It feels like M.E. undergrad degree is a JOKE

[Curl]

Curl, you're in the right degree but the wrong college. One of the big ten or PAC ten or ivy league engineering schools would have done right by you.

I am at a PAC-10 school...

any tips on improving my general knowledge, as well as my job prospects?
best case scenario- I want to have my own shop, where I develop soft robots, UAVs, and whatever else interests me. I know I'll need more than a basic Mechanical Engineering degree for that!
worst case scenario- I make sketches in solidworks/ all day for 40 years. I wouldn't be ok with that!
I definitely want to get my EIT and PE!

I guess my question is, how do I know what I need to know?

Looks like your "best case scenario" is similar to mine. Sad news is, it takes a lot for that to happen. It's not even about how much you know or how much talent you have, it's all about having hookups, opportunity banging on your door, etc.

 

[Travis_King]

You also can't expect to learn everything at school that you'll need to know in order to start your own company that deals in some of the most cutting edge technologies. The information is out there, there are seminars, articles, published papers, expo's, etc.

 

[xxChrisxx]

best case scenario- I want to have my own shop, where I develop soft robots, UAVs, and whatever else interests me. I know I'll need more than a basic Mechanical Engineering degree for that!

The thing you are looking for is experience.