University of Hartford and Hartford CT

[RobPaulson]

do you even know what an engineering firm is?

dude... would you please have some 1 on 1 face time with a real, career engineer before getting yourself into this.

oh and the natural ability to understand advanced calculus, physics, and chemistry is a must. of you dont have an advanced understanding of those subjects or have never touched them on the AP level, seriously reconsider.

oh, and get over your 'madona'esc view of community colleges, you'll thank us in 5 years when your 50k richer. trust me, i used to think like you, eventually you will grow up. and we can all say 'i told you so'.

[naladude911]

I have a 4.0 in regents physics, and I love physics. It's my favorite class.

[numbnuts240]

what specific kind of engineering are you looking to study?

[ProudNissanFreak]

Physics is one thing nala, but don't forget, regardless of what engineering discipline you will have to take:

Calc 1, 2, 3, differential equations. Calc 2 owns many, many people every semester, even the braniacs.

On top of that, if you decide on mechanical engineering, you will need:

Thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and more. Just be sure you can stay on top of the math, and you'll do good.

[RobPaulson]

thats good than, maybe you could be an engineer. sorry if im being short, its monday morning. i havent worken up yet lol.

just a warning, basically as an engineer, you do AP chem, physics, and calc, in your first SEMESTER. (unless you take them in high school and pass out of them for college).

you just sound alot like how I was thinking when i was choosing what to go to school for, take it a bit more seriously than you already are, seek out students who are juniors/seniors in that major and talk to them face to face.

like i said its early lol, not trying to scare u or a be a d!ck, just take it more serious than youre taking it now.

[naladude911]

I want to do civil, but if engineering turns out to be a mistake I may transfer into business since they have a business school there.

[Red coupe]

I want to do civil, but if engineering turns out to be a mistake I may transfer into business since they have a business school there.

Here civils have to take a few ME classes, and what seems like just another class to me is always treated as the hardest class ever by them, so I think civil must be a bit easier. Plus a lot of civils I know used to be ME students but gave up.

[naladude911]

yea, and ME you have to do labs on robots and stuff. I dont like that at all. I hate computer programming and robots. I like designing and building bridges, tunnels, roads etc.

[numbnuts240]

civil is pretty much broad spectrum for the "physical" engineering majors. they'll know enough to hold a conversation at a cocktail party, but they won't be dazzling anyone with impressive knowledge of everything. on the other hand, they aren't necessarily one-trick ponies either.

[RobPaulson]

I hate computer programming and robots. I like designing and building bridges, tunnels, roads etc.

be aware you will be taking programming classes, calculus based physics, chemestry, and way more math than you ever knew existed as part of your curriculum. they are considered 'gen eds' for engineers, but dont let that fool you, they are far from 'blow through'/'easy' classes.

one of the hardest classes i ever took was my chemestry gen-ed, and i considered a class called 'Algorithms and Complexity' easy... LOL
Modified by RobPaulson at 4:00 PM 1/25/2010

[ProudNissanFreak]

^ agreed.

almost all, if not all, engineering majors have to take intro to c programming or something similar

[Red coupe]

^ agreed.

almost all, if not all, engineering majors have to take intro to c programming or something similar

We have to take an intro to VB, but its only like IF THEN discussion making... pretty damn simple.

Honestly, people blow engineering (and the science classes leading up to it) WAY out of proportion. None of it is THAT hard. I have always found it much more monotonous then difficult. The hard part is being willing to sit down and actually read the whole chapter then do problems for 6 hours. The actual work/thinking is not really too bad.

[ProudNissanFreak]

I had to take intro to C at UCF. It varies at each college, but you'll have to take some sort of programming class.

C's not that hard until you get into arrays, memory allocation, etc.

[RobPaulson]

The actual work/thinking is not really too bad.

I would honestly say book smart people suck at engineering. They try to hard to memorize what they read and always want to work off a formula. You really need to learn to just figure things out, rather then memorizing sections of books.

idk what kind of engineering schools you've attended, if any, but thats not how it works. and if thats what they are teaching, they arent producing real engineers... what your talking about are called 'technicians'.

the work/thinking IS the hard part. why do you think it takes 6 hours to do 4 problems? because its HARD.

monotonous regurgitation is what business and med students do. engineers create and solve, we don't reference.

on our exams, throughout engineering, they would combine concepts on exams in ways never before seen in other assignments, so you had to think on your toes and be able to solve unique, unseen problems under high stress situations. they also design tests KNOWING you cannot finish them, and the assess how well you handled the problems given, and what work you actually chose to complete.

and thats just the bachelors...

[AZ89two4Tsx]

My god, I would kill myself if I had to go to school majoring in engineering lol.

I took intro to engineering last year. It was a pretty easy class, but the most interesting part was talking to my teacher. He used to work for NASA and was a freakin genius. Engineers definitely aren't dumb people. It takes much more than book smarts and you have to have common sense.

There are no formulas. You create the problems, then you solve them. And it all depends on YOU.

[Pwnin O'Brien]

Engineering can be easy or hard, depending on the type of engineering and the grades you want to achieve. I can honestly say that I wish I never chose Computer Engineering. I didn't have to give up my social life completely but I definitely don't party as much as my friends. I have a friend who would seem completely retarded (and he may be still, I'm not sure) and he got a degree in Industrial Engineering and he got a job before graduation that paid $93,000 with a $5,000 moving allowance as well as a monthly housing allowance. I still don't know how the kid did it or how he even graduated but I know for sure he didn't get the greatest grades.

Engineering really doesn't start to consume your life until the 3rd/4th year when you start doing projects. I spent many nights in the library or the engineering building until 2am working with a group on a huge project.

[Red coupe]

idk what kind of engineering schools you've attended, if any, but thats not how it works. and if thats what they are teaching, they arent producing real engineers... what your talking about are called 'technicians'.

the work/thinking IS the hard part. why do you think it takes 6 hours to do 4 problems? because its HARD.

monotonous regurgitation is what business and med students do. engineers create and solve, we don't reference.

on our exams, throughout engineering, they would combine concepts on exams in ways never before seen in other assignments, so you had to think on your toes and be able to solve unique, unseen problems under high stress situations. they also design tests KNOWING you cannot finish them, and the assess how well you handled the problems given, and what work you actually chose to complete.

and thats just the bachelors...

I am a Mechanical Engineering student at Cal Poly Pomona, I am currently a junior. I don't mean monotonous as mindless regurgitation, but if you have 20 problems on the same concept its gets pretty repetitive and what your really doing is going over all the random nuances that can be applied.

[PapaSmurf2k3]

I spent many nights in the library or the engineering building until 2am working with a group on a huge project.

Just 2am? YOU SLACKER!!! Really though, 2-3am was fairly regular, with a few all-nighters here and there for tests, mid terms, and finals.

they also design tests KNOWING you cannot finish them, and the assess how well you handled the problems given, and what work you actually chose to complete.

Yeah, I hated that crap. You never knew when they were gonna do it either. So you'd walk out of the test bow-legged cos you just got your a** pounded, and then find out later that you got 80+ points.

[Red coupe]

Yeah, I hated that crap. You never knew when they were gonna do it either. So you'd walk out of the test bow-legged cos you just got your a** pounded, and then find out later that you got 80+ points.

Haha, thats like the Diff EQ class I took.

Was so scared to check my grade because I knew I was failing. Turns out I got a B. I guess everyone else just failed even more.

[EvillE423]

Nala, this is something that is going to effect you the rest of your life. Yes, college is a place where people party, hook up, etc. But it definitely IS NOT something to take lightly. I took it lightly and screwed around and didn't do no where near as good as I could have and now will probably have to take some other kind of training to go with I have now.

Partying and hooking up with chicks is fun and all, I'll be the first to admit it, but it should not be your main concern right now. High school prepares you for college, college prepares you for life. Don't screw around and piss away money just so you can catch a buzz, or have sex.

Also, there is nothing at all wrong with a community college. My uncle went to a community college and has a Land Rover, a Jag, a '60's model Land Rover that he fully restored from the chassis up, a '60's model Austin Healey Sprite that he is doing the same to. You can still go to a Community College and make bank. The biggest thing is getting your foot in the door and getting some work experience under your belt.

$36,000+ for a semester is ridiculous to pay, especially when you seem to be putting your social life before your career. Also, you don't have to go straight into college, take a step back, catch your breath and see how things look a few months down the road. You may decide you want something else. Just my $.02 on the matter.

WALL OF TEXT!!!

EDIT: One more thing Nala. You seem to have a sheltered life. The last place you need to be on your own is in a rough town, with no life experience. I've never been to Hartford, or even CT for that matter. But from what I've heard it's not the nicest place to be. Going to a CC close to home, then if you decide to go on to a university, would give you some experience being on your own, managing money, time to party, etc. It would also look good applying for a job down the road. You can never have enough schooling, no matter what it is for.
Modified by EvillE423 at 12:24 PM 1/26/2010

[CSLAVE]

I'm in my junior year of college at WVU and ill tell you some things I've learned.

1) Go to a small university or community college for your first 2 years. Bust out the english, history and other fill class they make you take. 30K a year for general classes is BS. Especially if you can get credits transferred from a cheaper smaller school.

2) Engineering WILL take up most of your time. You will probably have 1 day out of the week to go party.

3) Girls are everywhere, don't worry about it.

[naladude911]

I visited the campus today after a 2 hour drive with my parents lol. My dad did 50 in a 65 on the 684 (which for you New Yorkers means 50 in a 75). Anyways. What I like- Not to big not to small-ratio of 1:20 teachers to students-state of the art facilities -great food-Lots of girls-people are nice-staff are very helpful-2 hours from home-very good campus security-lots of social activities-automotive enthusiast club. I also saw a lot of "modded" cars in the parking lot, even a really nice FX35 lol

What I dont like:-dorms. The dorms look like a prison cell, but I can apply for housing in a new, 2 year building.-6 hours of HW a night. W.e its college, I will have to get used to it.

[nissangirl74]

1) Go to a small university or community college for your first 2 years. Bust out the english, history and other fill class they make you take. 30K a year for general classes is BS. Especially if you can get credits transferred from a cheaper smaller school.

I strongly recommend that you do this Nala. Take it from those of us with experience...and student loans...

[bluepillow]

Hey Nala, I know you're not taking any of the people with good advice seriously, but I hope you're reading these posts regardless, cause I didn't take advice either and I now regret it.

During my last two years of high school I was absolutely sure that I wanted to be an Aerospace Engineer. First I wanted to go to Embry-Riddle Aerospace University in Daytona Beach. I got accepted, but I couldn't handle the price tag of 50k. I didn't get accepted to the state school I wanted to go to (SUNY Buffalo) because of my low high school grades, so I took a year at a CUNY (which is free for me) and reapplied to UB in the meantime. I took a few intro courses, some gen eds, and some pre-requisites for engineering. I didn't do well in them, and blamed it on the fact that it was a CUNY and not a "real school". Finally I got accepted to UB and and transferred there for last Fall, excited as ever to study engineering at a "better" school.

So I paid for my tuition, housing, meal plan, books, and stupidness expenses with all the money I saved while I was working back home. Came out to about 10k for the semester, so my bank account was a big fat 0 and I was $5500 deep in loan debt.

I attended Calc2 and Physics2 for two weeks before I resigned the courses, accepting that I can't wrap my head around subjects that Engineers should easily be able to. I had a 92 in high school honors physics, so I thought I could handle this. I was very wrong. I finished the semester with 9 credits, none of which were science courses.

Now, I am sitting back at my mother's house, attending the same CUNY I started out in, because after two years I realized I was by no means meant to be an engineer of any kind. Had I stayed at the CUNY school I first attended, I would have saved time, stress, and money. Not to mention I hated the city of Buffalo.

My advice to you is go to a SUNY, for now at least. Doesn't have to be a community SUNY. Buffalo, Binghamton, and Stony Brook are Universities that have engineering programs. Take gen eds and intro courses. Take physics and all the calcs, and THEN ask yourself if you're ready for a lifetime of that. Very few people know what they want to do at the age of 17/18. I changed my major 4 times, and I'm an upper sophomore. Who knows, maybe you'll really start to like Sociology or your English professor will motivate you to write a book.

All in all, don't focus so much on Engineering. Don't spend 30k to attend a specialized private school studying something you're not sure you want to do yet. If, after 2 years you do decide to continue with engineering, by all means go to a better school. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

tl;dr Sparknotes: -Didn't take advice to stay in CUNY-Lost time and money doing something I thought I wanted to do.-Back in CUNY, for free