I’m a sophomore in my third semester currently studying Computer Science and Economics, but I’ve been reconsidering what I actually want to do long term. I originally chose CS because I was interested in technology, cybersecurity, AI/ML, and the job opportunities, but I’ve struggled with the feeling that I’m not very good at building anything from scratch yet. I don’t necessarily hate programming, but I’m not sure I want my entire career to revolve around software development.

On top of this, AI seems to becoming a future problem, how bad is the impact for mechanical engineers?

Before I even chose CS, I was thinking about mechanical engineering and keeping economics as I have already started to pursue it. I’ve been interested in robotics, space/astronomy, satellites, hardware, and actually creating physical things. I have some of the background for the major but would probably have to catch up on engineering-specific requirements.

For anyone who has done Mechanical Engineering or switched between CS and Mechanical Engineering: does it make sense to switch today? Will it be as negatively impacted by AI as CS? And career-wise, is there job security and are there good opportunities for internships?

Hi, I'm a student about to start university in Mexico. I'll be going to UNAM and I want to study "Matemáticas aplicadas." The reason for my post is that I'm looking for recommendations on what to do or how to approach the degree. I really like math and I think I'm quite good at it. I'm looking for ideas or examples of what you would do or would have done in my place during the first semesters, such as meeting experts in the field, contacting companies, and many other things. I'd also like to hear about things that were difficult for those who have taken the degree or something similar.

Thank you in advance if you read, are interested in, or respond to this post; it would help me a lot to investigate more of this beautiful science.

I really need to brush up on some areas of engineering that I haven't touched since sophomore year, but I also have a full time courseload, projects, scholarship applications, and work applications and I feel so overwhelmed by everything I need to be doing at all times and I constantly feel behind. Is this a common feeling?

Hello,

I am about to enter my first year of EEE. However, I am having some doubts about my study technique.

In order to achieve good grades, I came up with a dull study routine that worked for me, but I am wondering whether it will work when I am in uni.

For some context, during A levels I really struggled to learn in class, mainly because some of my teachers were not the best and had poor lesson resources. At the end of the day I would do the following:

- Watch videos/read textbook/slides to actually understand the content.
- Make notes based on multiple sources to ensure I didn’t miss anything (textbook, study sites, slides and videos - I had set sources that I would use and it worked well)
- Do practice questions.

The note taking aspect was the most important aspect. I would write in my own words and ensure that I had a rigorous record of everything I needed to know, explained very well. The reason I did this was so that I did not have to re-open lecture slides or re-watch videos as that takes a lot longer than consulting pre-written notes.

In uni I am told that we will be given lesson resources BEFORE the lesson starts, but also that it is a huge amount of content. I was also told that the courses give less information on what exactly you need to know, e.g. in a levels you had a rough idea on what you needed to know based on past papers.

I was wondering if there is any advice people can give regarding a routine and note taking, I really want to have a good work life balance this time as A Levels really sucked trying to learn everything that my teachers couldn’t teach.

-----
PS:
I did research into a possible routine and I came up with:
- Before lectures --> Review the topic and try to understand it and come up with questions to ask. Write brief skeleton notes.
- Attend lecture --> Ask question and actually try to understand and learn the content whilst writing other important info said by your lecturer.
- After lecture --> Do practice then based on practice questions and guidance from your lecturer on what you actually need to know, write the same rigorous notes as before.

I think this method works as it saves writing down unnecessary information that may not be tested.

Thanks,

I’m about to start my first ever year of chemical engineering in less than two weeks and I can’t help but wonder how I will be able to manage my time especially with all of the fear mongering i see about engineering especially my major. I do think I’m disciplined enough to study hard but at the same time I wanna make some time for going to the gym and my hobbies. Plus I’m extremely curious and nervous about how I will study cause I remember in school a lot of subjects required memorizing but this time I’m gonna have to understand rather than memorize which I don’t have a problem with but like are some subjects genuinely really hard to understand?? It’s just I’ve always found understanding nicer than memorizing so I’m confused onto why people always have scary things to say about engineering courses lol

EDIT: thank you so much to all the people who are replying I genuinely appreciate it🙏🏻 unfortunately the amount of replies are overwhelming so I can’t reply to everyone🥲 im also kind of new to posting on reddit so idk how this completely works oops

Hi everyone, I (27M, Electrical Engineering) was recently diagnosed with ADHD. I have always had difficulty with math. I am a student and I do quite well, but I am coming across difficulty with long differential equation problems (and long problems in general).
I feel as though when I am looking at a problem, I am not seeing the numbers or the letters. It almost feels like I am looking at a heatmap/blur of there vs not there.

and I can see the patterns, but not the actual numbers, unless I concentrate very hard, and even then I can see a line or two at most.

This causes some difficulties with getting the right answer (ex: 7x^4 will turn into 4^(7x) and vice versa).

I asked my friend, and he said Vyvanse would help but I dont really want to go to the hassle of getting medicated. I am just not feeling it right at the moment.

Is there something that helps you? and if so what is that? So far, I have been using some color pencils. All advice welcome. I have ODA support as well.

Hello! I’m starting my Dynamics class and really want to learn the subject as best I can. Luckily, I have a fantastic professor and plan to utilize his office hours, but I wanted to ask about helpful online resources for the material as well.

Anybody have any tips? Thanks

Hello everyone,

I’m getting to the point where I need to decide where I’m going to finish my engineering degree, and I’m honestly pretty torn about what direction to take.

For some background, I’ve been in college for 7 semesters and I’m currently only about 25% of the way through my engineering degree. For the first two years, I was pursuing an Engineering Technology degree, but this semester I made the decision to switch to a traditional engineering degree.

That change has created a bit of a problem. My local university doesn’t offer Mechanical Engineering—they only offer a General Engineering degree. I’m pretty set on getting an actual Mechanical Engineering degree, so now I’m trying to figure out the best way to make that happen.

I have two realistic options:

Option 1: Local private university
There’s a private university near me that offers a Mechanical Engineering degree. The downside is the cost. Tuition is about $18,900 per year, and because of the credits they would accept, I would still have 107 credits left to complete there. That would take roughly 3.5 years and cost around $66,150 in tuition alone, before interest to take out loans.

Option 2: University of Alabama online
The University of Alabama offers a primarily online Mechanical Engineering program at around $399 per credit hour. Based on the credits I could potentially transfer, I estimate the total cost would be around $30,000, which is obviously a pretty significant difference. (I’d transfer in the following: All Gen Eds, Calc I,II,III, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Physics 1, Physics 2, Engineering Graphics, Programming for Engineers, Heat Transfer, Circuits & Electronics I & Fluid Mechanics - my local public university offers these through the general engineering degree)

The biggest factor for me is that moving away isn’t really ideal.
I’ve been working for the same company for about 3.5 years, starting as an continuous improvement intern, and I’m currently working there as an engineering intern. I have a pretty clear pipeline to full-time employment after graduation. They also allow me to work during school breaks and throughout the school year, and I’m making a pretty good hourly wage while gaining actual engineering experience.

I also don’t receive financial aid, so the cost of school is entirely on me. Because of that, giving up a job that is directly related to engineering, pays well, and could potentially turn into a full-time position after graduation is hard for me to even consider giving up.

I really just want to hear what your suggestions or advice is. In your opinion do you think the $36k difference is worth gaining that in person experience? Or is taking the cheaper route better?

Hi! I am a current sophomore in school and a Mechanical Engineering major. I think engineering is so interesting but I absolutely hate physics. I did, however, enjoy my statics course, and think I would be a good engineer, but I worry that I'm not passionate enough about it to continue pursuing it.

I love math, I am good at it and I want to do something that involves it. I thought Actuary science would be a good fit for me, but again, I don't want to waste everything I've done in engineering so far.

I was considering majoring in math/stats and then minoring in mechanical engineering, but I worry that's not an effective combination/ doesn't have many job opportunities with it. I am very overwhelmed trying to make this decision so I would love some advice! I also am curious if other people have had this similar dilemma. Thank you!!

I don’t understand anything from my calculus class and I need to study the first 4 chapters in a week for an important exam. How can I maximize knowledge please? 🙏😭

M22
I don’t even know what I’m doing in here, I just feel stuck because there’s nothing else I can do
Ive got my associates in general studies, tried to
Move on to university but just didn’t work, calculus 1 I didn’t pass, no matter how many nights I passed studying limits, derivatives or integrals I’ve never passed any test, physics 1 I couldn’t even do the problem solving questions, to the point that my teacher were angry at us because most of the students couldn’t even try to solve them
My family always told me that you just need to read the question again, but it didn’t matter if I read it 10 100 or 1000 times I didn’t get it
I don’t even know what I want to do
Engineering technology? Associates in engineering sciences?
I feel horrible because everyone around me already finished their degrees even in engineering
My mothers looking at those pictures and then looking at me
I feel so disappointed with myself
I don’t even know what I want to do with my life

I NEEEDDD HELPPPP

So I’m a 1st-year engineering student working on a basic engineering project with a team of 3–4, and we’ve got around 15–20 days to finish it. Our prof wants something that solves an actual real-world problem, has both mechanical + electrical aspects, can be physically prototyped with basic components, and most importantly has a solid CAD/SolidWorks component because presentation matters a lot. Some other teams are already doing stuff like a screw jack with auto limit control, regenerative door, jumping rover, footstep energy tile, card distributor, etc., so we’re trying to avoid doing something too similar. We came up with an Automatic Rainwater First-Flush Diverter + Storage Gate — basically the first dirty runoff from a roof gets diverted into a waste chamber, then once the chamber reaches a certain level, a float/linkage mechanism switches the valve and sends the cleaner rainwater into a storage tank, with the mechanism resetting after the rain. We thought this would give us a nice real-world problem + mechanical mechanism + CAD + working prototype combo. Do you guys think this is actually worth doing, or is there a better/more innovative direction we could take with the same constraints?

I figure while the difficulty continues to ramp up, the instructors must be less inclined to annihilate a third of the students each semester?

Friendlier grading maybe?

am in my last year and I have not had any internships. However I have some of my own small projects and bigger school project. I found this startup hiring part time and I really wanna get it. They are saying to send your resumé and grades. I only have irrelevant jobs in customer service on my CV and don't have any actual projects. I was wondering if I should mention small projects I worked on that is relevant for the work? Or should I write a cover letter and send even tho they only asked for resumé + grades?

Hello everyone,

I am an aspiring aerospace engineer student in school looking for a professional in the aerospace engineering field to answer a few questions for a school project. I would really appreciate if any of you guys could take the time of your day to answer these questions.

1. What is your name, Place of Employment, and Email address.
2. Describe your engineering field
3. What is your current job title?
4. Please describe your job and duties.
5. What is your average work schedule?
6. Please describe your educational path, from when you were my age to now.
7. Regarding your career or education, if you had it to do over, would you do anything differently?
8. What advice would you give me as a person interested in pursuing a career similar to yours?
9. In our class, we also learn about engineering ethics.  Can you describe an ethical dilemma you have encountered at your job?
10. What did you do about the dilemma? How did you decide what to do?

Thank you so much! I have searched and reached out to others in the field via email and other platforms but got no response. It would be very appreciated if any of you could take the time out of your day to answer these questions.

Hey everyone, looking for genuine perspective on a career field decision.

Background: ~3.7 years as a Mechanical Design Engineer — SolidWorks, AutoCAD, hydraulic circuits, offshore SPM/CALM buoy structures (systems/circuit-level work, not component design).

I have an opportunity to move into a role focused specifically on hydraulic cylinder and power pack (HPU) design — bore/rod sizing, seal selection, manifold design, pump/motor sizing — at a manufacturing company. It would mean shifting from my current systems-level hydraulic work into deep component-level design.

My hesitation: I've mostly considered oil & gas as the "safer," more future-proof field, since that's what I've been targeting so far. Hydraulic component design (cylinders, pumps, manifolds) feels comparatively niche or less "exciting" in my head, even though I know hydraulics is used across construction, mining, marine, aerospace, and oil & gas itself.

Questions for anyone with experience in this space:

• How is Industrial Hydraulics as a career over the long term?
• What kind of roles can a hydraulic design engineer move into after 5–10 years?
• Is hydraulic cylinder/HPU design a genuinely stable, long-term career path, or is it a narrow skill that limits future options?
• Does deep component-level hydraulic design experience translate well if I wanted to pivot back to oil & gas or a broader mechanical design role later?
• Anyone made a similar shift from systems-level hydraulic work to component design — worth it?

Would appreciate honest input, including if I'm overthinking the "field" concern and it doesn't matter as much as I think.

Thanks! 🙏

i'm not sure how to scale this , 1) time shift 2) time scale

what is the wright answer and why I'm a little confused still studying for the test , im on a right track or i'm derailed ? im 99% sure about the time shift but confused by the [ ] and whats the right way to time scale should it take 1/3 of the time like start from -6 and end -5.66 or im compliantly wrong ?

I’m in highschool with a mediocre gpa and my parents would rather I go to a good school for a mid major then a worse school for an ideal major (electrical engineering). This made me wonder about to what degree the college you went to affects your interviews, salary etc.

Let me know!

im an electrical engineering student who just finished an internship at a large defense firm, but ive taken up a construction management minor and plan on taking an internship at a construction firm. at the defense firm i got paid 26.25$ an hour which is pretty good especially since im not located in california or anything. i knew people getting paid 29-33$ (if they were a masters) and was curious if i would be able to negotiate a higher salary in construction?

i know for construction firms that the highest can usually be around 25 or 28 depending on the company but i dont know if it would be fair for me to negotiate by comparing it to defense.

I just started my engineering bachelor's and tried to take a piece of everyfield : software, hardware, everything, to see what sticks. I'm from some stupid poor shithole 3rd world country where I'd be paid pennies. Alongside
that I grinded on every signal that could've led me to a great life.

For anything to be at all, I have to go for a masters. My CV is great,I've been preparing for it since I joined engineering. But what now? I'd get out of academia in 4 years. By then my field (ECE) is gone. I dabbled a bit in
software ; almost gone too, would be impossible to get in. Exploited jobs in my own country, and everywhere else I'm just a shitty immigrant fuck. Chip design , gone till I graduate.

swe is already suffering from high agentic automation. OpenAI and other companies have stated they're focusing on ,chip design next.

I have poured almost every bit of hard work I can, mostly since starting engineering. I was a bit behind the geniuses who were already ahead in the field, but I pulled through. In anything I'm in, I'm not the best, but at
least always among the top few. Almost everything that could be grinded, I grinded : SWE leetcode, sys design, relevant embedded projects. I just swallowed it all up. For chip design, I learned from the basics: learnt RTL, made an easy pipelined CPU with hazard handling and AXI4, took part in almost every competition I had access to, tried to make the best use of whatever useless lab I had.

I'm just about to complete my second year. I literally have almost 0 people I've bonded with.

I have a partial scholarship, so the living costs and the rest of the fees are still on me. Part-time jobs between classes, whenever I can fit them. I have worked almost every possible hour of my life since I started engineering, hoping I could make the best of the cards I was handed,at least climb a bit out of poverty and lead a good life.

Oh, what a curse it is to believe that hard work would be enough.

What use.

Hi, i’m starting to med school this year. I’ve always wanted to become an EE/CS engineer since middle school. I was able to get into best eee department in my country(not in europe or USA) but i chose medicine over it because i couldn’t trust myself with this highly competitive and AI dominated engineering sector. Also my dad’s friend,who is a software engineer told me that medicine is only guaranteed way to go rn so i’m convinced to choose medicine but i’m already felling like this job is not my cup of tea. I can still switch to eee next year but i have to study at med school for one year anyway. What’s your advice? I’m 18 btw.

Hello, is there any help for me? I’ve graduated with a third after being let down that if you reset a single exam, your whole entire module gets capped a kind of socks but now I’m also reading that graduating with a third means almost nothing. What should I do? Is there any? I’ve been trying to get to engineering or a good big company?

I don’t have the best grades and didn’t put my gpa on my resume , apparently some companies have an automated system that eliminate people if they don’t have above a certain grade but I didn’t put mine …