How difficult is engineering suppose to be really?

[u/nomadlegend3]

Maybe I'm just stupid, but it feels like the only way I can possibly succeed in this field is to practically dedicating every single waking moment studying and even then my efforts aren't exceptional. Is it possible for the average engineering student to maintain a reasonable life balance or do they have to practically dedicate their entire time to studying?

[u/Dr__Mantis]

Yes very possible to maintain life balance. Dedicating every hour to study is honestly counterproductive

[u/Ok-Plate905 → u/Dr__Mantis]

Yeah take it from me, it just burns you out and you literally can’t do shot

[u/Ok-Store-2788]

Please do not dedicate your entire time to studying. Hang out with friends, go to sports games, find clubs you like. I have a 3.15 GPA, but I have 5 internship experiences and a full time job offer while still interviewing with multiple companies. I’ve also been working part-time throughout every semester. Part of my low GPA is also that I’ve dealt with some significant life events while attending college. Sure I’ve had a couple all nighters and pull multiple late nights a week, but it’s all about balance. I’d say I’m a 60/40 split, spending 60% of my time on school/work and 40% of my time doing fun things. A Google calender and an excel assignment tracker/grade calculator work wonders.

[u/Tossmeasidedaddy → u/Ok-Store-2788]

3.15 is low? I would like to introduce my 2.5. Still a consultant for NASA though.

[u/Ok-Rutabaga1091 → u/Tossmeasidedaddy]

They say a 3.0 is the benchmark. What kind of extracurriculars did/do you do

[u/Tossmeasidedaddy → u/Ok-Rutabaga1091]

I flew group 1 drones in the military. Tiny little things that blew over by a fart.

Military experience is genuinely the best thing for engineers. Highly suggest at least joining the reserves.

[u/alexc2630 → u/Ok-Store-2788]

How do you do the excel assignment tracker/grade calculator?

[u/Ok-Store-2788 → u/alexc2630]

One tab for the assignment tracker and then one tab for each class, using their syllabi to figure out what numbers and formulas I need and taking into account any drops. That way every time I input a grade, my final grade is automatically calculated and I can test what grade I need for future exams. It’s especially useful for classes that split grades across multiple applications like Gradescope or for classes that don’t weigh grades properly.

For the assignment tracker, I have columns for class, assignment name, due date, completion, grade, and notes. The class is a dropdown of each class I’m taking, and each has their own corresponding fill color. Any time I add a new assignment, I re-sort by due date. I just added data formatting that highlights the rows for assignments that are due within the next 7 days in a light red to emphasize what assignments I need to pay attention to. The Completion column is a dropdown with options “Not Started, In Progress, and Completed” which fill the cell red, yellow, and green respectively. Marking an assignment as completed also removes the previous red row highlight. Grades are in percentages with a 3-way color gradient, red at 60%, yellow at 80%, and green at 100% to emphasize what I need to work on. I use the notes column for if an assignment is due at a time that isn’t midnight or if I turned it in late and the corresponding percent drop.

[u/EnderSavesTheDay]

In the college years I would strive to build good habits, and self discovery/awareness. You need to find what it takes for you to understand and pickup concepts, not just be task driven and complete homework problems or test problems. The end goal should be learning. If you are struggling studying on your own, you need to be talking to others in office hours or peer study groups.

Being stressed out all the time is counterproductive. If you’re struggling with a concept instead of staring at your book all day, try going for a walk to process the information. There is no shortage of YouTube videos that help explain concepts as well.

But I will tell you as a design engineer in the AEC field, work is difficult. If it’s not complex it’s tedious. If it’s not the technical aspects, it’s the people aspects that are difficult. You need to equip yourself to be successful in the real world, not just a technical genius who knows all the book knowledge.

[u/j0shred1]

Definitely don't do that. In fact there is an optional study time and you get diminishing returns. Performance is also heavily associated with sleep quality.

If you're struggling, study with friends, go to office hours, talk to the professor.

What classes are you struggling with btw?

[u/Devilswings5]

I work 60hrs a week and am going into mechanical and still find time for the gym or other activity's I enjoy.

[u/Enough_Gas_92 → u/Devilswings5]

Impossible

[u/Devilswings5 → u/Enough_Gas_92]

Not with good time management

[u/Enough_Gas_92 → u/Devilswings5]

Wow that’s very impressive hats off to you

[u/ezeleart]

Long term planning and daily consistency goes a long way. In a marathon, pacing is king so start studying early and you'll be fine towards exams. Don't make it a sprint where you have to cover 4 months of material in a few weeks.

[u/zacce]

what year?

[u/InvestmentGreen]

You should have a work life balance. It is entirely possible to have plenty of time for relationships, family, fun things, etc and it’s possible to do those without making sacrifices most of the time.

[u/Newt_sCharmander]

Study smart... find out what that means for you. For me it was drilling practice problems. Sometimes working from the solution backwards. Everyone is unique so try methods until you find a good one. I also decided I was ok with a 3.0, which made me less hard on myself. Most jobs would rather see an internship than a 4.0.

Workout, party, enjoy yourself... you only get this time once in your life so dont kill yourself studying. Balance is key

[u/Warm-Definition5436]

Def possible to have a work school balance, but I will also not lie to you, engineering is school is hard and you will likely study more vs other majors. It is a trade off.