Tell me about being an Engineer!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Tell me about being an Engineer!

falcon2424: May 2, 2005

I got my BSc in Engineering-Physics.

I'm currently working on a PhD in economics. An engineering background is awesome. I get a bunch of opportunities because of my undergrad degree.

So, even if people aren't planning on going into engineering or the hard sciences they should seriously consider getting an undergrad degree in it anyway.

# ¿ Oct 13, 2009 23:17

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 05:18

falcon2424: May 2, 2005

Dangbe posted:

I guess my questions for you guys are:
-Is taking an accelerated Bachelors (3 years) to get an engineering degree insane?
-What are some of the defining characteristics of your work compared to other types of engineering. Contrast Mechanical, Environment, Electrical, etc.
-Can any Engineers tell me the types of careers involved with Environmental Engineering and what kind of things does this major focus on.
-What should I expect when going back to school... Can I hold a 30hr/week job and finish this program in 3 years?
-Is the school that I attend all that important for the degree?

How many courses do you need to take?

And how good are your connections? Will you be going to job fairs, or will you be interviewing with people who know and like you?

# ¿ Oct 19, 2009 21:54

falcon2424: May 2, 2005

Dangbe posted:

I do not know anyone in the field so I would be going the Internship / Co-op / Job fair route. My Dad was an Engineer/Inventor of sorts, but he was in the Medical Device field, but I don't think that would help with the direction I want to go with my engineering degree (see below).

As for the number of classes it looks like it will be 26ish, quite a few of them 4 credit courses. So at 4/5 classes a semester it would take 3 years if I stick to the Spring/Fall semesters (I would probably take summer courses if it ended up being the economic choice).

Given this, I'd recommend against trying it in 3 years, if you're also going to have a job.

My experience (BSc Engineering-Physics) was that 3 engineering/math courses a semester was a ton of time on engineering. Doing 4-5 engineering/math courses in a semester would have driven me crazy. (And I averaged ~18 credit hours/semester)

The other problem is that, while an engineering degree is nice, I suspect you'll also want something that makes you stand out as a candidate. If you had great contacts, then you'd be able to check this box. Otherwise, you're going to want a great GPA and/or research experience.

But, it sounds like you're really leaning towards the 3 years. So, start of doing that. If it's not too horrible, great. If it makes you go sleepless and crazy, drop a couple classes and take a 4th year.

Dangbe posted:

More Info:
I am specifically interested in alternate energy creation. So after doing a lot of reading today I was thinking Power/Mechanical Engineering, but I don't know if that's a viable major. Some sources point to mechatronics as being the major that deals both with Electrical and Mechanical but I am not sure if I will be able to focus enough on Power Engineering in this major. Maybe do Power Engineering for Bachelors and go for more schooling in Mechatronics afterward?

edit: Does this sound more like something Environmental Engineering would cover?

I guess a lot of this depends on my drive as a student to actually go for this degree, I am just looking for why this might be a mistake as I will definitely rack up a very large amount of student loans. Also if you know of any engineering scholarships stupid enough to fund a second-time undergrad that would be very helpful! Any other tips on how to make this cheaper for myself is welcome, though this isn't really the thread for this.

I should start a thread "Help me get an Engineering degree! (Should I even get one?)" haha.

Thanks for the responses by the way.

The other thing I'd do relates to this.

You can program, you're motivated, older, and have specific goals in mind. These are all great things that will make you more interesting to professors.

So, I'd give the college a call, explain your specific interest, and then ask if there are any professors doing alternative energy at the university. Go talk to them and ask these questions.

This'll help you get the questions answered. More importantly, it will put you on the radar of people who can invite you to help out with cool alternative energy research.

Graduating with a degree + research experience + good letters would be really awesome.

# ¿ Oct 19, 2009 23:53

falcon2424: May 2, 2005

DNova posted:

Your GPA is going to follow you to whatever other major you choose. I would just stick it out and stop slacking off if I was you.

Basically this.

Also, doing research might compensate a bit for the crappy GPA.

# ¿ Oct 20, 2009 01:53

falcon2424: May 2, 2005

Powercrazy posted:

Get an internship that is engineering relevant. No matter what. Go see the people in person, don't just send your resume, offer to work for free (most internships aren't paid but some are), meet people in the industry, "stalk" them somewhat, so that you happen to "run in to them". Once you get your internship + some experience you GPA won't matter anymore.

A low GPA makes it difficult but not impossible to break into the industry, I can tell you this though, its not going to be easy.

Option two is to do the above. And also try for a not-engineering field after you left engineering.

Low-GPA Engineer is worse than High-GPA Engineer. But Low-GPA Engineer is different than High-GPA English major.

# ¿ Oct 21, 2009 19:17

falcon2424: May 2, 2005

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.

The larger the company is, the more likely they are to look at your GPA - the smaller they are, the more likely it is that they won't care as much about that as plain what you can do. Thus, if your dream happens to be to work for a larger firm, just delay that with a few years of working in the field for some smaller group. Get that few years of experience, then poof, no one gives a poo poo about your GPA.

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.

# ¿ Oct 23, 2009 01:43

falcon2424: May 2, 2005

oddspelling posted:

I'm joining the Air Force, and I want to work on getting engineering degree (probably ME) in one of the on-base collages while I'm on active duty. Is this doable? (or even a good idea?)

Getting the degree while holding a job would be a problem.

That said, I think you can definitely make progress. For me, math really 'clicked' about a semester to a year after I'd completed the class.

So, if I were in your position, I'd start taking math classes. They'll transfer or they won't. But, either way, the extra time with the math will give you a pretty big advantage when you're in engineering school.

# ¿ Nov 4, 2009 02:32

falcon2424: May 2, 2005

I have a B.Sc in Engineering-Physics. I'm in an economics PhD program, and about a semester away from getting my masters degree.

If I decided to leave grad-school with just the masters, what would my career options in engineering look like? Would an economics degree be largely useless, or would it be helpful in consulting or something?

# ¿ Dec 13, 2009 20:50

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# ¿ May 2, 2024 05:18

falcon2424: May 2, 2005

Globofglob posted:

I'm going to be graduating high school soon, and I plan on majoring on either Electrical, Mechanical, or Aeronautics engineering. I might be locked out of a large number of top engineering schools due to the fact my high school will not let me take Calc, but I can take AP Physics C: Mechanics, which does involve tons of Calculus.

So, would my choice of school for undergraduate study really have a large effect on my future career or eligibility for graduate studies at a good university?

Would you consider transferring universities? I know someone who went from a crappy university, to the university that's best in his sub-field.

But, if I remember right, not-having calc isn't the end of the world, particularly if your highschool doesn't offer it. My program's suggested course list was based on the assumption of no calc.

# ¿ May 22, 2010 04:01

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Tell me about being an Engineer!