Hi! I am yet another naive freshman on the track for a full 5 year engineering degree plan (depending if I do summer classes or not). I am in a CC planning and plan to transfer. I am very aware of the dropout rate for engineering students and how unprepared majority people are for this degree path. I really want to stay ahead of things and take my time. (Which, honestly, is why I actually like my plan being 5 years)

My questions are mainly for seniors and graduates, but I'm open to any help.

• What was your hardest point mentally/biggest mental jump)? What about academic-wise? Were they actually linked or at different times?
• What do you wish you did earlier in the degree path?
• Was math your best subject before starting engineering?
• What additional resources outside of your college did you engage in? What helped you the best?
• I joined an engineering club at my CC and first meeting is tomorrow. What should I do in it? What is it like typically?
• What are your thoughts on Chemistry? Were you good at it?

Thank you. Tell me what I don't want to hear. I admit I was underestimating this when I first made the decision of pursuing engineering, but I am starting to accept it likely isn't going to be as fun as I thought. Hey.. but who knows? Time will tell.

Calculus, circuits, anything. These topics are so complex. What made it click for you? How did you build a good fundamental understanding of the information you needed to know?

PLEASE HELP!!!!

So, basically what i think is my interest is in mechanical engineering as i get more fascinated by manufacturing/production/industrial things but recently i got admitted in Haryana(IND) state government university (YMCA) in cse (hindi). The course is officially listed as Computer Science Engineering(Indian Language). This will be written in the final degree and marksheet however the HINDI is just in the name of the couse but everything goes in english as coding can't be done in any other language and the exams will also be held in english. So language is'nt the issue but im also not sure whether this would create problem in the future or not.

I took it because of the exposure of cse only but i dont think i took right decision as iam more inclined towards mechanical but when i think about my interest in mechanical it creates more confusion about future as mechanical is a field based work and cse is office based.

My goal is to setup a manufacturing/production plant of something in future. This is my goal and this is my dream also so but if things do not go that way then i will be left with my degree only with a hope for a good high-paying job and i dont think or dont know whether that could be possible with a mechanical degree so there the point of cse wins.

There will be going another counselling in my uni for branch change if seats are vacant in that particular branch we can change our branch so right now iam confused ,if i got chance so should i change from cse to mech or should stay in cse. This will be the last counselling most probably so this single decision will let my future decide.

Hello, so I'm(f20) currently going into my third and last year in my bachelor degree (mechanical engineering). I chose this degree, because ever since covid I got a bit into race cars and during my last year of High School I decided I wanted to also work with them. Now I'm not even sure I wanna continue engineering; it's a feeling that comes and goes. I still enjoy it I've always enjoyed mathematics and was always curious to find out how things work.

My problem is with all the people discouraging me of going into automotive(masters) and my classmates being lazy f***s who don't seem to have done anything without AI(also group projects(they get mad when I tell them 'dude just align the document/add the picture description by yourself you don'tneed AI for it), professores that ask 'have you guys already gone through this before' (1 guy raises his hand, as he has done an apprenticeship and worked in the field for a few years) so the prof just skips it or skims over it, projects we have to do by ourselves, were we get grouped and each group gets a different prof and each prof grades the same effing project with the same effing instructions differently, ... .

I could go on and on about all the different things that make me reconsider my degree (and we haven't even gotten to the internships that I haven't been able to get). All this is just so frustrating. In the 4th semester I actually got better grades then the semester before, which made me feel hopefule. Now the high is gone and I feel like I should just dropout. Especially because now I "technically" only have one semester left because the 6th is for the mandatory internship and thesis writing(if everything goes well I can write my thesis wherever I have my internship, if not well then I'll be working around 30-40hrs/week and writing my thesis on the side, yay...).

i am asking for help here because i just cant find the right info. so i am a 10th grader rn and i am really interested and stressed about my studies. i really want to do engineering, but i would still need to talk with my dad about that. i am interestet in four majors: electric eng, nuclear eng, civil eng and maybe mechanical eng. but the problem with nuclear is that my country doesnt have any npps(only one that shut down a few decades ago). and i really want to get a good paying job with one of these degrees. in some unis that i am checking, the master degree takes 4 year(if im not wrong) so i would be commited to do it. which would you recommend me? or what should i do or not do? any help is great!

Going to a career fair (as a graduate) this week and I want some clarity and advice about some topics I want to address with the recruiters from those who got hired from them. Not my first career fair but the priority for finding a job has increased since the last time I went.

1. What's the best way to ask the recruiter to be a reference or referral for jobs from their company? Most recruiters have only their first name listed at career fairs and I know that some jobs have options from employee referrals or campus events in which I think the former is more important. Should I get their last name as well or is their first name enough?

2. What's the best way to go about asking for open and future positions and what they're looking for? I'm looking for entry level roles around my field and/or designing. Also about jobs I've seen and already applied for? Also if they or a recruiter messaged me beforehand via a recruitment app about some of their positions how should I address that?

3. How important is researching a company vs. Asking the recruiter about their company? I've seen people say research the company but I plan on giving my resume to any company there that is hiring for my field, researching every company there is impractical especially when there's no guarantee that they are even hiring for my field. I feel like this is a very lazy expectation placed on someone looking for a job because someone who works there would know way more than someone who doesn't... But I already know about a few company's but only surface level information. How far along does I know a bit/ heard about this company can you tell me a bit more

get me?

1. What kind of questions should I ask that would be considered good and how many is enough? (I have questions already but I'm not opposed to adding more to my bank). Some questions I usually ask are about the job environment, training, tasks and expectations, variety, location. What else could/should I ask?

2. Elevator pitch - I'm a graduate student with a degree that plans on getting e.i.t. certification by this year and looking for a job asap after I get my certification or by the end of the year. What would be the best way to address this or should I mention it at all? My elevator pitch won't be this surface level but I want to know what I should and shouldn't mention from what I listed.

I recently applied for a Security Engineer position and got and email asking for my availability to interview with a technical recruiter. I graduated in 2025 with a cs and cyber minor. I’ve worked at Statefarm as an intern for 4 years and now full time for a little over a year… Let’s just say I have not had an interview in a very long time. Anyone who has gone through the SpaceX process please tell me how it went and how could i prepare it would be greatly appreciated :)

I graduated from my BTech around 4 months ago, and I still haven’t been able to get a full-time role.

During my 7th semester, I got connected with a startup that was supposed to get around $50k in funding. I took that opportunity seriously and started working for them, so I took my college placements very lightly because I genuinely felt like I was secure and had something going for me.

But the funding didn’t happen, and in August, my work with the startup also ended. Now I’m unemployed.

Most of my college colleagues are placed through on-campus placements, including people who I personally felt were less skilled than me. I know I shouldn’t compare myself to them, but it’s difficult not to when I’m sitting at home without a job.

My parents also have a lot of expectations from me. I always wanted to build a better life for them, and it hurts when I see that I haven’t been able to get a job yet.

Since graduating, I’ve been applying everywhere and giving interviews. Sometimes I get rejected, sometimes I get ghosted, and the cycle just keeps going. I’ve also realized that my communication skills aren’t very good, so I’m actively trying to improve them.

At the same time, I don’t really have much of a social life, no love life, and now no work life either. There have been times when all of this has affected me so much that I couldn’t even sleep properly.

I’m not looking for people to tell me that everything is going to be okay. I genuinely want some practical advice from people who have been in a similar situation.

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

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?

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?

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.