[Trent B]

As a current college Freshman/Sophomore/Junior (came in with a lot of credits) some of this does hold true.

Note: Some of this may sound like a shameless plug for Iowa State University, to some extent it is but a lot of it has to do with what I actually believe is and will help me succeed in getting my undergraduate and masters degree

A lot of the general courses that hundreds of students take each semester are just awful. For example I am in statics and I don't blame anyone for dropping that class. Our book explains almost nothing you have to interpret what the equations mean and the professor only teaches to half of the class. I have seen juniors drop the course left and right because they simply can't learn the material. Additionally the course is graded on a 90+ A 80-89 B etc system, which becomes problematic when the average exam grade is 65 for the class. Many students simply won't pass the class, and a lot will be discouraged to try again.

Comparatively all of the Materials Engineering professors I have had are some of the nicest and best instructors I have had in my life. They are clear, actually care about the students and are willing to strike up a 10 minute conversation about the material after class. They seem to really enjoy what they do and care about the students doing well.

The problem is, you may not have them for your first 2 or 3 semesters so you are stuck with apathetic instructors teaching gen eds to a bunch of kids who are apathetic about the gen-eds and just want to get into their major. As a result they can't pull off the grades necessary to proceed and end up switching majors.

Another thing that has helped me so far this year is having a good network of upperclassmen and peers in my own classes who are willing to help other students get past hurdles and obstacles in their way. The Materials Engineering student room at ISU has students in it probably all daylight hours and sometimes 24 hours a day depending on when it is and almost everyone is willing to answer questions, talk about experiences, make suggestions etc.

People refer to us as a cult because we all study together, eat together, sit together in class, many of us live together and hang out together as well. But really, despite the negative connotation of the word cult we are really tight-knit and I think that is one of the strongest points of the Mat E program and why we have such stellar results and such a well ranked program here.

Without this networking underclassmen may struggle to get the help they need if they don't want to hire a tutor because there is just one hurdle they need to get over or one concept they need explained. Lots of colleges are pushing for learning communities and the like to help students network and help each other and I think that is a fundamental part of retention in engineering programs.

Additionally, the article touched on the application of all this engineering knowledge. In the case of being a Material Engineer at ISU I am lucky, first our professors constantly reference real world situations or scenarios where the course material occurred. Additionally we are home to Ames Lab a US Dept of Energy National Laboratory that does a lot of materials work (Dan Shechtman's Quasi-crystals anyone?) as well as a Center for Non-Destructive Evaluation that a lot of Materials Engineering undergraduates work at. Which allows students to do hands on work related to the material they are learning in class.

I couldn't imagine being at a school without all of these opportunities, and in typing this I am realizing how privileged I am at ISU to have such opportunities. I think the sense of belonging and professors eagerly encouraging are two of the biggest factors that will push me through to get my BS and MS here.

EDIT:
One last thing to chime in on is that students shouldn't forget to have fun when they are in college too. Who says you can't have fun while writing a lab report or doing homework? There are constantly jokes and conversations occurring in the student room while people do their homework (or play minecraft / flash games) on the computers, and we have a box of pre-2000 video game consoles people can take to a room and play on a projector if they want. If someone tries to get through college with a all work no fun and games atitude I think it would be hard to survive. If you can't sit back and laugh in hindsight about how you ended up with extra mass in chemistry or similar problems you will have a rough time in college.

Other majors think we are insane for doing materials engineering with how difficult many of them find the intro to materials engineering for non materials engineers course. One of my friends called me a masochist for going into it, I told him he is correct. I think to follow it through to the end you really have to want the end result and know that you want it.

Endnote: I am not saying that we should make classes easier or accept a lower grade. What I am trying to say with reference to statics and Gen Eds is that I think they are a make or break it course in whether someone sticks with engineering or not. When the teachers for these courses are not enthusiastic for the kids learning I think many kids lose interest and subsequently struggle. I am under the impression that the teaching style of these courses (big lecture halls) isn't as conducive to a high rate of people entering and leaving as engineers.

$0.02