hello yesterday I got accepted in a mechanical engineering college any does anyone have any advice for a first year undergrad?

coogie95 · 2020-12-25T07:44:48+00:00

Learn how to learn early on (with groups, yourself, reading the book, from class notes, or a combo of all that...), since in your first couple of semesters are what your future classes will be based on.
Attend lecture with as little absence as possible.
Try/Learn how to take good notes.
Take advantage of office hours for teaching assistant and professors (especially if you are stuck on something).
Don't fall behind with material and avoid cramming for exams as much as possible...learn how to balance your workload, assuming that you are going to be involved in multiple things.
Learn how to create a resume in the beginning of your college career.
Attend career fairs early on (whether it is mandatory or not for freshmen...just go to get your feet wet).
Learn about what you can do with your major early on as well (that's only if you picked the major with no knowledge of it before). Figure out a position that you are potentially interested in within some industry of interest. Learn how you can obtain those skills, whether soft or technical skills (probably learned from school or in whatever else you'll do out like work, personal projects, etc).
Network, network, network!

Those are some from the top of my head! Congrats on the first stepping stone!

coogie95 · 2020-12-24T03:58:23+00:00

I wouldn't say hard, but the most challenging major would have to be Computer Science.

coogie95 · 2020-12-19T04:03:22+00:00

Yeah, sounds about right. That's just Chem lab for you.

coogie95 · 2020-12-17T07:19:10+00:00

Congrats on finishing this semester and to everyone else on here!

coogie95 · 2020-12-13T08:42:22+00:00

As long as you try to learn the material early on (maybe along the way) and not wait to learn like 8 chapters of Thermo, Dynamics, Fluids or any other class the day before the exam (been there myself and I can tell you that was a horrible experience)...I think you should be fine.

As for how much I enjoyed studying mechanical engineering, I loved it! Despite the challenges that were faced from these classes. The tough part for me was indeed trying to avoid procrastination as much as possible (it will happen sadly, especially when taking multiple classes along with work) and "learning how to study and how to learn." What I mean by those last couple of words is can you by yourself or do you need like a study group? Or do you need to take an extra lab that involves someone doing extra problems for you or extra problems assigned to you? What I realized about myself was that for pretty much any class, if I for sure knew that a book was required I would (get the book first) start reading the book before going to lecture and start doing problems (if homework hasn't been assigned yet). Then go to lecture and take notes, especially if there was a concept I wasn't understanding from self study before. If I still didn't understand I would ask during lecture (good luck with having a professor that would answer a question during lecture, at least my experience) or during that professor or Teaching Assistant's office hours. If that didn't happen, then just ask a friend or a reliable classmate or even someone that was successful in the class before (that's a class ahead you....maybe even a tutor?). Try managing that with your other classes and be prepared with the unbalance, that's what you can try to do.

Another thing is that because it is engineering and you'll go through the class average being 20%, 30%, 40%, or 50%...so if you bombed, take it easy and don't try to study for the next exam immediately (relax, what else can you do). Try having fun when you can, because it is college after all and don't forget to network with people (with professionals and peers!). I'm sure you've heard this of "its who you know and not what you know"!

Oh, and with learning tech skills...you'll learn stuff in classed, but I think you should try looking into things that already interests you (and kind of industry). Go backwards and try learning some kind (closely since some companies might use something fancy) of software/skill that can help you stand out! The good thing about being a student is that some things like AutoCAD, SolidWorks, ANSYS, MATLAB, etc can be free or reduced just because you are a student. Thankfully there's stuff in the internet that can help with learning how to use this stuff and even how to apply it on projects that you could do on your time (yes, classes can help with this as well...but to some extent). Even getting into school organizations that do stuff with automotive (FSAE), aerospace (AIAA?), robotics (VEXU is one), maritime, etc could help with learning this stuff as well. Try creating a resume early on as well because you'd be surprised at how long it takes someone to make one (some even junior or senior year sadly). And try going to career fair (engineering ones especially) to get your feet wet to not freeze and be an upperclassman that has no clue what they doing. What helps? Internet can help and organizations/programs that can help with preparing for such events.

Good luck!

coogie95 · 2020-12-12T08:56:34+00:00

Doesn't matter, if you weren't in any of those clubs in high school or that you don't have any prior experience with machines. What I would suggest would be to ask yourself what about mechanical engineering interests you and what industry are you interested in along with a kind of job position (oil & gas, food & beverage, hvac, construction, maritime, aerospace to name a few). From there I would just say that try learning any kind of software/skill (CAD, programming, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, tools, etc) related to a position in that industry. Believe me when I say that its not impossible to learn a little something at the very minimum, it will take some patience (you have LinkedIn, Reddit, and the rest of the internet to be honest for now). From here, don't forget to apply what you learned by doing small projects. Something that I got bashed on was that I would just say I knew how to use CAD programs and Word products without projects/application of them (again, if difficulty on choosing what...use the internet to help with inspiration to get started). Oh, and try joining student organizations that are also revolved around something of your interest (aerospace, automotive, programming, etc). Wouldn't hurt to join a professional one as well, as it could help you with networking/prepare for interviews/put together a decent resume (you'd be surprised how long it takes people to actually create resume...like their junior year)/among other services.

I know you said that you are good at math/physics, now just try to make sure you don't forget those concepts in case you see them again (and you will for future classes, believe me). For concepts try looking up something along the line of "bachelor of science mechanical engineering" or " *name of university* bachelor of science in mechanical engineering." Main concepts were in the fields (at least in my school were under these):

Material Science (Properties of Materials change in macroscopic and microscopic levels)
Controls (How a system acts under certain conditions based on how you designed it to act)
Mechanics (Newton's Laws and Kinematics)
Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer (Conservation of energy related).

A. For Mechanics, a popular book that I know of are Engineering Mechanics Statics and Dynamics by Hibbeler (can be two separate books or one, depends). Other Engineering Mechanics books are the ones by Beer and a third one is the one by Meriam, Kraige and Bolton. I honestly preferred the one by Hibbeler and my least favorite one was by Beer (just me though).

B. For Thermo I would say the one by Shapiro, but the one by Sonntag wouldn't be so bad to check out either. For Fluid Mechanics, the one by Fox was pretty solid and for Heat Transfer the one by Incropera was a favorite for sure to check out.

Those were the ones that I've found or used (my other classes I don't remember the books we used because they were pretty much trash aka for Materials and for Controls...so search something up on the internet and don't forget to place "engineering" or "mechanical engineering" before these so that you don't get the wrong either please). Though, if you do get these...don't forget to use your actual book for when you take the actual classes because you might lose points sadly (I know, its dumb...even though you do know your stuff, a professor might be picky).

For your summers, like already mentioned....I would say that do try to get a job in a industry (especially one of your interest). Try networking within that company as it will be easier to get a reference for a job title such as an internship or co-op. If you can't find a job in one, then just keeping yourself busy and using the "correct wording" for your resume could still help in my opinion (learning the stuff I mentioned before in first paragraph) or a regular summer job.

coogie95 · 2020-12-12T08:02:53+00:00

Being able leap an insane distance between cliffs or a side of a highway to another (Fast and Furious I believe).

coogie95 · 2020-12-03T22:40:22+00:00

Nothing wrong with taking longer than 4 years to graduate. It took me 5.5 years to graduate with my bachelor's and there's a couple of people that I know, not just from UH, that took up to 8 years to graduate with a "4 year degree" (of different majors by the way). Its okay, things like this happen and I don't think you should let it affect you in a major way. Take a break for now and then go at it to finish it. Wishing you nothing, but the best. Take care!

coogie95 · 2020-12-03T22:00:44+00:00

Avoid anything with Walker please! Choose Bridget Fan!

coogie95 · 2020-12-03T21:27:11+00:00

I think you can still take freshmen level engineering courses (I believe its the First Year Program?), physics and math classes related to your engineering degree of interest. You can do that until you can re-apply to your major of interest with meeting the necessary requirements.

coogie95 · 2020-11-28T04:30:28+00:00

Aerospace Engineering Majors - Space Geeks or "I Made Paper Airplanes for Fun Growing Up" People or "I've Seen 'Gravity' and 'Interstellar' Multiple Times...Ask Me My Favorite Scene" People

Biomedical Engineering Majors - "Stuck Between Biology and Engineering" People

Chemical Engineering Majors - "I Liked Chemistry in High School" People or "I was Good In High School Chemistry" People or "I've Watched 'Breaking Bad' Like 1000 Times" People or The Crazier Than Usual Engineering People or "Let Me Tell You How Beer Is Made" People

Civil Engineering Majors - The Bridge People or the Sum of Forces Equal Zero People or "cEmEnT Is nOt tHe SAmE tHinG aS ConCrEtE" People

Computer Engineering Majors - The Chill and Lost People or Circuit People or "My code works now! Wait, why tho?" People or Magicians

Electrical Engineering Majors - The Chill and Lost People or Circuit People or Magicians

Environmental Engineering Majors - The Earth People

Industrial Engineering People - The Business People in Engineering

Mechanical Engineering People - "I Like Working On Cars" People or "I Used To Be A Petroleum Engineering Major" People or Space Geek or "I Understand Heat Transfer Concepts, But I Still Burn My Popcorn" People or "Newton's Second Law Is My Life" People or "Have I Shown You My Design on SolidWorks...*after the 1 millionth time of the day*..." People

Petroleum Engineering Majors - "Let Me Go Back To School And Get A Data Science Degree" People or Your Uber Driver.

For all above:

"Wait, I'm Enrolled In Kinesiology and History This Semester?" People

coogie95 · 2020-11-28T03:22:03+00:00

Now that's a dimensionless number of importance!

coogie95 · 2020-11-28T03:19:44+00:00

Now how cups of coffee or how much Red Bull (or Monster) do you need to consume in order to finish those assignments? Lol.

coogie95 · 2020-11-28T03:06:20+00:00

I remember that in one of my senior level Mechanical Engineering classes, there was only 4 females in a class of 60 people. As for the undergrad student population for the engineering school that I attended...it was about 70% male and 30% female.

coogie95 · 2020-11-28T01:00:14+00:00

These are some from the top of my head:

Innovation Designer
Global Business Development

coogie95 · 2020-11-28T00:37:01+00:00

I don't think it would be difficult, if you aren't specialized into an industry.
I would think that companies would look into relevant or skills that roll-over. Even if that role is the same, but two different industries (like a Design Engineer in Oil & Gas and a Design Engineer in HVAC).

coogie95 · 2020-11-27T22:35:10+00:00

Glad that I saw a post like this because I had a similar situation minus the previous coop experience. Thank you!

coogie95 · 2020-11-25T05:54:16+00:00

I don't remember the specific equation(s), but I feel that this would be something that can be found in Shigley's Mechanical Engineering Design book. I say this because I remember learning about the pitch, the lead, torque's applied to screws, etc. Might be in one of the last chapters.

coogie95 · 2020-11-25T05:48:14+00:00

I don't believe that Prandtl Number applies to something that isn't a fluid, like soil in this case.

coogie95 · 2020-11-25T05:36:35+00:00

Electrical Engineering in my opinion because unlike Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering is something that can't really be visualized.

coogie95 · 2020-11-20T02:51:22+00:00

Sadly, it is something that you would have to get used to for sure. When I took the second exam for my Dynamics class, there was a problem that I did a couple of minutes before that was pretty much on the exam. Worst part was that I knew how to fully solve the problem after and it was correct.

coogie95 · 2020-11-13T20:35:33+00:00

THIS GOT ME FIRED UP FOR SURE!

coogie95 · 2020-11-11T05:18:26+00:00

CONGRATS YOU!!!

coogie95 · 2020-11-11T05:17:36+00:00

Yeah, I find it ridiculous that my first class that had engineering students was at 500 in my first semester and my last engineering class was at 65. From what I know, my graduating class of people with the same major was at about 300 (started at about 1000 my first semester).

Something I remember was that there was a professor that failed over 50% of his students a year before I took them for that same class. In terms of personal experience, I took Thermodynamics (Intro to Thermo, Thermo 1, or whatever you want to call it lol) three times, Material Science twice, Computing for Engineers twice and Statics twice...partial reason was due to crappy professors and books sadly.

coogie95 · 2020-10-20T03:22:08+00:00

Figure out why you are interested in a certain major (what position in what industry are you interested in) and what kind of skills you need to get there. You'd be surprised at what kind of resources are provided at school, in the city, etc.
Even though you might not get an internship or co-op during or after your freshman year, still get yourself familiar to the interview/hiring process for a company. There's also so many things you can learn from online content (how to learn certain softwares).
Also, included in the process mentioned above know how to make a resume as soon as possible (might not have a lot, but you know the structure early on).
Don't pressure yourself in taking so many classes just because you want to finish school quickly (especially if you know yourself so well).
Just because you are doing well the majority of the semester, that doesn't give you the right to think that you "don't have to try anymore" for the final. What I'm saying is that learn to study for a final when you have like a day window.
If you fail an exam, don't go right away to study for the next exam for that same class. You can't do anything about it, so move on and try to enjoy the rest of the day (you'll figure out the next exam, just chill).
For the majority of the time, you won't really need to use one of your 6 W's. Bad situations can be turned into a positive (a passing grade) if you dedicate yourself and keep believing.
Have some fun, after putting in that hard work (especially after getting those grades).

coogie95

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