Quick Mechanical Engineering Question

[snakebitgt94]

I'm trying to figure out what job I want for the rest of my life and I can't decide what I want to do. I've thought about going for Mechanical Engineering but in High School, I never took any drafting/physics classes. I don't know how to use all the CAD programs or anything. I was just wondering if they taught you that when you start classes or are you expected to know those things when you start?


Also, for those who have taken it, is it really that hard? I know it will be a challenge but it is really hair-pulling like everyone says engineering is? I dont want to have my nose stuck in a book my entire college life, so I was just wondering. By the way, I'm looking to get into to the motorsports field if that helps.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

I dont want to have my nose stuck in a book my entire college life, so I was just wondering.

Sorry, but that is what college is:read:

 

[xhailofgunfirex]

I graduated with my ME degree last year, been working for the government for a year now.

You will need to spend lots of time with your nose in the book, there's a lot of studying you need to do, some people can get away with not studying, but they understand and grasp the concepts very quickly, if you can't do that then expect to study a lot. If you want to party and use college to hook up with girls and have an awesome social life, stay away from engineering and get a business degree. Engineering is a serious thing, and it takes a lot of time, lots of people drop out and switch majors after the first year or two. Physics and subjects that are related to physics are very important. You will take some CAD classes in school, but they aren't enough to do the job really. Most schools only teach a semester of CAD, and not necessarily 3d modeling. You will need to learn and spend time using the programs on your own time and become very comfortable with them.

Its hard for people to grasp what the engineers actually do in practice when compared to what they study. You don't really need to memorize and sit and use equations at work, but you will need a very good background on the concepts so you can make sound engineering decisions, and every once in a while be prepared to get your book out and calculate things out(i have all my engineering books at work, and from time to time I get them out when something comes up that I need them for). 3D solid modeling is important, as well as geometric dimensioning and tolerancing.

The average span in my class was 5-6 years to get their degree, took me 6. Unless you are really smart and very dedicated with taking lots of units its impossible to do it 4 years.

I don't know how easy it would be to find a motorsports or automotive related job, I would expect needing to be very good in an internship or automotive senior project would help with that, knowing the right people and already being involved in motorsports would also help.

I'd recommend to all ME's to try and get some background in EE also, being diverse in your field is a really good thing.

 

[Blue Blitz]

You can get it done in 4 if you keep your nose in the books. Most take 5-6 and actually manage to enjoy their life. I graduated this past spring and I never had an INCREDIBLY hard time with classes but it all gets down to how well you pick stuff up and how good the teacher is.

If you are interested in it then definitely give it a shot.

 

[*TK*]

I started as a Mechanical engineering major. Here were my first semester of classes

Chemistry 101
English 101
Physics 211
Engineering 101
Algebra 201
Calculus 101

I graduated with an Economics degree, and a GPA of 3.6... I was like you and wanted some kind of social life in college, you WILL have your nose stuck book your entire college career, and you will have to take 4-5 Physics classes, and take up through Calculus 4 (and most likely calc 5), which is also 4-5 Calculus classes. Which is all on top of your engineering classes. But if thats what you want to do you CAN do it you just have to be commited.

 

[Lightning247]

1) Don't worry too much about figuring out what Job you want in life, 50% of people change degree's at some point, and only a tiny fraction know what job they will have when they get out. The key is to find out what you are excited/interested in and pursue that...what makes you interested in engineering?

2) Don't enter college with the mindset that you don't want to have your head in the books all the time, there's always time to still have some fun...and working hard makes the free time all the more enjoyable. Besides, some of the best friends you make in college are people that share your interests and that you spend time studying with. College is not the time, however, to blow 40-50k of mommy and daddy's money partying and notching up the old bed-post...when you finish college and look back at the people that did just that you will appreciate it.

3) Mechanical Engineering degree's vary a little by University but for me this was a good way to break it down:
18 credit hours per semester - 4 years, no social life, no job
15 credit hours per semester - 4.5-5 years, some social life and/or maybe a job
12 credit hours per semester - 5-6 years, lots of social life and/or full time job

In my case I had to work while i was in school since my family could provide no financial support, so 12-15 credit hours per semester was my courseload and i graduated in 5 years. I am now a Graduate Student pursuing my Master's in Automotive Engineering at CUICAR in Greenville, SC. I spend at least 40 hours a week going to 12 credit hours worth of class + studying and/or working on projects for school...but to be honest, I wake up every day looking forward to it. That's how college/education is supposed to be.

Being that you are in NC I would look at the following schools for engineering: UNCC (my undergrad alma mater)
Clemson University
NC State
Virginia Tech
Georgia Tech

Also, what is your highschool GPA (weighted/unweighted) and how strong are you in Math/Science?

 

[swoosh_stang]

1) 3) Mechanical Engineering degree's vary a little by University but for me this was a good way to break it down:
18 credit hours per semester - 4 years, no social life, no job
15 credit hours per semester - 4.5-5 years, some social life and/or maybe a job
12 credit hours per semester - 5-6 years, lots of social life and/or full time job

I started with 18 credit hours and working about 25-30hrs, as I went along, I reduce the credits and increased the work, never had a social life.

Thing to remember about an engineering degree, the primary reason for many of the classes is to teach you how to think analytically, the way an engineer should. You will learn most of what you need to know about your specific field after you graduate. Remember College is 4 years (5-6 for some of us), your career is 30+ years, you aren't expected to know everything when you graduate. You need a good base of info, math, physics, etc. and a good work ethic. The other thing to remember is that your first couple of years out of school, you aren't going to make much bank. It takes a few.

As far as the school itself, I didn't find it that difficult until I got into the more advanced classes, like Differential Equations, University Physics 2 (which was an elective at my school, where I went to school algebra based physics was called college physics, calc based was called university), those types of classes started getting more difficult.

Good luck which ever choice you make.

 

[Coiled03]

I'm trying to figure out what job I want for the rest of my life and I can't decide what I want to do.

That's the wrong way to look at it. Getting a degree isn't a commitment to one field for the rest of your life. It's simply a way to get a foot in the door in a field you think you might enjoy when you graduate. There's nothing that says you can't switch mid-stream, or go back to school later in life.

Also, for those who have taken it, is it really that hard? I know it will be a challenge but it is really hair-pulling like everyone says engineering is? I dont want to have my nose stuck in a book my entire college life, so I was just wondering.

In my opinion, that depends on what your study habits are like, and how adept you are at math, and science. If you have good study habits, and enjoy math, and hands on work, M.E. would probably be a good choice for you. If you can't at least respect math for its power, and don't like building, or working on things, it'd be best to choose a different path, I think. To answer the question directly, it's difficult, yes. But not "pull out your hair, never have any fun, never see the light of day" difficult.

By the way, I'm looking to get into to the motorsports field if that helps.

M.E. is a good degree to start with if you're trying to get into motorsports. But keep in mind, it won't exactly set you apart. Everybody and their brother is trying to get into motorsports, and a lot of them have more than just a degree. There's an old garage saying that goes like this: "Everyone who wants to be in racing, is already in racing." Basically it means the people who want it bad enough, make it. I wanted to go that route myself, but ultimately, wasn't willing to move to Indy, camp out at the team shops....whatever it took to get in. If you are, more power to you, because that's what it'll take.

EDIT: I should mention I'm an M.E. graduate from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, so at least you don't think I'm talking out of my ass.

 

[bit]

What school are you planning to attend? I went to UNCC and graduated from their Mechanical/Motorsports Engineering program. I had 18 hours for every semester except the first and last. This allowed me to get both my BSME and a math minor in 4 years with no summer classes. If you attend Charlotte’s program you will not have to worry about CAD or drafting, they will teach you everything you need to know about ProE and you will use it on every design project you have.

When it comes to having your nose in a book all through college, that is just part of the game. You have your entire life to party. Spend four years in college working hard and it will pay you for a lifetime. I know it sounds simple but always go to class. It is easy to skip and that is an easy way to fail. Like someone said above engineering is a serious major. If you want to party for 4 years get a business degree and spend the rest of your life in an office doing paper work. I consider myself a very fast learner and I was usually able to take one day a week off.

Don’t get me wrong though, there is plenty of fun to be had. It will be required by the program. If you attended UNCC’s Motorsports program you will be required to join one of the many teams. For my first two years I was a part of the legends race team. I spent my first year working long hours getting the car ready for the track and working to fix the car at the track. My second year I still spent long hours working on the car, but I got to drive. As school got harder my last two years, I joined the dyno and head flow team. This required much less time. We met a few nights a week to build high performance engines or flow/port heads and then test them on the dyno. There is a long list of teams so you are sure find one you like.

If you are good at math and have some mechanical aptitude I would say go for the BSME and don’t worry about the partying until you are designing race cars.

 

[kingcobra9450]

Im a junior at VT right now trying to get my ME degree. Yes its hard but its really cool cuz you really start to see why things happen. I'm nowhere close to being smart I just try really hard. I'm also in a frat so it all can be done with a social life. All I do is study my ass off sun-thurs and party my ass of thurs fri and sat. Granted I only have a 2.7 but i do have a 3.0 in major. You can always just try it out and switch majors cuz most your entry level engineering classes can somehow transfer to a business degree. just my 2 cents. Good luck with it all.

 

[WVUAnt]

xhailofgunfirexand the rest of the posters gave you some good advice. While I am an Industrial Engineer and not an ME, I had to suffer through a ton of ME courses. College is all about discipline. You need to balance your studies, social life, and "real world things" like laundry, grocery shopping, etc. It is easy to get overwhelmed. I almost threw in the towel on engineering after my freshman year because I was getting my ass kicked badly in a Fortran class...does anyone even remember Fortran??...for a History degree. Just remember that your freshman and sophomore classes are designed to separate the men from the boys. I took me 5 years to get my bachelors from WVU. And yes, I did party my ass off too.

 

[stangin99]

Partying in college is fun while you're in college, but you will be paying for it the rest of your life. Everyone I know that had easy degrees and could get wasted anytime they wanted currently WISH they had as relaxed and high paying job as I and most engineers have.

Business degrees? Low pay to start and you have to wear a suit to work. Kiss ass and put your time in while you climb the corporate ladder. Not the hardest job in the world but seem like a huge headache to me.

Engineering degrees? High pay and you wear jeans to work. Get to do hands-on work you enjoy on cool technology and get paid well for it.

And even then college is what you make of it. I went to a big tech school (RIT) but still had an awesome time and have some better stories than some of my friends that went to bigger party schools.

 

[TallOkie]

Partying in college is fun while you're in college, but you will be paying for it the rest of your life. Everyone I know that had easy degrees and could get wasted anytime they wanted currently WISH they had as relaxed and high paying job as I and most engineers have.

Business degrees? Low pay to start and you have to wear a suit to work. Kiss ass and put your time in while you climb the corporate ladder. Not the hardest job in the world but seem like a huge headache to me.

Engineering degrees? High pay and you wear jeans to work. Get to do hands-on work you enjoy on cool technology and get paid well for it.

And even then college is what you make of it. I went to a big tech school (RIT) but still had an awesome time and have some better stories than some of my friends that went to bigger party schools.

This is the truth, been out for about three years and have increased my pay scale by $12K, course there was a job move in there.....I know more about tires now than...well lets not go there...and as far as partying....everyone knows MEs are the best...just stay away from those sparkys they will bring you down

 

[czwalga00gt]

I'm an electrical engineer. In my opinion everyones view is that the calculus and physics classes are the hardest; well they are very wrong. My upper level EE classes were much harder and required an insane amounts of work.

Not exagerating when I could spend 8-10 hours daily on homework/studying/projects not including classes. I did enjoy myself on the weekends though.

 

[stangin99]

I'm an electrical engineer. In my opinion everyones view is that the calculus and physics classes are the hardest; well they are very wrong. My upper level EE classes were much harder and required an insane amounts of work.

Not exagerating when I could spend 8-10 hours daily on homework/studying/projects not including classes. I did enjoy myself on the weekends though.

This is true as well. I'm a computer engineer(had many of the same classes as EE) and most of the 4/5 year courses would keep me busy for hours on end. Calculus and Physics you could grind through and get done, but solving page after page of calculation for a circuit design is hell.

Not to mention a senior design project that keeps you in the labs for 10-12 hours(sometimes per day) while having another 12 credit hours in classes. :bash:

 

[czwalga00gt]

This is true as well. I'm a computer engineer(had many of the same classes as EE) and most of the 4/5 year courses would keep me busy for hours on end. Calculus and Physics you could grind through and get done, but solving page after page of calculation for a circuit design is hell.

Not to mention a senior design project that keeps you in the labs for 10-12 hours(sometimes per day) while having another 12 credit hours in classes. :bash:

Yep, those cpe classes aren't easy either. Long nights of coding. I'm 2 classes and 1 cpe elective away from my CPE degree but I was offered a job and decided not to finish it, i was enrolled as a double major.

I remember for my mechatronics final I was in the lab for 20 straight hours finishing the programming on my robot. I enjoyed that class the most, if it was another class I would have said the hell with it.

 

[DKS2814V]

I didn't read all the posts in here, but Coiled03 had lots of good points.

I graduated with an Aerospace degree, but there were two paths. I took the structural path, but had a vast amount of fluid dynamics classes as well. The one thing I didn't get a lot of was Electrical Engineering. I got the basics in one class, but learned what I need to about EE outside of school, at work.

I'm three and a half years out of school. It took me 4 and a half years of school (Texas A&M University) to finish. It's tough, but you can do it if you understand what it is that you need to do (i.e. priorities).

As far as social life, I was in a fraternity, went out three times a week or so, had plenty of fun, but also had my head buried in a book quite a bit. My profs claimed that 3hrs of study per hours of classes, per week was how much you needed to study...so, 15hr semesters = 45hrs per week of studying outside of class. I probably studied 20-30hrs per week on average and graduated with a 3.46 GPA. As test weeks came around, I'd be balls deep in my books/homework. When they passed, I was out having fun....

You can have a fun-filled college life and be successful as long as you get your shit straight. You're there for schooling...not for drinking.

In my opinion, AERO is the way to go (I'm obviously biased). With the fluid flow and structural background that I have, I believe that I could have a foot in the door in the aviation/aerospace industry, the oil/gas industry, AND the mechanical industry.

On a side note.....I'm having more fun graduated from college than I am when I was in college. The only thing I miss about college is the ability to skip class and do whatever the hell I wanted. When you have a job, it's not so easy. :thumbsup:

 

[DKS2814V]

I almost threw in the towel on engineering after my freshman year because I was getting my ass kicked badly in a Fortran class...does anyone even remember Fortran??... took me 5 years to get my bachelors from WVU. And yes, I did party my ass off too.

FORTRAN....YACK! I could do it, but damn if I didn't want to fist my computer screen looking for that missing semi-colon or comma!!

Just remember that your freshman and sophomore classes are designed to separate the men from the boys.

Couldn't be more true. Learn to be diligent with your studying, and you'll be set. Stick through the shitty parts, because they're weeding you out. It will get better once you get into your actual major courses.

 

[DKS2814V]

Not to mention a senior design project that keeps you in the labs for 10-12 hours(sometimes per day) while having another 12 credit hours in classes. :bash:

I give credit to you sparkys. I couldn't sit and look at circuits all day. However, the senior design project was fun. While most other kids were building airplanes and flying them, we were hands on with cutting edge technology trying to put a rocket up to 70000' in the air. Our group of 4 was the rocket engine designers, and we pioneered (at our school anyways) a hybrid rocket motor using parraffin (wax), nitrous and carbon fibers. We were using theoretical papers and studies from profs all around the country to put together and build our motor.
To the OP....THATS the kind of benefit you will get out of an engineering vs. a business degree. In the long run your friends who are accountants and such will make more money, but they stare at computer screens all day.

 

[stangin99]

I give credit to you sparkys. I couldn't sit and look at circuits all day. However, the senior design project was fun. While most other kids were building airplanes and flying them, we were hands on with cutting edge technology trying to put a rocket up to 70000' in the air. Our group of 4 was the rocket engine designers, and we pioneered (at our school anyways) a hybrid rocket motor using parraffin (wax), nitrous and carbon fibers. We were using theoretical papers and studies from profs all around the country to put together and build our motor.
To the OP....THATS the kind of benefit you will get out of an engineering vs. a business degree. In the long run your friends who are accountants and such will make more money, but they stare at computer screens all day.

Yea after all 5 years my senior design project was my favorite thing that I did. We built an autonomous UAV glider that had to be lifted to 100k feet by a balloon and pilot itself back to a set point on the ground. 5-6 Aerospace guys, 1 EE and 1 CE(me). Many MANY hours in the lab to get that shit to work. They never let us drop the thing due to other teams running way OVER budget, but I'm 99% sure it would've gotten very close to getting home. Probably the coolest thing I've ever worked on until my current job.