internship(some analytics and modeling) Would it be unreasonable for me to apply to some top universities? This is my question as well. I will be probably be graduating in the GPA range of 3.2~ with 3 really good letters of recs, a publication, 3 years of research experience, like 5 undergraduate research proposals (don't know if that would count), 3 design projects, 3 engineering majors (biomedical, mechanical and material sciences), and an academic internship from a relatively good university. I should be able to get a pretty good GRE score (aiming for 600s and 750+) however I really feel that that my low GPA is going to hold me back from a really good graduate school. I basically have the same questions as WyrmHunter. With my current stats, is it reasonable to apply to some top universities? I would really like to go to UCSF/Berkeley, Stanford, Northwestern, UCSD, or Carnegie Melon for biomedical/bioengineering to get my PhD however I get the feeling my gpa is holding me back despite of all the things I've done to counterbalance it. I also plan on taking a year off just to go travel and do random stuff that's not engineering. I don't know if that will have an impact on being competitive for grad school. What do you guys think? Kurei fucked around with this message at 09:30 on Oct 22, 2009 |
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Oct 22, 2009 09:27
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Well I talked to a couple of my professors and it seems like my best shot at any kind of research or work experience is in the astronomy department, which is not bad at all. Hopefully I can work on something at least tangentially associated with my degree. Anyone know what kinds of things I might want to avoid though? I know someone in the Astronomy Ask/Tell got duped into a semester of coding some horrible old math program and nothing else.
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Oct 22, 2009 09:52
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What is the opinion on getting a masters through simply coursework without doing a thesis? I know a lot of schools offer that option, especially to people not pursuing a PhD. I feel that this would allow me to get an internship or two done while working on my masters, which would help infinitely with job hunting.
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Oct 22, 2009 15:12
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I have 2 questions, first a small background. I took calculus and chemistry in one semester last year and it was harsh. I got a B in chem and and A in calculus though. I was going to be an EE, but I changed my mind, for different reasons.. the first being that I wanted to have a life in college (something I neither care that much about now nor believe anymore) and I had other career choices in mind, along with the fact that declaring EE after 2 years in college puts me back 2 years, practically.. I am really indecisive. Now I am 2.5 years in and Im still considering doing EE. Im wondering.. should I ? That means it will have taken me SIX years to get a degree. If I stick with mathematics I can finish a degree in a year and a half. I know a lot of you say that where you get your degree from and gpa only matter to the extent of getting your first job.. could I land myself a crappy engineering job with a mathematics degree and then use that experience to land me a decent engineering job if I were to show my worth? Or is that highly unlikely?
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Oct 22, 2009 16:53
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CheerGrrl92 posted:If I stick with mathematics I can finish a degree in a year and a half. I know a lot of you say that where you get your degree from and gpa only matter to the extent of getting your first job.. could I land myself a crappy engineering job with a mathematics degree and then use that experience to land me a decent engineering job if I were to show my worth? Or is that highly unlikely? How much does your math degree deal with physics and electrical theory? I'd imagine it'd be hard to get a job as an EE anywhere if you've never learned the theory behind everything. Also, you struggles with Calc, enough to not go into engineering, only to go into math?
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Oct 22, 2009 17:08
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Bean_ posted:How much does your math degree deal with physics and electrical theory? I'd imagine it'd be hard to get a job as an EE anywhere if you've never learned the theory behind everything. I struggled with calc, but not in the way you are thinking. A's come to me naturally, but calculus I had to work for an A. I have no doubts that I can do the math, I just have typically been lazy and still got A's but I realize that won't happen anymore.
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Oct 22, 2009 17:34
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CheerGrrl92 posted:If I stick with mathematics I can finish a degree in a year and a half. I know a lot of you say that where you get your degree from and gpa only matter to the extent of getting your first job.. could I land myself a crappy engineering job with a mathematics degree and then use that experience to land me a decent engineering job if I were to show my worth? Or is that highly unlikely? If engineering is what you want to go into, just get an engineering degree.
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Oct 22, 2009 18:06
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Roumba posted:Well I talked to a couple of my professors and it seems like my best shot at any kind of research or work experience is in the astronomy department, which is not bad at all. Hopefully I can work on something at least tangentially associated with my degree. Anyone know what kinds of things I might want to avoid though? I know someone in the Astronomy Ask/Tell got duped into a semester of coding some horrible old math program and nothing else. come on beggars can't be choosers
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Oct 22, 2009 18:11
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I am about to graduate with a BA in Econ and a math minor. I am going to enroll in the civil engineering program at my school the following semester. Will my econ degree be of any use to me once I graduate with a BS in CE? Also, I have taken multi-variable calculus, linear algebra, differential equations and 2 stat classes, which other math classes do you guys thing would help the most? I have the math requirement done for the BS in CE, I was just wondering if something else would be helpful.
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Oct 22, 2009 18:58
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CheerGrrl92 posted:I have 2 questions, first a small background.
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Oct 22, 2009 19:07
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grover posted:I really doubt you're 2 years behind. The first 2 years of any science-related major are going to be very similar; in some cases, identical. You may end up having to stay in an extra semester to take the handful of EE-specific sophomore classes, but you can probably make up for it by taking a class or two over the summer. Hard prereqs can really screw people over. His school may do something stupid like having circuits require a prereq of a freshman seminar or something like that. As a result, you can end up two years behind, but you those two years consist of one class a semester. Everything can be overridden by talking to the right people though, you should see if you can sit down with the EE department's director of undergrad studies.
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Oct 22, 2009 20:36
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^^^ Yeah speak with your advisor on that. I got pre-reqs turned into co-reqs on a couple of occasions, but YMMV. Nice thread here. Went for a BA in anthropology myself, realized what a useless degree it was too late, and now am looking to go back for a BS in mech engineering. I did some calling around to campuses to see which would be the best given that I've a bunch of hours already and only basic college math done. Alot of campuses won't even let you take eng courses without admittence into thier engineering school, certain test scores or some advanced math courses already done. I finally found a campus that wasn't half bad and would have me taking eng classes first thing, albiet out of state.
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Oct 22, 2009 21:50
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hobbesmaster posted:Hard prereqs can really screw people over. His school may do something stupid like having circuits require a prereq of a freshman seminar or something like that. As a result, you can end up two years behind, but you those two years consist of one class a semester.
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Oct 22, 2009 23:59
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grover posted:I skipped all sorts of prereqs when I was in college. Honestly, I pretty much ignored them entirely when picking electives; nobody even checked on it. The main problem is that unless you're hot-poo poo, you're probably going to have problems in a course if you don't have the necessary background. 5 semesters of math should bring you into the hot poo poo category; or at least not a complete idiot. I am assuming that 5 semesters of math means that you have completed the full calculus sequence, linear algebra, a calc based prob/stats class and maybe taking a first class on real analysis now. At my school the math majors have to take the calc physics sequence, so someone with 5 successful semesters as a math major should slide right into engineering just fine.
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Oct 23, 2009 00:05
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Shalinor posted:Just don't list your GPA on your resume, and assuming you can't find any internships, do your damndest to work on projects relevant to engineering in your spare time that you can fluff up in some way during the applications process. If the company rejects your application for failing to list your GPA, chances are good they would have rejected it upon seeing your GPA regardless, but many will simply wait until an interview to ask - which at least gets your foot in the door. Also, if they ask, you might be able to say something like, "2.9. I had some problems at the start. I got them sorted out and had a 4.0 senior year." It would still be bad, but way better than getting your resume tossed due to some arbitrary line.
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Oct 23, 2009 01:43
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falcon2424 posted:Also, if they ask, you might be able to say something like, "2.9. I had some problems at the start. I got them sorted out and had a 4.0 senior year." Another reason networking can be so important even when you're starting out is that a lot of medium to large companies have fairly fixed minimum GPA requirements that will eliminate you very early in the process. Sometimes before an actual human reads your resume. But if you can get someone who works there, even if they're only an acquaintance you barely know, to forward your resume directly to someone in HR you can often get a phone/actual interview. Falcon's script is really good especially if you can talk specifically about how you fixed your study habits / how you are no longer the same person who failed a bunch of worthless intro courses. If you practice talking about it in interviews you can turn it from a significant problem into a wash or even a minor positive assuming that you have superb grades for the rest of your degree.
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Oct 23, 2009 02:22
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I'm a first year Nuclear Engineering student. First off holy crap university is a lot of work, secondly all this talk of GPA's is intimidating since I've missed quite a few percentage points after getting hit with a huge poo poo tsunami of work three or four weeks in. Anyway, is working in a nuclear power plant as fun as the process sounds? I hear its mostly just working with fluids, but it still sounds really interesting.
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Oct 23, 2009 04:37
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TheOmegaWalrus posted:
Haha. Same here only I'm looking at civil. I'm really glad you mentioned that they might be willing to let me do pre-reqs as co-reqs, because it hadn't occurred to me. I had AP credit going into college, so I haven't taken a math or science class since 2003. I am probably going to re-take Cal 1 so I feel more prepared. Can any of you civil guys tell me how much you need chemistry in your other courses?
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Oct 23, 2009 04:48
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lu lu lu posted:Haha. Same here only I'm looking at civil. I'm really glad you mentioned that they might be willing to let me do pre-reqs as co-reqs, because it hadn't occurred to me. I had AP credit going into college, so I haven't taken a math or science class since 2003. I am probably going to re-take Cal 1 so I feel more prepared. Hmm, I think I used chemistry in a water quality lab course, that's about it as far as I can remember. If you start taking environmental engineering courses, chemistry will definitely come up here and there. Oh yeah, I think we talked a wee bit about it in an engineering geology course too. So not much, really.
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Oct 23, 2009 05:03
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I had posted earlier in this thread but I guess I suck. I have done my undergrad in IT in 2003 and have an MBA in 2005. I'm considering going back to school for an Engineering degree and am wondering if doing something like Electrical Engineering or Computer related would be beneficial combined with my previous degrees.CatchrNdRy posted:Just don't do like general engineering or engineering management, your MBA will probably supersede that anyway. Systems engineering would probably be most at home, the problem is systems engineering as a specific academic field is all over the place. Some programs will be very project management "MBA-like", some will be very mathematical simulation based and some will be like a variation of electrical. I missed this and so thank you very much. Gatts fucked around with this message at 15:07 on Oct 23, 2009 |
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Oct 23, 2009 05:16
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Hofp posted:Hmm, I think I used chemistry in a water quality lab course, that's about it as far as I can remember. If you start taking environmental engineering courses, chemistry will definitely come up here and there. Oh yeah, I think we talked a wee bit about it in an engineering geology course too. So not much, really. I took a chemistry class sometime during college but I dont remember a thing. As it is, fuel composition and boiler chemistry are some of the most important parts of my job. Also lube oil and cooling water properties. Its important to make sure your $10kk apiece engines have the right lube oil in them with the right additives and low sulfur gas so your catalyst isnt coated or burned up and you dont go out of compliance. I could gently caress up a lot of things but if it even looked like we were out of compliance with the air permit heads would roll.
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Oct 23, 2009 05:25
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I'm currently an electrician, and I'm interesting in (Electrical) Engineering. I'm doing my trade schooling right now and it really made me realize how much I miss my brain being stimulated (I'm well aware of how easy this stuff is in comparison). A few of my reasons for being interesting in Engineering are the prospects of learning something new all the time, always being challenged mentally, and a sense of pride in what I do and my capabilities to it. I also find it super interesting, far more so than doing physical labour all day, breathing in cilica dust, with minimal thinking or problem solving required. Would I be insane to want to go to school to become an Engineer (after all my trade schooling is done) while maintaining a 7-3 full-time job? I'm completely willing to take a longer time to finish as long as it makes it possible, I'm in no hurry and I also realize it will be a huge workload. If possible, what could one expect in doing so? Is it even a common thing to find Engineering courses in the afternoon/at night? I'm basically in the position where this is something I'd like to pursue but don't have a very accurate idea of what exactly it entails, so if anyone could shed some light for me, that would be much appreciated! (I want to be an Engineer!)
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Oct 23, 2009 05:36
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Colawa posted:Would I be insane to want to go to school to become an Engineer (after all my trade schooling is done) while maintaining a 7-3 full-time job? I'm completely willing to take a longer time to finish as long as it makes it possible, I'm in no hurry and I also realize it will be a huge workload. If possible, what could one expect in doing so? Is it even a common thing to find Engineering courses in the afternoon/at night? I sincerely doubt you'll be able to find every class offered after 3pm. Also, you will hate your life. I'm currently a senior in Electrical/Computer Engineering and I hate my life at 15 hours a week of work. The only way I could see you pulling down 40 hours a week of work if you worked like 20 of those hours over the weekend, and then, still, good luck with the homework.
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Oct 23, 2009 05:52
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intervoid posted:I sincerely doubt you'll be able to find every class offered after 3pm. Also, you will hate your life. I'm currently a senior in Electrical/Computer Engineering and I hate my life at 15 hours a week of work. The only way I could see you pulling down 40 hours a week of work if you worked like 20 of those hours over the weekend, and then, still, good luck with the homework. Yeah. It would not be possible to get an engineering degree at my school if you couldn't take any classes before 3pm ever. In fact the MAJORITY of classes are (obviously?) between 7am and 3pm.
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Oct 23, 2009 07:39
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Invisible Minority posted:I'm a first year Nuclear Engineering student. First off holy crap university is a lot of work, secondly all this talk of GPA's is intimidating since I've missed quite a few percentage points after getting hit with a huge poo poo tsunami of work three or four weeks in. Nuclear engineering draws a pretty clear line between the mechanical engineers and the physicists, so be prepared to choose. Most of the jobs fall into the one category or the other. Personally, I'm a mechanical engineer specializing in steam and thermal-hydraulics (fluid dynamics and heat/mass transfer). The jobs I have available to me are mostly modeling and safety analyses in software programs which have been in development since the Ford administration (we have some from Nixon's first term, too). What do you want to focus on? Name the plant component that gives you the biggest hard-on... EDIT: Got hired. Groda fucked around with this message at 14:46 on Oct 23, 2009 |
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Oct 23, 2009 13:39
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Thoguh fucked around with this message at 14:23 on Aug 10, 2023 |
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Oct 23, 2009 15:03
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Second year EE major. Let me say that I'm an idiot and did not put in the work required to do well in this statics course I am required to take. I found it terribly boring and hard to focus in the class. I'm getting my rear end in gear and taking the time to learn the concepts from the class, but there is a very real possibility that I will not pass this course and will have to retake it. My question is, will having an F or two (three!?) on my transcript seriously harm my chances of doing well in the program, finding a job later on, and applying to grad school? That is, assuming I retake the course and do above average in it. Another thing I could use help with is getting motivated to do well in the required courses that don't interest me. I don't know if I'm really having trouble with these courses or just getting lazy. I did really bad on my first statics test and it just made me feel like nothing I could do in the class could redeem myself.
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Oct 23, 2009 15:46
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I just called up Ohio State. Even with credits transferred it'd probably take 4.5 - 5 years to do an Engineering Degree because I'd have to take pre-engineering classes. That's a long time at 28 next semester. I'd be starting over at 33. At least I've saved enough where I wouldn't have to worry about loans.
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Oct 23, 2009 19:01
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Huh, cool an engineering thread.
Beer4TheBeerGod fucked around with this message at 00:44 on Dec 24, 2019 |
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Oct 23, 2009 20:00
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Blowupologist posted:Huh, cool an engineering thread. I'm interested in pursuing an engineering job in the military. What is it that you do? Standard day to day routine?
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Oct 23, 2009 20:27
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SA's new military forumNamarrgon posted:I'm interested in pursuing an engineering job in the military. Also, all US government civilian jobs are through http://www.usajobs.gov/
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Oct 23, 2009 20:37
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