Age 36, Male
look buff get tanned
Hamilton
Joined on 12/13/04
I've got to be honest I find this stuff pretty interesting.
I'm currently scheduled to major in Mechanical Engineering, but I think I'll try to switch it once I actually get to college and learn more about the specialized fields of engineering.
Though because I'm going to be on an ROTC scholarship I'm not sure which fields of engineering Uncle Sam will let me go into. I would imagine they wouldn't be too picky.
Anyway, do you have any advice for a fellow engineering advocate?
You say you've chosen your major already, but does that mean that your first year is not going to be a general one? Mine was a general first year, and then I selected my major after getting my toes a little wet.
I don't think anyone will mind what type of engineering you go into. In my history, if you mention to anyone that you are an engineer the typical response is 'wow'.
It sounds like since you have a good scholarship you apply yourself to your work, which means that if you find engineering interesting you'll have no problem with the workload, even though you may take 7 courses a semester when most students struggle with 5. I guess the only read advice that I can give you is to make friends. They're a large reason as to why I am motivated and they come in very handy if you ever find something that you don't understand.
I was a coaster in high school, graduating with like an 85. I currently apply myself when I need to in my courses, but I could work a LOT harder than I currently do. I'm averaging about a 72 in my uni classes, which I find acceptable for the effort that I give.
physicsman09
Are you studying Aeronautical or Astronomical Engineering?
Warrickneff
Engineering Physics. It's a fairly unique program only offered at a couple universities right now. The wikipedia article on engineering physics I feel unfairly references science as it relates to my degree, but I feel it tarnishes the reputation of my program as a non-professional degree.
After completing my second year I can stream into Nuclear Physics, Photonics, or Micro and Nano-Devices here at my school, but I've chosen the 'interdisciplinary' stream, which means I take the core courses from each of the three, but then get to choose the rest of my technical electives regardless of what stream they're in.
I'll use most of my electives to take Photonics and Nuclear classes, as I would have chosen to stream in either one of those but couldn't decide. Micro and Nano sounds cool but after taking and introductory course it's not 100% my style.