Engineering Majors

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've seen many B students push through an engineering curriculum on more willpower than intellect.

But you need to think about back up plans. At both VT and GT, business college takes a lot of kids switching out of engineering.

VT is not teaching collaboration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here.. Thank-you for the perspective. He is a great kid but I doubt he will ever be totally dedicated to his school work. At least at this point..he is fine with getting B's, does three seasons of sport and another intensive activity. He will go to class and spend some time on homework but if it doesn't come together-no big deal (to him)

Getting B-avg in Engineering is not easy. I was a B engineering student (ME) and it took a lot of work. I am sure your kid is smarter than me but he will still have to study a LOT.

[Anonymous]

That was getting Bs in high school. Not implying college would be the same. That is why I posted to start with.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised by all the comments stating that some Engineering programs are not as math intensive. I have ME BS and a CE MS. Both had a lot of math and continued to use differential equations as well as calculus for completing the degrees. A B math student can do very well in engineering, but I found the course work takes dedication. I always did my homework either by myself or with a group of friends in the program. I found going to every class helped because engineering is not an easy self taught program. Textbooks help, but a good prof really makes the information click.

Engineering physics major here. Did you do essentially a third year of math in your ME curriculum? We had that, and a B student in calc would have a hard time hanging with it.
It went well past Fourier transforms. Integrating in the imaginary plane and such that I can barely remember.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any engineers have suggestions for collaborative engineering programs that are not as difficult to get into as Olin? TIA

Purdue and University of Delaware

Thanks! Purdue is a surprise. Anyone have more info on this. How does the engineering compare with IU Bloomington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any engineers have suggestions for collaborative engineering programs that are not as difficult to get into as Olin? TIA

Purdue and University of Delaware

Thanks! Purdue is a surprise. Anyone have more info on this. How does the engineering compare with IU Bloomington?

Purdue is a top-ranking engineering program, even though it is relatively easy to get into. IU doesn't even compare for engineering -- it looks like they just started their program last year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any engineers have suggestions for collaborative engineering programs that are not as difficult to get into as Olin? TIA

Purdue and University of Delaware

Thanks! Purdue is a surprise. Anyone have more info on this. How does the engineering compare with IU Bloomington?

Purdue is a top-ranking engineering program, even though it is relatively easy to get into. IU doesn't even compare for engineering -- it looks like they just started their program last year.

This is true, but for OP question, it should be noted that Purdue engineering is also famously difficult. Not the place for a kid who is not completely dedicated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am surprised by all the comments stating that some Engineering programs are not as math intensive. I have ME BS and a CE MS. Both had a lot of math and continued to use differential equations as well as calculus for completing the degrees. A B math student can do very well in engineering, but I found the course work takes dedication. I always did my homework either by myself or with a group of friends in the program. I found going to every class helped because engineering is not an easy self taught program. Textbooks help, but a good prof really makes the information click.

Engineering physics major here. Did you do essentially a third year of math in your ME curriculum? We had that, and a B student in calc would have a hard time hanging with it.
It went well past Fourier transforms. Integrating in the imaginary plane and such that I can barely remember.

I didn't have imaginary planes but definitely had Fourier transforms. There were "B" students in the program that graduated with engineering degrees. Note to OP: I dropped out of my high school calculus class. Just wasn't getting it. Took calculus 1-4 in college and aced it. The professors who taught it in college were great. Also, I put in a lot of work into all my courses. I was a scholarship kid and if my GPA dropped below either 3.0 or 3.5 (can't remember) I lost most of my scholarship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any engineers have suggestions for collaborative engineering programs that are not as difficult to get into as Olin? TIA

Purdue and University of Delaware

Thanks! Purdue is a surprise. Anyone have more info on this. How does the engineering compare with IU Bloomington?

Purdue is a top-ranking engineering program, even though it is relatively easy to get into. IU doesn't even compare for engineering -- it looks like they just started their program last year.

This is true, but for OP question, it should be noted that Purdue engineering is also famously difficult. Not the place for a kid who is not completely dedicated.

Not OP, but my question was about collaborative engineering programs. It sounds like that is NOT Purdue. Olin, which is highly selective, has a collaborative structure and students are hands-on in labs from the first year. Finding it very difficult to identify other collaborative programs and have done many on-line searches. When I ask, people often respond with the name of a "good" engineering program, but not necessarily a project based collaborative program. Still looking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've seen many B students push through an engineering curriculum on more willpower than intellect.

But you need to think about back up plans. At both VT and GT, business college takes a lot of kids switching out of engineering.

VT is not teaching collaboration.

Wasn't recommending VT. But what is the kid going to do if he gets to Olin and hates it? Transfer to a different college?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any engineers have suggestions for collaborative engineering programs that are not as difficult to get into as Olin? TIA

Purdue and University of Delaware

Thanks! Purdue is a surprise. Anyone have more info on this. How does the engineering compare with IU Bloomington?

Purdue is a top-ranking engineering program, even though it is relatively easy to get into. IU doesn't even compare for engineering -- it looks like they just started their program last year.

This is true, but for OP question, it should be noted that Purdue engineering is also famously difficult. Not the place for a kid who is not completely dedicated.

Not OP, but my question was about collaborative engineering programs. It sounds like that is NOT Purdue. Olin, which is highly selective, has a collaborative structure and students are hands-on in labs from the first year. Finding it very difficult to identify other collaborative programs and have done many on-line searches. When I ask, people often respond with the name of a "good" engineering program, but not necessarily a project based collaborative program. Still looking.

Purdue is definitely collaborative if you look at the spectrum of engineering schools. They talk about opening on during their on campus meet and greets. Olin is very small and very different from almost all other programs. You will not find a similar one- perhaps Pratt- but that is also competitive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've seen many B students push through an engineering curriculum on more willpower than intellect.

But you need to think about back up plans. At both VT and GT, business college takes a lot of kids switching out of engineering.

VT is not teaching collaboration.

Wasn't recommending VT. But what is the kid going to do if he gets to Olin and hates it? Transfer to a different college?

Transfering to a different college be the back up plan that many. Students have done.

[Anonymous]

DD was a Computer Engineering major, hated coding and has switch ME.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son (junior mcps) has always thought of choosing engineering as a major. Looking at his graders he is really a B (honors) math student who will finish HS having taken calculus I (likely A/B). Science grades are more likely to be A's but mixed. I just wonder how he will cut it as an engineering major. Should I be suggesting backup choices as I know it is a tough major. Thanks for sharing any experiences.

I went to Missouri University of Science and Technology (aka University of Missouri - Rolla). Lots of "B" math students there. Lots of them slogged through their math classes at a community college over the summer to save their GPAs. Most of them graduated and got very healthy paying jobs as engineers. Math is a tool. You need to be competent, not brilliant. Competence comes with practice. I tell kids that math is like a sport. You have to practice, practice, practice.

MST is a "best value" school on many lists, BTW. Tuition isn't high. The school is not that hard to get into. Graduates are in demand and make very good salaries. Not a place that most Ivy-focused, prestige driven DCUM parents would normally choose, but a good choice. (At least as a back-up school )

[Anonymous]

B HS math student here, highest HS math was AP Calc A/B. Currently a professional and successful aerospace engineer.

The thing about engineering programs is that it is *a lot* of work, and while it's hard, and you certainly can't be afraid of math, a lot of it is about really sticking it out and doing the hard work that needs to get done. Engineering isn't pre-med, where you have to have a 4.0 to be successful.
Work hard, get help when you need it, pass your classes, and you can have a good career.

I have a really good friend/co-worker who went to Purdue and loved it. Almost all engineering programs these days do a fair amount of group projects/collaborative work.