Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Hi,
This is JVN.
It is now 2:30AM, I'm halfway done with my Mechanics of Machine Elements project, the week before finals... and I'd like to take this opportunity to let everyone know:

Being a Mechanical Engineering major is hard.

Yes, it's true.
No one really told me before I started college, I'm telling you now to save you the shock. I mean... I knew it would be hard... but this is HARD. Really.

Fun, but tough.

You've been warned.

John

;)

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

I agree

~~Says the person doing Thermodynamics and Dynamics homework at 2:30AM

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Thanks for the heads up.

Um...just wondering...would it be difficult to pursue studies in a musical instrument along with a major in ME?

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Perhaps you misunderstand.
The ME major alone is hard.
Anything beyond this... increases the difficulty.

Have a nice day.

Hard, Hard, Hard ;)
John

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

HAHAHA.....

OK let me rephrase the question -

How much free time...oh nevermind, I'm screwed.

I just remembered that I'll be continuing FIRST involvement.

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Can I be honest, John? (of course, when have I ever not been honest with you :p)

...College is hard. End of story.

You're just biased towards MechE because that's what you're doing. ;) If you'd rather be writing a paper on the correlation between bid-ask spreads of a variety of stocks in the NYSE versus their respective volume, hey, let me know.

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Also agree,

Intermediate Fluids at 2:45AM

YAY for Mech Es (It's late, cut me some slack on that one)

Note: Engineering Computer Lab - Open 24 hours, quite a few people in here.
Business Computer Lab - Locked


Eric

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

thermodynamics, and introduction to oscillatory motion. exam tommorrow.
i said it before, and i'll say it again:
i really don't like thermodynamics...can't we just ignore them, and hope they go away?...

[edit] did i mention that there's a party next door/acroos the hall?[/edit]

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Tonight its Numerical Analsyis and Heat Transfer that has me up.

1:03AM

These guys are right ME is hard....no joke, but it shows that its worth it to me every time I log onto these forums.

Thank you FIRST

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

No feakin joke. It didn't really set in to me until I had to stay up until 3:00 AM doing Vector Calculus homework and then get up at 6:00 AM to study for my statics class.

John is not joking here people. It is very hard. If you really enjoy your free time, sleep and sanity, please, get an English degree.

I'm glad to hear I'm not suffering alone.

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

This is why you double major (or plan to) in Mechanical Engineering and Physics.

Mr "I'm going to kill myself come fall" Toast

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Dave if you do that...wow...I could never major in physics (definitely not a fan of that stuff). Now Mechanical Engineering has not been too much of a pain quite yet (now at the end of my sophomore year). But looking at my classes for this upcoming fall semester, I think it's a long road ahead :rolleyes: .

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Yes it is, but it is well worth it. I still remember those days in school, I graduated from RPI '81.

As I look back though I would do it all over. My strongest memory was one day in Materials when the mid-term exam was returned and 60% of the class failed. The professor said he would not curve the test and said, "You are not here to learn this, any secretary can do this. You are here to learn to think!"

Stretching your mind, that is what it is about. Keep your chins up!

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

John and everyone else are right. Not only Mechy, but other engineering fields are hard... The programs are very intensive, demanding, challenging, and sometimes humbling. Engineering is also rewarding. Anything that you have to work this hard at and is this challenging brings the best out of us. That is why we choose to study hard things, and why we choose to engage projects like FIRST. Rising up to these challenges and taking on tasks that you think you may not be able to are what make our successes the sweetest thing.

I am a senior about to graduate with degrees in Mechanical Engineering and German. I spent last year in Germany studying and working at a german company that makes catalytic converters. This year I took all of the classes that my peers scoffed at as the "hardest" ones. I missed alot of time for FIRST and had to make it up during my normal "sleep time". I chose to do all of these things because the challenges of learning the art of engineering have taught me that I can solve any task or problem that I focus on. Any of you can as well. If you choose to study engineering, you will be sacraficing some college experiences that others take for granted, but you will also have a unique college experience that many others can't understand.

There is a reason that the engineers and mentors on your team studying engineering should be considered role models and heroes to the high school students. It is because they have learned it through lots of hard work and dedication on their own part.

Good luck studying whatever field you choose, just put everythign you have into it and you will get so much more than you ever imagined out of it!

Rob

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

I'm going to be double majoring in Manufacturing Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. should be quite the long journey ahead, but i LOVE IT

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Heh, just wait until Morrison and Jason Morrella get a hold of your post ;)

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

You're only warning us now?!!!! I have another 3 years left! (Out of 5)

*erin cowers in corner and enjoys these last two months of freedom before she has to go back to class

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Back 10 billion years ago when I was still deciding on a college (it feels like an eternity ago), I went and toured RPI. As we were walking along, someone shouted from a dorm window:

"If you want something easy, take business!"

True story. ;)

edit:
My lawyer informs me that I'm being a moron. Feel free to disregard any random business bashing. Sorry, it's an engineering school thing... I'll refrain because Business majors are people too.

Especially Jess, she's cool.
/edit

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

I got a $60K scholarship to RPI, but it's still too expensive to go :ahh:

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

No worries. Trust me, you should hear us make fun of engineers ;)

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

You know Jess, I seem to remember that RIT has a lot of people that drop out of things like Computer Engineering and Computer Science and move onto MIS (Management of Information Systems; a business major). So maybe business isn't as hard as it's cracked up to be? ;)

Then again, I've always been under the impression that they just assume that engineer's can handle business without any special training. It's just an assumption. :)

Matt

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

ME is a fun major. This is my second year at UML and having a great time. Just a question, how many of you work, do college, and FIRST? How is the GPA?

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Yeah, ME is hard. But in my opinion, most other engineering curriculum's are harder! This is of course, only based on friends that were in them, or specific classes in ME that were required from other disciplines.
But in general, college itself is hard.

Just remember this - Learn the material now. Because next year, you'll take a class that requires you to recall what you learned the year before, and so on, and it continues to build. When you get into junior and senior year, it's amazing how many things you say "hmm.. I learned something about that before, sure wish I learned it better". All the sudden, all these classes you thought you'd never use again, you find they're all actually related in some way. Maybe you won't use it in the real world, but you'll use it until you graduate college!

And yes. Thermo is liked by very few people.

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

This I would have to disagree with. If you think about it, or at least I like to, ME's are every engineering field rolled into one. Electrical, motors, plastics, yess we need to know about them, chem, matrerial properties, etc. Maybee I am just bias but it is the way I feel. \ :D :D

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Maybe business is easier at those "engineering schools" since that's not their focus, but Babson is hardcore, seeing as that's the only degree they give out. By the way, did I mention there's a stat floating around that Babson has the one of the highest average workload times the Nation, 2nd only to Princeton? ;)

...see, this is why you need people like me. I understand your thought process better than anyone.

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Ask Dean Kamen which is easier, Engineering or Business ;)

Last night was the earliest I went to bed this week, 3:30 am. It only gets harder when you're a senior ;)

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Chemistry...hmmm. If I remember right the mech e's here only have to take chem 1. That's enough chem principles to get them nowhere. I think most engineering majors are hard. I'd say the most time consuming is the arche. Not hardest just time consuming. If you want to take the most math and science classes go CHE or probably biocheme does more.

The feeling at our college is start in engineering and work your way down. Luckily I'm still in engineering. Or one of our departmental motto's. Chem E...because it was too late to change.

I take some business classes anyway but they seem simple compared to engineering type classes. They help my GPA at least.

So if Mech E is too hard for you. Just come be a Chem E.

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Two words

Differential Equations

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Is easy.....I wish I would have skipped Calc 2

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Calc 2 was fun, but I forgot to mention that my professor for diff EQ speeks little english :D :eek:

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

hehe, I'm gonna "Chicken Out" of the whole process....

I can not even begin to handle Biomedical Engineering Medical School Track anymore.... so, I'm going to attempt a major chang-up to IST!
:o

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

IST?

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

And that is new.....my recitation teacher is a low talker (refer to Seinfield episode) on top of speaking very little English....."do you understand?" is his favorite phrase...we all just stare blankly back at him

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Actually, RIT has a quite well respected business program. It's not just an engineering school (we also have the country's best photography program).

You know, I wonder if the fact that Babson has one of the highest average workloads has to do with the fact that Babson is hard or the students are slow? ;)

Matt

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

ME is a tough major, as are all other engineering curriculums. Yeah we made fun of civils and joked that that management majors couldn't handle real classes at WPI. It's an engineering thing that goes something like this:

The Chem Es and EEs all think the MEs are slackers. The MEs think the Civils are slackers, and the management guys never leave the bar.

Any way the point I wanted to make is if your an ME take as many hands on manufacturing and materials labs as you can. You would be surprised by the number of engineers who never participate in something like first or learn how to fabricate anything before they graduate. If your going to be an ME learn to turn handles weld and program CNC so that you know the limitations of design have a lot to do with manufacturing and fabrication. At WPI we called the class where you did this "Grunge". You learn more useful information from a class like this than "diffy screws", which is still easier than calc 3. Also, for the record Fluids is an evil course.

Pete

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Actually, I paid for alot of my college by playing piano at the school of music while going to school for my BSME. I played for 2 of the Choruses, voice lessons, recitals, juries, etc. plus played at my cousin's recording studio on occasion.

Of course back when I went to school we did our computer programming on punch cards and I was thrilled to buy a calculator that did trig functions. And we had to build our own computers, yeah that's it. And I had to walk uphill in the snow 5 miles to class. At the University of Florida.

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Why is it that every engineering school seems to be built on a ridiculous hill? Or is it just the North East?
:confused: Pete

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

yeah, ever been to tufts or lehigh?

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Yeah, I was going to go for ME at Michigan Tech ... but thinking about it, I'm not so great in the math department and I hate physics. Sooo I changed to Scientific and Technical Communications (and probably a minor in German or Journalism. Or both.) I'll only have to take Calc I now! :D

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

I have no clue how im gonna make it through college because I'm struggling with high :ahh: school

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Ummmm.... whose joking I just checked at (hopefuly) my future alma matter (Virginia Polytechnic Institue) and for CE there is no requirement for thermodynamics! how can you not say they are slackers.... then just forget and the enviromental engineers too

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

I remember going to dinner with a bunch of new friends the other night and I asked them all what majors they were. There was a double E, a computer engineer, a civil engineer, and a civil gone business major. When I told them I was an ME, they looked at me (me with all my five foot, one-ness) in complete awe. "That's the one of the harder majors, you know right? You're just asking for it with statics, dynamics, thermo, etc etc. I wish you lots of luck." Ah, being reminded over and over again that I'm taking a really hard major... good times... hahaha

I'm only a first year at the moment and my classes are already beating me to the ground as it is. I remember the days when I thought taking a double major combination of ME and EE was a good idea, oh man I'm glad I gave up on that idea. It's so hard to look at 201 units for ME's (quarter system at Cal Poly btw) and then consider the additional units for EE. Gah... that was just scary.

Speaking of units, for ME majors, what's a good number of units to take a term (quarter or semester) so as to not lose your mind? Then, what if you're super involved in stuff?

So far, I'm loving my major. People say that I'll switch out, that I'll get tired of it, that I'll lose all mentality and won't be able to go on with it. There have been times where I'd be doing my statics homework (I know statics isn't that bad) and I would question why I'm an ME at all. I know it's a lot of work with little sleep, but I knew all that from the beginning, it's fun if you let it be fun, and I know it'll all pay off in the end. Now it's waiting for that end, but hey, no rush right now. :)

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

If by units you mean credits, I would say the average (5yrs ago) was anywhere between 14-17 credits per semester (not sure about quarters). That's including the electives along with engr classes.
I think they pile you up freshman year with all the "freshman engr" courses (calc, chem, comm/english, etc) to be about 18/sem, but I would never ever suggest doing it after freshman year, since most of the classes would be core engr. But some can do it!
Just make sure you talk to an advisor and get the low-down on what courses involve, but also talk to TAs or older students that have already taken them. As an ME, we had a EE lab that was only 1 credit, but it was a 3hr class, twice a week, with a lot of work. You don't necessarily have to take courses in the "suggested order" either, just depends on what the pre-reqs are. You can rearrange them to fit better.
If you're not in any hurry to graduate, you can take 12 credits/sem, I think that's typically the minimum to be full-time student (or is it 9?)

Anyways, you just have to balance knowing what you can handle, knowing what's involved in each class for workload, and how the curriculum is set up. Try to balance it with some fun electives (whatever you're interested in) and don't get in over your head. Better to take fewer courses and pass them all, than to take too many and have to retake them later! Especially if you're super involved outside of classes... And, you should have a period of time that you can drop a class if you're in over your head.

And just some other advice - be sure to develop a good study group of friends, and get to know your TAs and profs EARLY. They're not as unapproachable as they might seem, and will help you more than you can imagine.

Yeah, realizing how many different engr disciplines have evolved over the years, ME may not be the easiest, but definitely the broadest (imo), with many sub-disciplines.

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

I thouroughly loved my first engineering lab class. However, when I started to struggle in Chem 12 (Chem I possibly?) and had to take 6-8 levels higher; and the Math Dept. kicked me when I took three semesters of Calc in high school, and then I suddenly had to do everything in my head without a calculator. One of my closest friends is at Penn State with me, and he is still plugging away at ME, and another is in attempt of an archE - I feel for them and the rest of you, its one long journey.

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Jason, you hold his arms back while I cement his feet. I live miraculously close to Lake Michigan (large tides this season, don'tcha know).

Be warned, all you poor, crying Enginerds - English is NO piece of cake. For instance, the week before Atlanta, I figured out the stats: I had a total of seventy-some pages of papers to write, a presentation, and two projects. Sounds like a piece of cake, but the work can really pile up if you've got other things to take care of, too *cough*IRI season begins now*cough* .

But you know, after I typed this out, I got to thinkin'. COLLEGE is no piece of cake. It wouldn't be coveted to have some kind of degree these days if it were a walk through the park. Just keep your feet on the ground, and most of all, evaluate what is important to YOU. Not anyone else, just YOU.

You'd better stick with 'General Studies',
Amanda Morrison

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

We must have been in school at the same time. And the computer we built took up one whole floor of the engineering building.

We had hills, too. Uphill, Both ways. And we had snow when it 110F in the shade. Except I lived in a rich district, so we had a bus. No engine, though. So we pushed it to and from school. It was a lot of work, but we could put our book bags inside. No wait, that was before bookbags, we tied them together with an old belt. And our books were heavier, and had more problems in them.

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

i'm deciding between to major between biomedical engineering or mechanical engineering-- and senior year is coming up fast--- like 22 more days and i'm a senior

i really hope that i can get through college-- i'm really not the smartest person in the world-- takes me forever to get concepts and sometime i'm not sure why i want to go into engineering since i'm not the greatest in math and science but all i know i luv robotics and always have been interested in the study of medicine--all well--some how i'll make it through and well i hope everyone gets through schooling okay too-- BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE IN ALL THINGS U GUYS DO!!!

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

No one mentioned the fun of finals yet :(. Thinking of this as I spend my weekend studying for a heat transfer final on Monday. ME is a very tough major and now that I am just finishing up I'm happy I decided on sticking with it. It wasn't (isn't) easy but I'm finally almost done :). Now all that's left is to find a job :D .

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Last quarter in my dynamics lab class.. after some discussion about the average score being <50%, the professor gave us a little advice and a simple math equation.





(By no means do I feel this way, I just thought it was funny and thought I would share it...) ;)

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

That would be funny if my gpa wasn't approaching zero.

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

You know I'm gonna remember this post a year from now when I'm buried beneath my ME/EE books. I look forward to sitting there trying to understand my Calc teacher saying "understand?" in a foreign acsent...*touch of sarcasm*

-Pat

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

Yea.. I actually don't think Fluids is tooo bad. Heat Transfer right now is MUCH, MUCH worse. :confused:

Re: Majoring in Mechanical Engineering
 

I agree with this 100% Heat transfer in fact be work of the devil too keep engineering students down.

If I hear finite differeance approx. 1 more time I may kill someone.