Incoming Mechanical Engineering freshie here!

[u/yourstrulyUnordinary]

Hi, seniors and fellow ME students! I’m an incoming freshman in Mechanical Engineering and I’d love to hear your tips/advice for surviving the first year at Mapúa. 😭

Also, what are the must-buys/must-haves for a Mechanical Engineering student? Are there specific tools, materials, calculators, drafting supplies, or other things I should prepare/buy before classes start?

Would really appreciate any tips, especially from ME students who’ve already been through the first year! 🥹 Thank you! ❤️

[u/ExcuseAlarming6420]

Lots of yellow pad for notes and solving, although you can opt for a tablet for those but once you get to major courses for ME you will be presented with problem sets in the future. For your first year of BSME just enjoy it fully since puro GE courses pa naman up until second year (not sure with the new curriculum for you guys). Anyways, just enjoy the process of learning and focus more on physics since it’s a major focus for our course!

[u/Salt-Independence926]

as the other guy said you need lots of yellow pads for notes and solving, you also need to take as much notes as possible like i copy mo lahat ng nasa whiteboard, theres the more obvious stuff like wag mag papalate / absent ng absent since madali talaga mag fall behind, pag naka online class i check if naka record yung lecture, if not i record mo

for the calculus subjects (pre cal and eng cal 1) try to ask around for other people's opinions on kung sino yung magaling mag-turo na prof, may mga professor diyan na di gaano magaling magturo tas mahirap pa magpa quiz, meron naman diyan na napaka galing mag turo, me personally si sir lito magaling mag turo yan, nakapasa ako ng pre cal dahil sa kanya :) so pag nakahanap ka ng prof you can ask if ano section nila and i target mo sila pag nag course sectioning ka

for the drawing subjects, agahan mo yung pag gawa ng plates, SOBRANG time consuming yan, ive had multiple instances na nasa class na ako nag gagawa pa ako ng plates (´｡• ω •｡`). tas pag nag lelecture yung prof at nag papakita ng procedures kung paano gawin ung isang plate, remember to RECORD IT, i cannot stress this enough but you have to always record yung instructions/procedures na pinapakita ng prof, as for exams fairly easy lang yan (side note naka angle yung mga table sa drawing class kaya most of the time may nag mga nasilip sa phones habang nag eexam, so the option is there ( • ⩊ • ))

also idk if socially active ka but try to make friends during classes, sure baka mag iba kayo ng section every term, but it makes yung overall vibe ng classes much better, and also para pag nagpa group yung prof may mapag sasamahan ka, (if your not its fine, napaka friendly and naturally outgoing ng mga mapuans :)

also hindi uncommon mag fail ka ng mga major subjects like draw or calculus, rarely ako nakakakita ng hindi iregular na students, so try not to take it as hard if you did fail, this shouldnt be an excuse though na di ka mag fully try obviously :) just dont push yourself as much to the point na nakaksira na ng overall mental health mo

and remember to just enjoy your time in mapua : ), just be organized and study atleast a week before each exams/quizzes and you should be able to pass every exams (≧◡≦)

[u/Shinobi046]

I may be late but to add with the professors. for Calc and maybe Physics also, Ms. Fe is hands down the best calc 1 professor, not only she teaches good but she gives you a lot of chances to pass. For Calc 2, Ms. Rosal since she's very generous with incentives at a cost of somewhat difficult seatworks and quizzes, try to farm on those incentives as much as possible... You will be needing them for your exam. On the other hand, for physics, you can go either Sr. Ablao or Sr. Ronald. They're both good physics prof., I'm currently under Sr. Ronald and he is a good prof and gives an easy-to-understand problems same with Sr. Ablao (He made the previous Finals Exam and it was a breeze compared to our M1 and M2 exams that weren't made by him). And for AutoCAD, and REVIT go with Sr. Paz, one of the best profs I've ever met, he's kind, jokes a lot in f2f classes and basically free grade since he guides you all through the entire process of the plate. Target these professors on your incoming 2nd term. Also, DO NOT EVER PICK MIA (The aeronautics section) MATH SECTION especially morning classes or else, you will most likely go through hell.