Other Becoming an Engineer: Considerations and Personal Experiences

[Philip Wong]

For any engineering program, u would need to have pre-requisites of Physics, Chemistry and Pure Math, each of these has to be at the equalivent of GCE "A" level standards of at least a D or C grade min or in US or Canada standard of 60% min for u to be admitted in any engineering program. Also u would need to have a min GPA of at least 2.o for the less competitive programs and at least 2.5 to 3 for the more competitive ones.

So it all depends on which Uni that u choose and also the program.

So what unis of programs do u intend to pursue? Perhaps if u let me know, i can advise u further and what are yr high school courses or grades and also yr first degree courses and grades.

Where do u plan to go? Canada or US to study? Both have pretty similar program kinds but different requirements to start with.

As I said from earlier posts, I went to college (or as I recall, high school in north america) in New Zealand. I and most college fellow students were the unfortunates one, because we are the first year to undertaken the new education systems known as NCEA (upon with you earn either you pass, or failed of the particular crietia; in pass section, there is also pass, pass with merit, and pass with excellent. BUT they all give you the same amount of credits no matter if you get pass, merit, or excellent). So I don't know how to tell you how my "grades" were in college, because nobody then really knows how to compare the so call marks between students. As for my university grades so far, I'm believe I have C average, I'm trying to push it up to C+ or B- this year.

As for where do I wanted to go, I'm not so sure myself yet (if I have a choice I would preferred somewhere in LA because I got relatives living there, yet overall I don't mind too much). But I'm sure I need a fresh start with a new career, because I was too lazy for my pass two years (hences my grades...). I have my minds on programes that goes alone the line of robotics, with more towards hardware then software (somehow I just don't really like programming). Can you make any suggestions?

p.s. Well ofcourse Icould make the wildest dream, and saying irresponsibliy "I wanted to get into MIT". But I know my limits AND MY GRADES arean't going to get me anywhere near. Well at least not in the near future.

 

[Philip Wong]

For any engineering program, u would need to have pre-requisites of Physics, Chemistry and Pure Math, each of these has to be at the equalivent of GCE "A" level standards of at least a D or C grade min or in US or Canada standard of 60% min for u to be admitted in any engineering program. Also u would need to have a min GPA of at least 2.o for the less competitive programs and at least 2.5 to 3 for the more competitive ones.

So it all depends on which Uni that u choose and also the program.

So what unis of programs do u intend to pursue? Perhaps if u let me know, i can advise u further and what are yr high school courses or grades and also yr first degree courses and grades.

Where do u plan to go? Canada or US to study? Both have pretty similar program kinds but different requirements to start with.

adding to my last post, I have not done any chemrsity papers in my university degree (and I've done up all my points at level 100, the department won't let me do anymore level 100 papers in second half of the year). Currently I'm doing two level 100 physics (to prepare myself for engineering) and a level 200 math paper. is this sufficiently enough?

also in the university I'm studying now, generally c- = 50%, c =55~60% (depeding on the department). and then grades will go up with every extra 5%. meaning a A+ is 90%+

 

[abelkwh]

adding to my last post, I have not done any chemrsity papers in my university degree (and I've done up all my points at level 100, the department won't let me do anymore level 100 papers in second half of the year). Currently I'm doing two level 100 physics (to prepare myself for engineering) and a level 200 math paper. is this sufficiently enough?

also in the university I'm studying now, generally c- = 50%, c =55~60% (depeding on the department). and then grades will go up with every extra 5%. meaning a A+ is 90%+

The best thing for u to do now, regardless of what grades u have or grade system is to look up the engineering degree that u are interested in and then look up for the unis that have such a program in yr chosen area, ie. LA in california. Then look up the unis with the program that u have targets on and then look at each site and see what the requirements are and then from there, apply if u have satisified the requirements, otherwise, try to take the courses required for fulfilling the requirement at the current uni that u are taking yr degree and then apply as a transfer student from there!

 

[Philip Wong]

ar! does transferring process strict over there? especially from another country?

another thing, a friend of mine. He is doing his master in engineering now, in the same uni as I'm. He wanted to ask, if he want to apply to for an postgraduate course what are some requirements he have to met before the application process is to be considered?

 

[abelkwh]

US and Canadian Universities are very welcoming to transfer students and its not hard at all to get transfers as long as u satisfy their requirements!

As for graduate programs such as masters program, transfers are rare and not so easy, cause most masters course work programs have very few transfers, but that does not mean its not possible! If yr friend is interested then he has to search for the program that he is interested and the uni/ program that he is interested and check out from each uni/ program as they all differ in their requirements for transfers.

 

[Smarty7]

The other day, i read about new engineering degrees in Mechatronics, and other which are indeed combination of different subjects like optics and electricals etc. I am wondering that since they are old options all combined, do i have to twice or thrice more than the normal degree of engineering? i am much curious about this thing.

 

[AlexES16]

What about ME, I am starting university in 3 months.

 

[abelkwh]

What about ME, I am starting university in 3 months.

What do u mean by how about ME? what do u want to know abt ME? where r u starting and in what year? Which uni? and where r u from ?

 

[AlexES16]

What do u mean by how about ME? what do u want to know abt ME? where r u starting and in what year? Which uni? and where r u from ?

Hello =). Well i am from El Salvador and i love math and physics, it looks like in ME you see a lot of Physics and Math and you see how does affect everyday technology. Also i will like to know 3 other things: 1)In which feel of ME you see more math and science 2) Will be good to get a degree in physics? and also the engineering 3) At the time i don't see a master degree or Phd here in my country, so how can you go to other country and study?.

I will go to national universitiy of El Salvador(looks like is the only one that have a tiltle that is international approved)

here is the link: http://www.ues.edu.sv/
http://www.ues.edu.sv/facultades_carreras.html

the pensum: https://www.academica.ues.edu.sv/co...a.php?carrera=I10503-1998&facultad=ingenieria

PS: I am working on my english skills, sorry for the mistakes.

 

[AlexES16]

1st question: if you see yourself as making something that matters in life, go for engineering. if you see yourself as being the next einstein, but you arent that good in mathematics or in geometric perception- go into engineering.

science (physics, chemistry, biology, etc) is for people who are willing to get paid less money, to work long hours and often times with little progress due to uncertainty in your work and due to the unknowns in sciences. research for a scientist is a combination of academic excellence, perseverance, and drive of curiosity. if you like teaching others or thinking of a career such as college professor this might just be the best option for you.

engineering (chemical, mechanical, civil, aerospace, electrical, etc) is for people who don't want to be journalists or accountants or customer service representatives because they want to make a difference in life, because they want to see their product - to be able to look at it and admire it with all the 5 senses. engineering is for those who want to make this world a better place, by taking serious responsibilities in everything they do, with a sense of righteosness. you might be smiling, but if engineer is lousy in his work, a lot of people will die, and a lot more might suffer. engineers get paid well compared to scientists.

now there is also a deviation from science which has a name of 'medical physicist'. those people are basically engineers, than scientists, and hence is their pay in 100k range/yr.

choose wisely, but if you are torn between the two like i am - go for both. get a dual degree in science and some engineering that interests you. for example: a dual degree, BS in Physics and BS in Electrical Engineering. Both majors are interrelated and would be a valuable addition to each other.

i'm a student in physics and chemical engineering. if you find everything interesting - go for this mix. chemical engineering is the universal engineering field. in combination with physics it creates an extremely broad range of knowledge and skills that employers will find useful.

Hey can i have a Licenciate in Physics and be a Mechanical Engineer?

 

[AlexES16]

No answers xD?

 

[trichard18000]

hi
I can't think of many professions which are as broad and varied as engineering, and in the average day (some mornings wearing a suit, some afternoons wearing overalls and safety boots) I definitely have a wider range of things to do than your average GP, accountant or solicitor.


Thomas Riccard,
http://www.dermatologist.com"

 

[Philip Wong]

hi
I can't think of many professions which are as broad and varied as engineering, and in the average day (some mornings wearing a suit, some afternoons wearing overalls and safety boots) I definitely have a wider range of things to do than your average GP, accountant or solicitor.


Thomas Riccard,
http://www.dermatologist.com"

I'm sorry, can you tell me what's the relationship between dermatology and engineering?

 

[snshusat161]

I don't know what we mean by "engineering". I am going to take admission in Engineering college this year but I know I won't be a good engineer. And I also know that I will get degree somehow, might be with a lower grade.

Some people define engineering as the study of science to apply it to the practical problems. Whether its really like that, I wonder. If it is really like that then why we write papers, why exams are not conducted practically on sites and labs. There are practicals but they are just fake and nothing else.

Besides about the knowledge of Maths and Physics (in my country, one more subject i.e. Chemistry), I have some knowledge but I don't practice rote memorization actually I should write "I can't practice". So with a due course of time, I forget most of the things and only thing that is left in my mind is the gist. Nothing I get but a zero for that gist.

I've never entered college. I don't know much about the way study take place there but I guess, the same thing is going to be there what I had there in my school till yesterday. I don't know to write, medium of study is English here but I speak in different tongue and so I make silly grammatical mistakes every now and then and it becomes a mess.

If everything will go practical then I can be a very good engineer because that's what I am practicing from my very childhood. I have a habit to open every electronic devices which I can afford to open and disintegrate it and then integrate it to know its working. I had understood how motor works before it is taught in my class in a very dull manner. Why study don't go like that. It will be fun and easy and we're surely going to get more good engineers from that back lists which are just screaming to get their degree.

 

[Philip Wong]

I don't know what we mean by "engineering". I am going to take admission in Engineering college this year but I know I won't be a good engineer. And I also know that I will get degree somehow, might be with a lower grade.

Some people define engineering as the study of science to apply it to the practical problems. Whether its really like that, I wonder. If it is really like that then why we write papers, why exams are not conducted practically on sites and labs. There are practicals but they are just fake and nothing else.

Besides about the knowledge of Maths and Physics (in my country, one more subject i.e. Chemistry), I have some knowledge but I don't practice rote memorization actually I should write "I can't practice". So with a due course of time, I forget most of the things and only thing that is left in my mind is the gist. Nothing I get but a zero for that gist.

I've never entered college. I don't know much about the way study take place there but I guess, the same thing is going to be there what I had there in my school till yesterday. I don't know to write, medium of study is English here but I speak in different tongue and so I make silly grammatical mistakes every now and then and it becomes a mess.

If everything will go practical then I can be a very good engineer because that's what I am practicing from my very childhood. I have a habit to open every electronic devices which I can afford to open and disintegrate it and then integrate it to know its working. I had understood how motor works before it is taught in my class in a very dull manner. Why study don't go like that. It will be fun and easy and we're surely going to get more good engineers from that back lists which are just screaming to get their degree.

exams is used, not entirely for the sake of students beneficiary. It is rather used as indicating tool (though I personally believe is an extraordinary bad indicating tool, such that bad examination marks doesn't necessary indicate the student is incapable or worse than others) to show the fund payers (i.e. the government, or private corporates) "how well" the institute is performing with respect to "how well" students had shown in their exam marks. thus has a direct relationship with how much funding or support institute will receive in the upcoming academic year.

is rather sad really, if you think about it. but hey we can't really blame the lecturers, they need to feed their families too you know.

 

[ty1117]

There is this neat new service that really assists in answering questions similar to the title of this specific thread "The Should-I-Become-An-Engineer?". It uses a blog to accommodate its services, and all the inquirer must do is submit a comment on any post and the blogger will proceed to answer the question through the best possible means.

Check it out: http://engineeringinsiderinfo.blogspot.com/

 

[TL92]

Which is the most useful engineering degree? For example the one that can appeal to wide range of employers in the job market.

 

[TL92]

If there's a lot of emphasis on Math(s) with engineering Bachelor Degree,
well then can someone please post a video of one of their classes (5mins max if allowed video in the class) to give us prospective students an idea of what it's like?

 

[Philip Wong]

Which is the most useful engineering degree? For example the one that can appeal to wide range of employers in the job market.

in terms of job range, I guess, without any statistics, go for Civil

 

[TL92]

No I'm ok with math and statistics. what about Materials Science engineering bachelor's degree?

 

[Philip Wong]

No I'm ok with math and statistics. what about Materials Science engineering bachelor's degree?

what i meant by statistics, i meant, I don't have actual figures as to which filed has the widest range of employment.

not literally statistics in mathematics

 

[TL92]

Oh ok sorry.. ok so what about the other degree? Material science engineering.

 

[Philip Wong]

buddy, I don't know myself. I'm trying to get in too, after I graduate from my current bachelor that is. I presume there is some sort of career advisory center located at the university or institute you want to get in, ask them. they should know all about these kind of things.

 

[johny534]

At the suggestion of Shahil, I'm starting this thread as a general guidance thread for prospective engineers. Some typical questions:

-Should I become an engineer?
-What engineering discipline should I study?
-Is engineering difficult?

I encourage people to post personal experiences in school and in the professional world regarding the field of engineering.

Some background info on me - I'm a mechanical engineer working in the field of HVAC design. I started off studying aerospace engineering, but the math was just too much for me. I like mechanical engineering because it is a very wide field with all sorts of job opportunities everywhere.

engineering is not that much difficult...every field in engineering has it's own identity and unique requirement in all the fields...just give your time and understand all the thing technically...!

 

[minxx]

I'm starting this thread as a general guidance thread for prospective engineers. Some typical questions:
-Should I become an engineer?
-What engineering discipline should I study?
-Is engineering difficult?

Alright, here I am: A healthy 25 years old, married with children, graduate with BA degrees in both theater and audio/video editing. My work experience is in Media, Public Relations, Photography and Videography. Myers and Briggs would say I'm creative and right-brained, but I love to learn and to think/analyze. I'm detail-oriented, slightly obsessive-compulsive and compartmental in behavior. I've always had an interest in electronics, taking things apart, and a desire to re-arrange them to create something new, but I've never acted on these desires (apart from several plastic bags in my desk at home that contain various wires and components, and all the insides of our ancient large-screen TV left on my front porch that I couldn't bear to throw away). I've always done well in math and science, but never pursued it or taken any calculus, so I still have a long way to go. I do like what I do, but I have this urge to do more with myself. So my questions echo those above, along with an other relevant advice, and also the following: I'm on par with a lot of 12 year olds when it comes to knowledge, should I go back to earn a BS before looking at other options? And perhaps from a more realistic view: if it does happen that I'm not right for an engineering career, could it be considered as a viable past-time? What knowledge and training would that entail?

 

[abelgalois]

Question(s).

Is anyone here a biomedical engineer?

If so, how does biomedical engineering differ from other biomedical and medical research? (Or even BIO engineering.)

And how does biomedical engineering differ from other related engineering fields?

Is it more important to be good at physics/math OR biology/chemistry if one wants to do bio medical engineering?

How is the pay?

Is the work exciting/fulfilling?

 

[NanjoeBot]

I notice a lot of people are saying mechanical is the most broad and versatile. I am in a Chemical Engineering program and I think its equally, if not more versatile. We learn a lot of chemistry (obviously),thermodynamics, process engineering, fluid physics, a little bit of quantum physics, circuits and electronics, materials science and more! There's jobs for chemical engineers in pretty much EVERY field.

 

[Scottidott]

Hi.
I am interested in becoming an engineer but after what I have read, math is really important, but I have a C in math is that good enough.

 

[harelo]

Hi.
I am interested in becoming an engineer but after what I have read, math is really important, but I have a C in math is that good enough.

Math classes are VERY different form Math in Engineering.

What I have found from all my math classes (Calculus I, II, Multivariable, Linear Algebra I, II, Infinite Series, to name a few) is that they teach these from an almost esoteric point, with lots of beefy mathematical theory and derivation behind them.

That being said, shift over to a more engineering related class, I'm going to use an example from my Analog Signal Processing classes:

We learned about Fourier Transforms, mathematical equations to make function approximations. We spent about 2 weeks on these, very in depth, talking about periods, derivations, and LOTS of really beefy math talk.

In comes Fourier Series in my electronics class. We learned what we had to know to use it in this scenario.

SO the [long winded] point I'm trying to make is, YES math is VERY important.
HOWEVER, do not be intimidated by all of this math, if you buckle down and don't get wrapped up in all the derivations and ridiculous theory, the practical math can be learned very easily.

This is from an Engineering standpoint. As for an Academic standpoint, it depends what the University you're applying to requirements are.

Maybe some require a higher average for the class, others may take overall averages, so you will have to talk to your high-school adviser or university adviser if you're already in your undergraduate.

Good luck in any future endeavors

 

[Detlen1]

I’m also trying to become an engineer, however the only ones that I found appealing to me was from a list off of (this is the list)

Aerospace Engineering
Agricultural Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Civil Engineering
Computer Software Engineering
Construction Management Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Engineering Management
Engineering Technology
Environmental Engineering
Fire Protection Engineering
Industrial Engineering
Materials Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Nuclear Engineering
Petroleum Engineering
Technology Management
Telecommunications Engineering

I love trying to find and solving problems and I keep a scrap book of any idea that i have and came up with some designs that might benefit the world. I also have an act for planning (however i noticed that i plan more down the line than the current future) But back to my point, i found only 3 out of that list that really appeal to me
-Mechanical Eng.
-Civil Eng.
-Eng. Tech

now out of the three i hope you all could fill me into what might be better suited for me as i start, i hope in time that i can research the other fields and perhaps become better in helping or changing the world but as i read from another member at this sight I’m not in it for the money but to help out mankind.

P.S. I hope being a poor speller don’t hurt me lol