Any science/engineering types?

[Chris]

I know you're there, that's why I asked.

As most of you know I just started back in school at Ohio State and am looking to go into an engineering field (Chemical or Mechanical). Haven't done much science or math in college so I'm basically just now getting hit in the face with college-level courses on the B.S. side of things. This is my second semester back and I'm taking Engineering Fundamentals, Calculus, and a Physics course. Already, about a quarter into the semester, I can understand the notoriety that engineering has garnered. It's a culture shock for me since I haven't really done math since high school, 7 years ago, and I've never taken a physics course in my life. I am not used to material that can't be bullshitted, and I'm also not used to the sheer breadth of assignments...the Engineering Fundamentals course requires like 8-10 busy work assignments + online quizzes a week, most of which are easy but if I weren't a freak organizer I can tell I'd get buried. Calculus has not proven to be terribly difficult material wise so far but I'm sure it's going to get ten times harder.

Reason I started this thread is just to get advice, tips, and whatnot from those who have gone through engineering and/or related fields. I know the next few years will be no joke. I am not a genius, nor does this stuff come naturally to me. I have to actually think about it and work it out to get it. But I like it, and am interested in it, and it's what I'm passionate about, which is why I am pursuing it. I'm kind of struggling to grasp the Physics so far, as the lectures aren't terribly helpful and I've turned to outside sources (ie YouTube) to learn some stuff. Seems I am behind the curve as most people have taken physics at least in high school, I did not... Does anyone have any advice for someone like me that is not able to just get a 3.99999 GPA without trying, but has the hunger and passion to do what it takes to succeed? Or really, just anything from people in these fields is welcome in this thread. Doesn't have to be anything hardcore, just tips on getting through a degree of this nature or insight on what it takes to be successful in the field.

 

[ZooCrewDude]

The first 2 years from what I remember we're the toughest - it's where they try to 'weed out' the guys/gals that either can't handle the work load, aren't picking up the material, or show an unwillingness to overcome not picking up the material naturally.

A few tips:
- don't skip classes if at all avoidable. It seems obvious enough, but in engineering courses it just seems harder to miss a class and catch yourself up to speed.
- legitimately complete assignments. Again, seems obvious enough, but as you mentioned, no amount of high level bull shitting is going to help you pass a differential equations exam. The cornerstone of engineering curriculums are materials and concepts that build off prior material/logic. As with the classes; if you miss an assignment/mail it in/copy off a friend, you're likely to have a hole in your approach for concepts in the rest of the course moving forward.
- find someone who really 'gets it' and work with that person as often as they'll allow it. Some people really enjoy helping others and it can be an effective studying tool for them. Latch on to these people. In fact, surround yourself with engineers during the school week. These people will be important not only to help you through stuff, but also to just commiserate and bitch and moan with. Your business major friends aren't going to understand or care when you're up all night cramming for a dynamics test: you'll feel like you're on an island.

Good luck man. It's not easy at times, but once you get into the core courses and youre getting dialed into your major it will all start to make sense and you'll enjoy it increasingly. The above is coming from a civil engineering background btw.

 

[gourimoko]

Put school and study first. Over girls and friends and parties.

Treat it like a 50 to 60hrs a week job if you have to. Put your head down and study.

 

[Adam]

Good luck chris, you deserve it.

Are you using Kahn academy for the physics? They have some pretty handy stuff especially for the classical stuff.

Sounds like you have a growth mindset when it comes to learning so you should be fine but it will be a journey. Cue "pound the rock" and "nothing is given" sports sound bites

 

[Zog]

Some good advice already. I graduated from a top 5-7 engineering school in mechanical engineering. It took me 9 semesters and a lot of staying up til 3-4AM studying to get through it.

How many hours of coursework do you still need to complete to graduate? I would say making sure you are not overloading yourself with coursework is key. Don't take 18 hours. Take 15-16 hours max, and if you are not worried about taking an extra semester or two to graduate, take 12-13 hours (4 courses).

The biggest thing is to not get too discouraged or down on yourself. As mentioned above the first 2 years are weed out classes. I'll never forget getting my first Calc 2 exam back. I got a 42% and thought I was going to have to pull a miracle out of my ass in order to pass, or just end up dropping the course and taking it the following semester. The professor then proceeded to explain that the median score was a 32%, so suddenly a 42% didn't seem so bad. Just realize that this is somewhat the norm for engineering-related courses and don't get discouraged by it.

If it is an option it may also be a good idea to go the community/junior college route for your first 2 year courses (math, physics, chemistry, statics, dynamics). Those courses tend to be very large at a big university (200-300 students in the lectures) from my experience. Not sure if that is the case at OSU but I assume the classes there are pretty large. I think you will find you may get more out of those courses by going to a good community college with say 30-40 people in the lectures. Those core classes the first two years are very important for the rest of your coursework, and the rest of the courses should have relatively small class sizes (50-60 people in a lecture).

 

[AuxiliaryPie]

I started as a pharmacy major and the weed out classes almost broke me. I had it made up in my head that everyone else was having such an easy time with chem and calc and that I was totally clueless. I did change my major because i didnt want to be a pharmacist, but the people i know that stuck with it all got in to our extremely competitive program and they weren't any smarter than I am.

fuck the weed out classes, do your best and you will be just fine in the end.

 

[Chris]

I just started so i have a while to go. I shave about a year off with having my general courses out of the way and i plan on taking a couple courses each summer if possible to expedite the process. This is all new to me so im a tad intimidated hence why i made this thread. Ill post more later im on my ipad.

 

[Kouki]

I don't know about OSU but at Akron we had a couple weed out classes, then it lightened up, then there were two brutal semesters towards the end, not necessarily in terms of difficulty but just the volume.

One thing is, if you are going to play around with your schedule, is deviate from the standard, pay attention to when courses are offered. Some are likely only offered in certain semesters.

Do the co-op program.

Make friends to do homework with. Not copy from (except on rare occasions), but do hw with and study with. Do the hw and you won't have to cram study for exams. Don't feel weird that you are older. One of the coolest dudes in my group of study buddies was older than you. Granted we called him Old Mike but that's because we had multiple Mikes. Profs will probably respect you more, older people take college more seriously.

Professors are helpful, use them and their TAs.

 

[The Human Q-Tip]

I know you're there, that's why I asked.

As most of you know I just started back in school at Ohio State and am looking to go into an engineering field (Chemical or Mechanical). Haven't done much science or math in college so I'm basically just now getting hit in the face with college-level courses on the B.S. side of things. This is my second semester back and I'm taking Engineering Fundamentals, Calculus, and a Physics course. Already, about a quarter into the semester, I can understand the notoriety that engineering has garnered. It's a culture shock for me since I haven't really done math since high school, 7 years ago, and I've never taken a physics course in my life. I am not used to material that can't be bullshitted, and I'm also not used to the sheer breadth of assignments...the Engineering Fundamentals course requires like 8-10 busy work assignments + online quizzes a week, most of which are easy but if I weren't a freak organizer I can tell I'd get buried. Calculus has not proven to be terribly difficult material wise so far but I'm sure it's going to get ten times harder.

Reason I started this thread is just to get advice, tips, and whatnot from those who have gone through engineering and/or related fields. I know the next few years will be no joke. I am not a genius, nor does this stuff come naturally to me. I have to actually think about it and work it out to get it. But I like it, and am interested in it, and it's what I'm passionate about, which is why I am pursuing it. I'm kind of struggling to grasp the Physics so far, as the lectures aren't terribly helpful and I've turned to outside sources (ie YouTube) to learn some stuff. Seems I am behind the curve as most people have taken physics at least in high school, I did not... Does anyone have any advice for someone like me that is not able to just get a 3.99999 GPA without trying, but has the hunger and passion to do what it takes to succeed? Or really, just anything from people in these fields is welcome in this thread. Doesn't have to be anything hardcore, just tips on getting through a degree of this nature or insight on what it takes to be successful in the field.

 

[Brandname]

Since it sounds like you're struggling a lot with the physics, I suppose I can chime in here. I have a PhD in physics, and I know how difficult it can be at times.

I suppose just a few tips, some of which I followed when I was in school, some of which I didn't:

1) Go to office hours. I NEVER did this when I was in school, but after spending some time on the other side of the equation (as a teacher), I can't encourage this enough. I was always the type who thought I was doing something wrong if I didn't understand something perfectly the first time, so I was too self-conscious to go to office hours. I didn't want to feel judged for not understanding things. And boy is that the totally wrong way to approach education. Any teacher worth his/her salt will WANT to help you understand the material, and having a one-on-one environment to do so is absolutely the most effective way to learn. I didn't do this when I was in school, and although I ended up fine, I deeply regret not taking advantage of it. Especially if you're the type who takes a bit to internalize concepts, it will be extremely valuable (with the caveat that terrible professors do exist).

2) Find a study partner and do problems with him/her on a whiteboard or chalkboard. You can talk through your reasoning as you do it, and you'll find it's much easier to make sure you really understand something well if you're "teaching" it to someone else.

3) Get the Feynman lectures if you can. I have the book set, which isn't cheap, but for intro physics you probably won't find a much better teacher than Feynman. Unfortunately we don't have the man with us anymore to take advantage of, but his lectures are some of the best in the business. I think there are some cheap/free resources for these lectures if you don't want to buy the set. For example, you can read all of them online here:

http://www.feynmanlectures.caltech.edu/

He took great care in trying to make sure he could explain physics concepts in a straightforward and easy-to-understand manner. It's a good supplement to your textbook for basic physics.

4) Really make sure you understand the material. This will take a lot of work. It's tempting to get a problem or two right and have a good idea how you arrived at that point, but when you get the to test it'll be easy to get thrown off by variations to the problem. After you finish a homework problem, go back over it a few times and understand exactly what you did and why you did it. It will make a huge difference when it comes to understanding the concepts. A few minutes after each problem will make a big difference in the long run.

 

[Kouki]

Man I just tried to do some really basic calculus/physics at work today for the first time in years and failed miserably and thought of this thread

One thing I wanted to add out of encouragement, being able to speak is pretty important in engineering, because most engineers are not comfortable with it. Your background in communications and experience/comfort with public speaking is a HUGE leg up once you get into the real world.

 

[Lee]

I took 4 semesters of calculus back in my college days (well tested out of 1 and 3 semesters)

And i a 100% sure i couldnt perform the most basic of calculus performance.

Proving that calculus is only slightly more important to learn the the semester i spent learning COBOL.

 

[AuxiliaryPie]

Professors are helpful, use them and their TAs.

as someone who is currently a TA, I wish my students would come ask me for help and advice. Problem is i teach a lab to mostly non-majors so they dont give a shit, but i have a strong desire to help those who ask for it and i know for a fact im not the only TA that feels this way

 

[Nathan S]

1) Go to office hours. I NEVER did this when I was in school, but after spending some time on the other side of the equation (as a teacher), I can't encourage this enough. I was always the type who thought I was doing something wrong if I didn't understand something perfectly the first time, so I was too self-conscious to go to office hours. I didn't want to feel judged for not understanding things. And boy is that the totally wrong way to approach education. Any teacher worth his/her salt will WANT to help you understand the material, and having a one-on-one environment to do so is absolutely the most effective way to learn. I didn't do this when I was in school, and although I ended up fine, I deeply regret not taking advantage of it. Especially if you're the type who takes a bit to internalize concepts, it will be extremely valuable (with the caveat that terrible professors do exist).

This x10000

I'm a senior physics major and I just now figured this out. Wish I had read this four years ago.

 

[Chris]

Yeah, I totally fucked my first Calculus exam. Felt comfortable with the material, went in, and every problem was like the hardest variation of each concept that they could think of. Totally threw me off. Pretty discouraging. If that was for concepts I felt good with, heaven forbid what things will look like once it gets hard. I had planned on using this semester as sort of testing the waters to see if I could handle these types of courses and honestly so far, it's a no-go. To get into the engineering programs I'm pretty sure I need A's and B's in these classes which at this point I'm just not sure how anybody does (granted the physics is curved, I think).

I don't want to give up so easily, I'd rather play the semester out (and start going to office hours religiously, as I fucking should be) and see where I stand but if it doesn't work out that requires eating $5000. Which isn't the end of the world I guess. Kind of torn on what to do at this point.

I couldn't wait to get back in school and now I wish I was still back home recovering. Sigh...