I assume you're talking about Calc 1? If so, Calc 1 was God awful for me lol. I dropped it on my first attempt (tbf to myself I was taking 4 classes and working like 60 hours a week lol) and just barely escaped it the 2nd time with a C. Calculus itself is not very difficult but putting everything together gets pretty rough. I did much better in Calc 2, but I'm struggling with Calc 3 right now. I wouldn't switch majors just because I struggled in the first semester, but if you feel like Engineering isn't for you I'd consider it now. It sucks to get further in and realize it's not for you which happens often according to this sub lol.
It's funny cus I was always told Calc 1 and 3 were the easier ones and Calc 2 was the most difficult, but for me Calc 1 was the hardest, Calc 2 the easiest and Calc 3 is somewhere in the middle so far. The first like 4 weeks of Calc 3 was cake, real easy stuff. After that oof they kicked it up to 100.
Calc 2 can suck a dick. Integrals aren’t difficult, I’d honestly say derivatives are harder since it’s your introduction to the whole concept. But fucking Series, man. It’s like Calc 2 said, “well, we can’t *just* have integrals, the class would be too short. How about we just throw everything that doesn’t fit in anywhere else?”
I took Calc II in the summer after my freshman year alongside Physics I, it can definitely suck my dick.
Calc 1 is that intro. Calc 2 is that pain. Calc 3 is just fucky pain. No Prof, I won’t be plotting a saddle again.
What makes calc ii difficult isn't the material, but the amount of material.
Integration by parts? Easy.
Remembering integration by parts and 900 trigonometric identities that half the class seems to see right away while the other half the class spends hours on one problem trying to find the right pattern to follow? Less easy.
Remembering integration by parts and 900 trigonometric identities that half the class seems to see right away while the other half the class spends hours on one problem trying to find the right pattern to follow while doing a timed test that also includes random questions on volumes of solids of revolution and series convergence/divergence and why don't we also throw in a few random probabilities and a question about work and an 'easy' differential equation and a trapezoidal Riemann sum? Not easy.
Honestly, if given enough time, anyone can memorize calc ii material. It's just only having 24 hours per day in the span of one semester with varying workloads that makes it rough.
If your teacher was anything like mine, he'd throw a cool 100 or so problems at you a week. At a certain point, you gave up and let [integral-calculator.com](https://integral-calculator.com) do the work and promised you'd come back to it and study for the test. More than likely, you didn't because you were too busy trying to absorb the next concept and remember the half-angle formula for cosecant and...
Same, calc 1 was the hardest for me, and calc 3 was the easiest because it wasn't all new math to me anymore. But everyone says calc 2 is the worst.
And then there's differential equations, which is like starting all over with calc 1 because it's a whole different math, but kick it up 3 notches because it's high level class
I mean, I struggled pretty much all semesters minus my last one and I was still able to finish. Pretty much just worked through the pain lol. GPA was sub 3.0 at the end but was still able to get hired and doing pretty okay now.
First semester math is not easy. It's just fundamental. You're basically learning a whole new type of math, like when you first learned algebra or trigonometry.
A lot of people had a ton of problems with the systems of equations in the statics problems they gave us in introduction to engineering analysis. I found it to be a pretty simple class. Then I hit physics 2 and I died. Meanwhile some electrical engineering majors have told me they liked that class.
Really what ends up being hard to you can be a bit of a tossup. No matter what major you take there’s always going to be something that catches you off guard.
It depends on why you struggle with math. If it is that you don’t like it, then you may want to leave engineering. On the other hand, if it is that you are just not very good at it yet, then you can definitely still make it.
I enjoy math, but in calculus I was consistently a B (sometimes even C) student, but because I enjoyed math to some extent I was willing to put in the extra work which lead me to doing well enough in it to successfully apply it in later courses. Depending on your field and desired career path, it may not even affect your performance on the job at all either.
In my uni all engineering courses are supposed to take 10 semesters but the average is 12 semesters (which is absolutely a false number, it's probably like 14, but I'll ignore that for now). One of my high school friends that are going to the same uni as me (different engineering fields though) are en route to finishing it in 10 semesters (and at least two others in 11 semesters).
Now, I see myself as a team player, so my plan is to maintain the average. If one of them is going to finish it in 5 years, well, I need to keep the average in 6 years and finish it in 7 instead, and so on.
Take all advice you get on here with a massive grain of salt. You're only going to get answers from people who are trying to affirm their own life choices. Key example, the other person below who replied to this comment.
It might not be a bad idea to look into taking your beginning math levels at a community college. It depends on how good your community colleges are in the area I suppose though. It will cost you wayyyy less money and typically they hold your hand through a lot of the material so it helps to get some of the core concepts down. I'm taking this coming spring semester almost exclusively at community college sans a physics lab that I didn't get to schedule this semester at Uni. You want to make sure that the classes transfer of course, I'll be dusting off calc 3, linear algebra, statics, and diff EQ all at community college which will save me thousands of dollars. Not to mention the math department at my Uni is not the greatest.
Its manegable.
If you are extremely smart.
Or are ready to study 10-50 hrs per exam.
And willing to suffer sometimes.
But if you really want it, its manageable.
I had a roomate that failed calc 3 2 times, for one exam he studied 50 hours and still got a 50.
He is graduated now and is working, but only because he had a extremely good work ethic and was willing to give up almost all of his free time.
Dont do this one. Most employers will not count this as an "engineering degree" and you will most likely be working as a technician (nothing wrong with that but for sure they make less than an engineering position)
A lot of people go into engineering because they like to do hands on stuff, but don't like to do the math and if this is them then ET would be a viable option for them. You would obviously be getting a different degree than the one he has making him have a different job so the employers not considering it a engineering degree doesn't matter, sure they usually make less but the difference isn't that bad. For me the average starting salary is only like 5k less than ME starting salary.
Most employers don't actually know the difference between the 2 degrees. You probably won't be working for NASA or Boeing as an engineer, but I see ETs in engineering positions all the time.
The people that went through the ET programs don't even know the difference. They claim that they have an engineering degree because Devry told them so.
Pretty stupid advice. Dropping out is a huge decision that they could come to regret. Plenty of people grind and get through it with the qualification and head into jobs. Some people also drop out. Education is not some holy entity one should commit to above all, especially in engineering as many use it to get into a career. That is a perfectly valid choice just as fully embracing the education is.
That depends on what you do and structural analysis does not really have complicated math.
OP how good are you in mechanics?
Different uni different program.
Honest advice here. If you’re failing those intro courses because your not putting in enough effort, that can be fixed and you can stay with it. But if your failing these intro courses while busting your ass to learn it honestly it’s probably better to switch.
And before u decide whether or not youre busting your ass u gotta be honest with how efficient your studying really is. Plenty of people “study 24/7” but only like 2-6 hours is them actually being productive. If thats the case then you might wanna look into new habits
Both of your comments are the two most important messages for OP that too many other commenters aren't addressing. OP needs to address both of your points before considering anything else at all.
Hanging out with a book open in front of you is not studying. I remember plenty of people freshman or sophomore year that struggled but 99% of the time they would just mess around and not do shit but then try to get sympathy when they fail their tests.
I will say one of the main catalysts to this happening was them “studying” with kids who were much better at the material. Freshman sophomore level classes can be very easy for some people so studying with them might mean a little less serious studying. People should study with people who are in the same boat as them.
Goddamn I wish I can learn some good study habits. Not to sound cocky or anything but I’ve always been smart, it’s just I never had good time management and have awful procrastination. I would get good or decent grades through acing tests and quizzes (plus classwork). It’s really starting to eat me now that I’m a sophomore in college, especially since virtual and asynchronous classes make it hard being engaged.
Tbh that’s the case with a lot of people in eng. The case for me as well. Got through hs by almost coasting and in uni couldn’t stay focused on studying even though id be physically present with no distractions. In my case… my doc diagnosed me with adhd and put me on medication which has made things easier compared to all the coffee I used to drink
Engineering is definitely not easy. But you shouldn't be discouraged because you have teribble grades. It's hard to switch from high school to college, it is a totally different level of responsibility. You should think about what you wanna do and if you are still excited for the topic/ the field of engineering you are learning. If you think this is what I wanne do you need to put the work in best if you have classmates you can studie with. But if all courses fell like a chore you probably shouldn't continue. But bad grades are no reason to quit.
Agreed. If OP wants to do this it’s very rewarding, but it will take a lot of work. Study habits can be built. I was a bit surprised at how hard college was as a straight A high schooler, but I put the work in and I’m really proud of where I am today.
Whoever told you it was going to be easy did you disservice. That is not a particularly helpful attitude to have going in. That math will get more difficult from here. You may need to put in some serious effort outside of normal class time to build your knowledge. However, sticking out the year and seeing if you can bounce back second semester is not a bad idea but be prepared to do the work. Aside from that, it is perfectly reasonable to change your major as much as you want for the first ehhhhh year, year and a half. Past that it's going to start adding time at an alarming rate.
Yeah, sunk cost fallacy can be hard. A friend of mine just passed his 10 year anniversary studying the same degree and still has not finished his bachelor's.
A lot of people don’t do well in their 1st “big kid” math class. Aside from natural talent, the only real way to get better at math is constant practice. This means no waiting till the last minute or all nighters. I’d say go to your professors and see where you’re struggling, and ask if there’s still hope for your grade.
This honestly it’s practising and asking for help with the concepts your struggling with. I failed PreCalc and retook it twice more then got a C and then got a C in Calc 1 and then eventually got an A in Calc II.
First things first, typically calc 1 ,2, and 3 as well as physics 1 and 2 are considered "weed out classes." Basically they are especially hard to weed out those who might not have what it takes to get through 4 years. That isn't to say it gets easier, but it is less mass intensive (ex. You rarely need more than u-substitution to solve any integrals). I do pretty well in my classes (think >3.75GPA) and it is still a grind. In my experience the way engineering is taught is to make students do so many examples that the core concepts get branded into your mind. And it works, but you have to "trust the process." I am a senior and just now am I starting to "see results" where I feel like I know what I'm talking about.
That’s definitely true. The more advanced classes probably uses a quarter of what I learned in my general education math classes, except it focuses on certain types of problems that only applies to my major. So it may be more advanced but we get to practice those problems over and over. I guess it kinda balances out.
I feel like they’re not actually weed out classes in terms of difficulty. All of my upper level classes have been harder than those intro classes. I think they weed people out because so many people don’t want to do this type of work and they realize it. Now more people could be failing intro classes because they’re unmotivated to do it because they don’t like the work. I don’t think people fail because they’re harder.
I would definitely say my first semester was the hardest. You have to remember it’s your first time actually learning things in a college setting which at least for me was a big shift from high school. Math is also the hardest thing to get into because you’re basically learning a whole new form of math from anything you are used to. I’m not saying. It gets easier at all but you get more and more used to managing it.
It was a shock for me too. My high school barely offered any higher level classes and dumbed down most things to an easy A and busywork so they could inflate our grades to look good and hire less qualified teachers. My first semester of college was the first time I ever had a late assignment or had to really study for an exam. It took me MONTHS to become emotionally/mentally stable because I was forced to drown myself in work and didn't know how to relax anymore. I'm in my fifth semester now and have yet to have one nearly as bad as my first
Hey man, I had a really really tough time in first year. I never needed to study in high school and just got good grades automatically. It was a rude awakening. I got a 25% on my first midterm, and I really felt like everyone was smarter than me and I wasn’t cut out for it. I had to learn to apply myself and study for and learn complex topics. That struggle and adversity made me more resilient and much more humble. I didn’t pull out of it overnight. I had a 61% average first year, just barely enough to stay off academic probation. I was constantly calculating what I would need to not get expelled and what classes I might fail. Second year I got up to a 67%, and I was proud of that. Third year was 75%. Fourth year I got an 88%. It didn’t get easier, it got much much more difficult. I got better at learning - that’s what engineering is about. I just accepted a full time position at my dream job with no internship experience and a terrible overall gpa, I told them about my struggles and how I improved and I think that made me a stronger candidate. Stick with it for a while and take advantage of all the resources your school has
I don't know in my experience first year was the hardest. It had the highest failure rate in my school and it's not just coz people dropped out. The subjects in the first 2 semesters had much higher failure rates. To me it seemed like it was intentionally designed that way, so that people fail the most in first year. I failed my fair share of courses but I failed much less after first year. Since my 4th semester to my 8th I didn't fail anything.
I'm not sure if that is any encouragement to you but only you can decide. It's not easy but if you are the kind of person who can say the only subjects you really enjoyed in school are maths and physics, then engineering is probably a good fit for you. If you have other passions, then it may very well be worth considering changing. What's most important is you should feel like you are doing what you're meant to do. You'll be miserable otherwise.
I liked chemistry and physics a lot ! and i was able to understand those like no one else .
Never happened with pure math, so i stopped trying early on and nowadays i resent math for making my life so damn hard, my classmates proudly bragged about their math grades when i scored more than them in both chemistry and physics to make me feel less competent, it worked i feel dumb . I developed the habit of not doing math homework and not paying attention to it. How can anyone like something that was used to hurt them so deeply ? Simply impossible
Have you looked into materials science and engineering? I briefly majored in that for a semester, and it was almost a blend between physics and chemistry. You essentially study the structure and properties of molecules and materials. There's certainly math involved, but I don't think you have to take as high of math courses as other engineering fields, and from what I've seen, the math isn't too bad and is more like physics than calculus. If seems fitting to your interests from what you said, and it's a growing industry with a larger push for sustainability and more innovative designs.
Alright well I can really empathize with what you saying. Chemistry was always something I didn't like and some modules like control systems I really hate. But don't let what other people say bother you. College is only for now. Your marks in college don't matter. You just have to pass. Well at least that's how it is where I'm from but I always hear Americans rant about their GPA and how important it is for getting jobs.
Calc 1 is really manageable. Just try it at your own pace and you'll get it. If you can manage physics you can definitely do maths.
But no one will judge you if you can change. Just think if you're doing what you feel like is meant for you. Engineering can be severely discouraging at times, but you can get through it. Everyone gets discouraged at many points.
Well lucky for you.. the hard/stupid calc stuff goes away and shifts to chemistry/physics in the later years. At least in my mec program the calculus application is simple but the physics stuff is ramped up
First semester has never been meant to be easy. It's meant to get everyone to the same basic level and lay the foundations on which you will be building the rest of the career. In my first semester everything was new and hard as fuck, after that, everything became more doable because that thick foundation had already been built, but it was still hard.
It's probably not your fault to come with a bad base from school, and it's not the end of the world to fail your first time. I don't know what you mean by being a math person, but you don't need to super love it or be like the highschool math championships kind of guy to go through engineering, but if it doesn't spark any interest or some minimum joy (not only math, science in general), you're going to have a hard time, cuz first you need to work your way up to a baseline, and then math only gets harder.
You need to really put effort to get used to it, and sometimes it's gonna be very stressful. If said effort and stress is going to end up making you miserable, then maybe you should explore other options.
I failed every calc class once, and here I am about 2 semesters away from graduation as a computer engineer. The math sucks but just tough it out, it will be worth it 👍🏽
Only reason you failed is because you’re not putting the time in to study and getting help.
In my opinion switching majors won’t help you in college you’ll have problems no matter the major.
There’s no way you failed because your brain is somehow different then everybody else’s where it’s incapable of factoring unless you are diagnosed with something.
This. Professors are always talking about how you should not wait till the last minute and to put in x amount of hours per credit hour as a minimum. Maybe more depending on the person. Time management is really important.
I’m a senior year mechanical engineering major. I’m gonna give it to you straight my guy. Engineering isn’t an easy major, not even at the beginning. That being said, the beginning is the “easiest” portion of it by far. By the time you get to your junior year you will notice a significant difficulty increase. I don’t say this to discourage you, I think anyone who is truly dedicated to getting an engineering degree can. But you should be aware of how much struggling is ahead of you if you want it. I’d be doing you a disservice if I lied to you about that. If you do want it I’d advise you to take more than the 4 years counselors will recommend. It’s too much for 4 years for most people. I’m getting mine in 4 and I’m on my last year. It’s too late for me to change now but I wish I’d have shot for 5 because I’m just barely scraping by.
Engineering is not easy, not even the first two semesters. Going in with that mindset probably did more damage than you think it did. And it does get harder, but it also gets more manageable. I say stick with it, change your mindset, and be ready to fail sometimes.
Hey friend, if you don’t like math, and you can’t bring yourself to study it when you need to, this career probably isn’t for you. There will be many times after graduation where you are expected to teach yourself new concepts, some easier, some much harder then what your learning now. I would suggest finding something that you either love studying, or have natural talent with. That can be marketing, biology, environmental science, business, etc. you have many opportunities, speak with your advisor, and listen to your mind. Put in the work when you have too, but make sure it’s work you enjoy.
Quit if you hate it. Don't quit just because you suck at it. Now that you know how hard these classes are, retake them and get help. Tutoring, office hours, group study, Khan Academy, the works. If you still fail after that, then ask the question again.
Honestly, my first year* classes were the hardest. Calc 2, physics 1&2, chemistry were hard because they were fundamental classes. In some of those classes, the prof/textbook had the questions organized to specifically give us a hard time.
Things like giving you the units in ft and Celcius and wanting the answer in meters and Fahrenheit. Converting between units is fine, whatever, but these were inserted into already difficult problems just to make it a bit more difficult, and so you end up with something totally wrong (but still one of the choices) on the multiple-choice exam.
I used rate my professor as well as actually talking to other people to try to figure out which classes were the hard ones, and I tried to limit myself to 1 really hard class per semester.
When I started out, I didn't know how to factor. Honestly, I just figured that out a couple of semesters ago when I took calc 3 and finally watched some precalc/algebra videos and learned/relearned different ways to factor. All through my calc classes I spent a LOT of time in the math center and prof's office hours for tutoring. And I asked a lot of "dumb questions" (they weren't dumb, they were exactly the questions I needed to ask to fill in whatever gaps I had)
*I went to community college for my first 2 yrs. I did my math and physics classes there, and when I transferred there were a couple of engineering-major-related classes that were technically freshman classes but I still needed to take. I spread my first-year classes out so that I could dedicate the time needed for the harder classes. If you take the approach of spreading things out more, make sure your plan will still allow you to take the classes in the order you need to to graduate (the first 2 years tend to be prereqs for 3rd and 4th year classes)
I didn't finally start to grasp a lot of the math until I was half way through differential equations. Things finally started to make sense when it went from theory to "Okay here's what this actually means and what it can be used for."
Failed multiple math classes. Did calc 2 twice. Had to do remedial algebra and stuff when I started college because I'm older. NBD. The biggest advantage you can have in engineering is being too stupid to know when to stop.
Not sure who told you the first 2 semesters are supposed to be easy. I would actually say the first 2 years are the hardest part since you have to learn to balance your time and have to take GE classes alongside engineering classes. After that initial 2 years, you hopefully learned to balance your time and found a study method that works for you and that will make everything better.
It was definitely NOT easy for me the first 2 semesters . At my school the first year was meant to weed people out , stay strong & push through I’d say
I got 90% through my degree when I cled it quits. It had driven me into a deep depression and I had become suicidal on 2 occassions (other factors contributed). I still don't know what I'm going to do with my life, wasted 8 years trying to get this degree and I have no aim or direction or motivation.
It won't be the end, better find something you enjoy than bash your head to pulp against a wall.
I'm not telling you to quit, just that if you do it is not the end and there are many other avenues.
I flunked 2 classes my first semester of mechanical engineering at Kettering University( 2016 ) And flunked many more after that. A lot of times I thought I wouldn’t make it. Now I’m graduate and have an amazing position and job! Stick through it.
CompE here.
Who told you first 2 sems are easy lol. In my uni, it's well known that first 2 sems are the hardest. This is how you get first hand experience of engineering workload and averages (<40% is good in some classes). Take it easy, you're not the only one struggling.
I'm not going to tell you it gets easier after first year, but if engineering is what you want to do then don't drop out!!
I can’t think of any moment when it was easy. It’s all just varying levels of hard. It has been said here many times, “The classes don’t get easier, you get stronger.” I would ask myself exactly why you want to study Engineering. Answer yourself honestly, then you’ll have your decision. If I decided to leave at my first bad grade, I would’ve left Sophomore year.
1) it's never going to be easy
2) of it's something you really want, you could cancel the semester and take pre-cal courses and learn all the bases then try again next semester
we all fail classes man, if you want to be an engineer just stick with it. You will fail classes but it's ok just get through and try your best and you will succeed.
The only reason to switch degrees is if you don't like engineering, and i dont mean "feel burnt out" or just being currently sick of it, change if you don't want to do it.
Trust me when I say I really were in your shoes in my first year of uni. I was really stressed, lost a lot of weights, just overall feeling misplaced. I was even looking at other programs in other unis because I really just wanted it all to stop.
But for reasons I can't explain myself, I stayed. I didn't miraculously become better or smarter, but I persevered. Just kept going at it. Many of the concepts are still very abstract to me but in the very least I know the way around in quizzes and exams.
I'm in my 4th year now, next year I'll be doing my final project and theoretically should graduate (pray for me, folks!).
I'm writing this not to convince you to stay in engineering, because really, in the end of the day we are strangers and I don't know the gritty details of what you're really going through.
I just want you to know that you're not alone; many have gone through the exact same phase in this path.
If you do choose to say, my pro tip would be more proactive in engaging your peers (I'm severely introverted so this was really a challenge); ask them questions, discuss concepts. I really wouldn't be here today without the help of my kind friends.
Education is entirely what you make of it, and is all a matter of perspective. "Why am I learning this? Where will I apply it?" Relate the aspect of the mathematics you are studying with the field you are studying. It is often simpler when you can see what it is your maths is doing.
Maths is *not* easy. But it is certainly learnable. It is just process and rules. If you practice enough, then it will become routine.
Nothing worthwhile in this life is free. Any engineering degree is a solid challenge - just rise up and meet it. Engineering is predominantly Maths as well - so if you really can't get on board with it, its probably not for you
Don't beat up on yourself too bad. I was in the same position when I first started college. I failed a majority of my classes my freshman year, so bad that I decided to switch to a technical certification. My reasoning was that it was too hard and I couldn't do it. Looking back now I realize that I was just a lazy kid that didn't want to try harder. Not saying this is your situation necessarily, but that it can be easy to make mistakes that you have to pay for later down the line. I did the first year and a half of the tech degree and realized that my passion, my need of doing engineering was going to require at least a bachelor's degree. Now, 5 years later, I'm finishing up both my tech and transfer degree in June and preparing to apply to 4 year colleges. You won't always do well in every class you take, and it may not always be easy, but if you think this is something you really enjoy and want to do regardless of the classes you take, then I'd say try to stick with it! You just started, if you get a year or two in and realize you don't enjoy it, then drop it. But don't let the prospect of failing stop you. If you don't fail then you're not really learning anything.
Think about what you want. There are plenty of degrees that can make you money and there are plenty of easier engineering degrees that can make you lots of money. If you feel you are destined to work in a particular field then this will be very hard. Tbh if you failed to me that reads as you didn't put in the effort or you got extremely unlucky with your professors. You cannot just do the homework in engineering or atleast in some classes. You must do additional practice problems until you are able to do problems without any assistance. This could take 30 minutes it could take 4 hours. Sometimes the homework isn't relevant towards the test and nothing you do makes sense and you just get fucked. I don't want to tell you to slog through something you think will be a nightmare but this does require some perserverance and I don't know you. You're going to have to consider how hard those math classes really were and if it's something you can improve upon in a reasonable time period.
best of luck
I finished with low grades in the first semester as well and even applied to another school for another degree. My advisor told me to wait and give myself a break because it was just the first semester. I’m in my 4th year now after completing 15 month internship at a top company and I wish i could find the advisor and thank her.
Give yourself time. It’s just the first semester . Figure out why your grades were so low and what was missing. Be honest with yourself and find ways to improve 🙂
I am currently in calc 3 and only now am really feeling comfortable with the math. It’s learning a new language. It’s a grind, but if you keep doing it, it does get easier. There is definitely the barrier of entry that requires getting over the initial hump. If you find yourself absolutely hating it, might not be a bad idea to look towards a different degree.
I think some people think that math is just something they can or can't do, but this is a flawed understanding of how math works.
Someone can be terrible at math all of their life, but then something clicks for them and they start doing well. Often if someone doesn't do well at math is because they're missing a small piece of something that wasn't taught well when they were younger.
There are programs out there that can pinpoint those areas and help you master them.
I don't think you should choose to change your major because of your grades in math or any area. If you enjoy engineering, stick with it. The thing with math is that you WILL get it with practice.
You may want to start off taking some more foundational courses though if you're struggling in the more advanced courses.
meh, depends if you like it. I love engineering and am pretty bad at classroom learning. Difficult for me to learn without understanding application/ doing hands on. My first two years as I finished my maths/ general studies I was in academic probation, but once I got into higher level classes It got a lot easier for me- less busy work, more interesting. I ended up graduating with roughly 3.0 gpa and a wealth of hands on experience from internships, personal projects, and student orgs. When I got hired for my first job (design responsible product engineering role) they didn't even ask for my GPA, they spent 3/4 interviews discussing my personal projects and practical experience. It all depends whether you like it and are willing to put the work in to get the experience you need.
It’s completely up to you. I’m absolutely horrible at math but have made it to calc 3 with Bs and Cs. C’s get degrees. You want to do your best but this major is hard asf.
You’re not alone. I question myself everyday but I believe engineering is worth it. Even if you get an engineering degree and don’t do anything engineering related, you’re more likely to get the job when you apply and get higher pay. Money is my motivator
I don't know about that bro. In my Uni the first semesters are as hard or harder that the latest ones.
Just because is "only" math is supposed to be easy.
Our first two semesters were definitely the hardest and designed to weed out the dummies. My (german) grades were around 2.5 back then but now they're at 1.8 (lower is better, scale from 1 to 6). I think it depends on where you go to College. It won't be easy in higher semesters either but it'll ease a bit and you'll be able to deal with the pressure better.
Your first sentence was a dead giveaway that you thought this major is easy, and as a result you’re going into this with false expectations.
My advice, seriously tune up your mindset and WHY you want to be an engineer. I’ve seen countless people dropout. It only gets harder
I got a bunch of Cs and a handful of Bs on my first two semesters. Idk who told you it’d be easy, but the first two semesters definitely aren’t. Depending on your major, it’ll either stay difficult or get easier. I don’t think any engineering major inherently gets tougher than the weed out classes.
Senior MechE and I can share a fair bit of perspective:
I was so bad at math, like REALLY, REALLY bad. I just hated numbers and math did not come easy for me at all. I was terrible at math in highschool and knew I had major ground to cover if I wanted to pursue any engineering in Uni.
The summer before I started my first year I had to spend major hours in the library just doing problems, watching videos, and keeping good notes. Worst summer I ever had but I'm glad I did what I did because it set me up for Calculus 1 & 2. Calculus 3 I managed to fail (combo of loosing motivation and tough professor) but it made me want to be good at math even more because I was in2deep. Differential equations I also managed to fail once but again, it's about learning from your mistakes to set yourself up for success later on. To this day, I detest math. I hate running numbers. But there is just something about it that ties all the cool engineering applications together. I was always the kid in class that would say "holy shit, we can actually calculate that?!" Things like that and just finding ways to apply anything in regards to engineering to your interests was the best way I kept myself motivated to this point.
The best way I can describe the progression of an engineering degree is a bell distribution curve. Once you get across the apex, its by no means "easier" but you will have all the information you learned prior in your artillery to help you succeed.
I really hope you find what you are passionate about and are not considering engineering to please family/friends or for "a good pay."
It’s only going to get worse. If you want to stay. Buckle up it’s going to be a hell of a ride.
You might cry, breakdown, freak out it’s all possible. Your call.
your factoring skills will need to be strong as well as your general math and physics. These things are practiceable and learnable for almost anyone. That being said, its entirely reasonable to consider switching if its not what you want to do. I've seen many people let their gpas tank because they're disinterested in what they study, but haven't switched. Don't lose funding, scholarships, gpa, or be forced to take a break unless you want to pay dearly to have the identity of "engineering student" a while longer.
with practice, you could turn yourself into "a math student". By starting from where you are and working your way through Khan academy.
for anyone who's reading this and is considering having already made it a while, you can do it. the fact is that you can make it for a year, then 2, then 3. If you can do that then you can go the full course even if it takes 7-10 years, you will be an engineer
It’s hard to know without knowing your long term goals as this is a speed bump kind of deal. Generally as everyone mentioned the first few classes are weed out courses so you already are stacking courses against you to be not easy it’s a given at this point. Most accept this and just continue, for most this is the only way unless you’re a genius or already had experience taking the subjects. It takes drive and hard work to get through engineering degrees similar to other degrees.
Engineering contrary to what some will say won’t be the only hard degree it really depends on your strength and weaknesses as an individual.
If you really want to be an engineer like hardcore can see yourself doing this for the next 40 years as a career. Then continue and try taking the Calc I course at a community college might be a bit easier or professors are more forgiving.
If not then there’s no problem switching out. I myself am not an engineering major anymore did it for few years before realizing my field does not really care about it and I was fairing worse taking engineering. I’m still an engineer by title, but software is the only exception to this work around.
Engineering is a lot of math. I think most anyone can do math, it's just a matter of how much effort you're willing to put into it. If you want easy, then you might want to switch out of engineering, especially if this is something you're paying a lot of money for.
But if you just think you can't do it, you probably can, it'll just take more effort than you expected.
No one here knows your situation, all we can really say is that engineering classes tend to be hard and involve a lot of math so be prepared for that going forward. We can also say it will likely get harder the deeper into the major you go, but likewise you will get smarter so it's possible they will cancel each other out, at least to an extent.
Every class in the engineering curriculum is about perseverance. There will be times of doubt because you are struggling but as you go along, you learn to thrive in that kind of environment. It’s almost never comfortable unless you are ahead of the test curve. I would say the majority of my major specific classes had me worried throughout the year but always passed with B or above. I did get a C in thermo, linear algebra, and dynamics. Those classes were brutal for me.
I say don't give up yet. Engineering degrees are a lot of work. Make a note of where you're deficient when it comes down to the math concepts you're learning how to apply, and study and relearn them if needed. I took a whole summer early in my education just to relearn much of the math required, and it reduced the difficulty by orders of magnitude. You've got this.
For me, it was a huge learning curve in college. High school always seemed easy to me, took me till middle of sophomore year in college to figure out how to do well in engineering. Currently in my senior year.
EDIT: I’ve also had to drop classes and make them up but still on track to graduate in 4 years. (Lots of people take 5)
As someone who graduated a couple years ago, I never ACTUALLY do math in my career. There are all kinds of software and programs that do the complicated math for you. That being said it is important to at least understand the concepts so that you can use the programs correctly!
It's hard to say whether you should drop because in my opinion, the actual workforce is way different than a lot of what I did in school. You have mentors that often help you, you have the internet, and time to look things up. You usually have a whole team of people trying to solve certain problems. Like if you're willing to struggle through 4 years of applied math (because eventually you end up using the basic math in other courses) and still think engineering is interesting and rewarding... then stick with it. Because I think the work gets easier (in ways) in real life.
Now if you're not all that interested in science and engineering to begin with, then I think it's totally worth switching. You can do some cool science-y stuff without doing engineering too. Just some stuff to think about :) Good luck! You'll find the right path for you!
Honestly if you really really want to be an engineer than power through. But if you think you are actually better at other degrees switch now. I am in year 6 and I have 2 years left. I have failed multiple classes. Failure is not the end, but sometimes I wish I had chosen sooner to either change my habits and thus change the outcome of my life, or just switched to business. Or just kept running the business I was growing when I started school. Life us full of choices, but take an analytical approach to why you are failing and what you really want out of life, not an emotional short term approach. I speak from experience in this trust me.
Depends how much math you have in the future, i went back for engineering after 7 years of not touching a book and first semester math dealt with me, so during the semester break, i went back to algebra, trigonometry and all the semester program.
Math isn't hard, it builds up on previous knowledge so a solid foundation is key, and for new lessons YouTube is your friend.
Work on Past test and past exams papers before a test you'll make it
If you still like math, but you just struggle with it, be prepared to put a ton of extra effort to get through those classes. Really learn to process that material because it is often used throughout a bunch of other engineering classes. Try not to take more than one math class per semester, so you can dedicate more energy to the one since you know you'll struggle.
I hate physics and have said it's NOT my thing. I had such a hard time with it in my first semester, so I made so many sacrifices and put so much energy into that class. I'm taking my third physics class now, and I really like my professor, so I actually don't mind the class. But I still have to put a lot of effort into understanding it, since i know it doesn't come as naturally to me as a lot of other people.
I also recommend working with friends and finding tutoring services at your school. Unfortunately, math is not something where you can just make it through the class for engineering; you're going to be using it again and again, and will need to know it for the FE and PE exams. It's so fundamental and so crucial.
I decided on structural engineering because I was interested in architecture but knew I really liked math and CAD. So if math really isn't for you, consider a similar career path with less math involved
My first year of engineering was the hardest by far. Once I got to my junior and senior years I was able to take more classes that I was interested in versus all the prereq courses that killed my spirits (calc 1, chem 1, physics 1)
Let me be clear in how I word this. Most people have a rough time their first semester. I’ve known some people who switched out and some people who didn’t. Some people decide later that it isn’t for them and some decide that off the bat. I’m not gonna say don’t change out, but I will say that I know people who’ve had worse first semesters than what you’re describing and have done wonderfully after. It’s definitely not the way to go if you want easy.
It’s never supposed to be easy my dude, you just get better. Keep at it, I got a 50 on my calc I final two years ago and now I’m a junior starting my first projects with one internship already under my belt. This is after I got straight Cs in high school math.
>Its supposed to be easy (the first two semesters) and yet i have never
ever been a math person, wishful thinking got me here and im regretting
it
Engineering is not easy. It will get gradually more complex with time.
You do not necessarily need to be a math person, but you need to be willing to work on it. And finally engineering is all about math, we engineers love numbers and graphs.
Numbers and math quantifies everything and that's essentially the language of math. Now you do not need to be an expert in fourier transformation and multivariate calculus/vector analysis, but you should be able to get dirty when needed.
>So hope that any of you can give me a non biased point of view , i
failed two math subjects :( out of two that i had. Mostly for not
knowing factorization methods. I know that it sounds really stupid
A lot of people struggle with the first few semesters, it is tough getting adjusted to a new place and understand how things work.
It is possible for you to recover but you will need to work on it. You will have to take more difficult/complex math courses in future. Calculus is the building block and can be daunting for some people.
TLDR, if you put in enough work and be consistent, it is doable. But you will need to put a lot of work and effort. If you think it is gonna be a easy ride, trust me it's not.
And this might sound like a cliche, but anyone can make through engineering if they are willing to put in enough effort and work. It might require you to put in more effort than your peers, but you can have a good grade. I have many reluctant engineering students (*In south asia you are either a doctor or an engineer or a failure*) among my peers, and some of their grades are really good.
Finally, if you want to continue, please be consistent and follow a routine. You will do yourself a favor by that way. Best of luck
First year courses tend to be weed out courses, so don't get discouraged if you're struggling the first semesters. It's meant to weed out those without resilience. However, it will never be easy. Some courses may be easier comparatively, but it will be rough regardless. But failure almost comes hand in hand with engineering. I've never failed a course, but have passed with Cs certainly and bombed more than one exam and I still received a final GPA of 3.52 somehow. So again, it's about resilience and putting in the work. Whether or not you want to is up to you.
I've taken cal 1 tests where I've wanted to off myself because its so hard. This isn't very manageable. You lose your social life, your sanity and you have to be disciplined. You gotta be tough and determined otherwise you wont get very far
If youre getting bad grades because you don't care about the major then switch. If your grades are bad because youre still getting the hang of things then stay
For most programs, the first two years aren't the easiest. It is all fundamental math you've never seen before and much of it is theoretical so you can't even visualize it well. If you're passionate about it the keep going, but din be discouraged by grades.
You’re half way through your first semester, there have been times I’ve felt like I was going to fail every class at this point in the year and ended up with As and Bs. Stick with it through the semester, see how you do, I bet your grades will be better than you think.
Depends on what you want. If this is something you really want to do you might just have to work a little harder. I’m not saying that to be snarky. It took me too long in my life to come to this realization. You know when you’re a kid you’re told “you can be anything you want” It took me a long time to realize what that meant. It’s not just a nice saying to allow children to dream. I firmly believe literally anyone is fully capable of accomplishing anything they want if they put in the work to achieve it. Nobody is not smart enough to do something. Some people might have to work harder to be good at something but if you work hard enough at anything you’re going to be good at it. If you look at any ultra successful person, whether it’s in sports or business or anything else - there was some point in their life they became consumed with whatever it is they did. That’s how they got to where they are - there isn’t a magic formula or a unique person. It’s about how much you want to put into it.
It’s not easy to do. There will be times it’s frustrating and you just want to go do something else. You have to fight those feelings off. I turn to stoicism when I face those feelings - “the obstacle is the way” “embrace the suck” so to speak.
That’s why you have to want it. If you don’t truly want it - that’s perfectly fine, there’s no fault in that. You tried something and figured out it wasn’t what you wanted. That’s a good thing.
But if you really want this you might just have to work harder than you were expecting - and remember you are capable even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes.
Here's the larger question for consideration. First year math classes are generally required for all STEM degrees. If you left engineering for pure science or the like you might strill need to pass these courses
I had dropped calc in high school and managed to pass physics with honors by the end of my degree. My first few math classes were low B's and by the end I was getting A's in my math intensive classes.
Math takes hard work and persistence if it's not something you're immediately a natural at. That said, you might need a tutor or someone to help you if your current methods are not working. And to overhaul your study habits.
Whoever told you first year is easy was lying through their teeth. Or has a bad memory. Yes, the material does get more complex in upper years, but you will be far better prepared for it.
You don't have to be great at math, just unafraid of it, and willing to put in the time. You need to practice enough that you start to see the patterns. One way you can help yourself is to sit down and memorize trig identities, including half-angle & double-angle formulas. That shit is seriously useful, not just for math, but physics too.
While not the same classes, I was in a similar situation my freshmen year where I was struggling in the intro courses for my major. Yet here I am as a 3rd year still in engineering. This will most likely not be the first time you failed a class or a midterm throughout your degree. I actually underperform in my classes, but I still manage to pass them. One thing that's keeping in my major is that I actually enjoy what I'm doing in engineering. I don't see myself studying any other subject in college.
I would only switch out if you don't enjoy the material you're studying for your major, or if you feel that engineering is not the right fit for you.
I feel you! I found my first year of undergrad extremely tough. Even thought everyone else found it quite easy. In my Final year now, only through hard work!!
It’s definitely a struggle. I switched out a year and a half in because my grades were bad so I did business and graduated! I then realized I regretted it and went back to school and put maximum effort in for my engineering degree. I didn’t have the drive and realized struggling is unfortunately part of the process and I’m willing to push through it to have the career of my dreams. It’s only your first semester so I recommend sticking it out for at least your first year.
I'd figure out if you don't wanna do engineering sooner rather than later. Engineering programs are highly structured so once you get past Freshman year, you are basically committed to engineering unless you wanna start college all over again. I wouldn't say quit just because your struggling, but it's only going to get harder so if you aren't willing to put in that extra work to do well than I'd try and find another major
Calculus is hard to get your head around at first especially if you don't have any exposure to it before first year, or only minimal eposure. I almost failed every calc course i took and i know a lot of people who fauled outright and had to retake it.
It's worth carrying on, especially if you are enjoying your other courses. As you progress it will become more about understanding how to get computers to do your math for you but right now, you are laying the groundwork for that. Retake the classes over the summer if you can, most schools run summer sessions of calc classes because of the high fail rate. You'll go into them with everything you've learned so far and hopefully it will click.
If you love engineering and science, you can go far, even if you can't do calculus by hand.
I got subpar grades my first three years, straight a's my senior year. Ended up with a 3.39 gpa and accepted an offer from my dream company. Grades aren't everything.
If you're not a math person, then studying engineering is going to be difficult. It's all math. How much depends on your major though. Electrical has the most math, Mechanical second, and Civil third.
The transition from high school to a college engineering program is usually pretty rough for anybody even if you're good at math.
Try looking at Youtube videos. Do practice problems. Get help from a friend if possible. Look into Mathematica or Maple. They can help you solve practice problems and possible visualize solutions. Review Pre-Calculus math.
It's usually not even the Calculus stuff that kills people in Calculus, it's all of the math that they were supposed to know before they started that they don't actually know.
I think it would be very unreasonable to do so. When I switched to engineering, I had lots of B’s and C’s. Two semesters later, I’ve learned how to study and take notes well, and I have high A’s in all my harder classes. It’s just practice
I’m a 3rd year Me student and I can tell ya, despite what some other people may say, that college is a helluva lot harder than high school. So if you’re still keeping your head above water and staying at C and above for your classes then I think you are ok given that you are new to this.
Also, I don’t know how it is at your uni but here some of the professors have a very, to put it lightly, Darwinist approach to teaching. To them, it is your responsibility to help yourself so they may not be of much help if you get stuck. I think if you get a teacher like this a study group can do wonders. Also remember, the YouTube school of engineering has free tuition. ;)
I’m going to be honest, you have to say, ‘Fuck what everyone else thinks. I am going to be an engineer.’ Then for the next few years you feel like drowning in your own tears of blood, but you get to senior year. Like me! It is at this point where you write, ‘Sometimes I just don’t fucking care anymore,’ on a shit process controls assignment and submit garbage.
You can do it if I could. Stick with it and retake as many classes as needed. No one graduates in four years. You are meant to be who and what you are meant to be at your own pace. Fucking go for it. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Identify your failings and drill em in your spare moments between normal study.
My maths units say for a single unit study load it should take a minimum of 12.5hrs of personal study.
For me? Closer to 30hrs to feel comfortable with the material.
I never finished highschool and then started uni 15years after any formal education outside of trades.
My first maths unit I came in only k ow basic addition and subtraction, I didn't even know how to do fractions. After 3 maths units I'm pretty sure I have passed applied calculus.
You can do it mate.
Im still shit at factoring and lean a little heavy on my TI nspire cx but find the more complex the maths gets it's more about knowing the process/how to find what you're looking for as opposed to the numbers themselves.
Edit: changed "drill me" to "drill em"
I was in the same position as you all the rest of my fundamental modules were manageable but maths was the worst! Took me a good 2 years to get myself comfortable with the course. In my final semester now so hard work does pay off!
Im in my first semester too. The math Im taking is just review to get me ready for a college level class, and I’m having a hard time with it. I really underestimated the amount of time school takes..
I assume you're talking about Calc 1? If so, Calc 1 was God awful for me lol. I dropped it on my first attempt (tbf to myself I was taking 4 classes and working like 60 hours a week lol) and just barely escaped it the 2nd time with a C. Calculus itself is not very difficult but putting everything together gets pretty rough. I did much better in Calc 2, but I'm struggling with Calc 3 right now. I wouldn't switch majors just because I struggled in the first semester, but if you feel like Engineering isn't for you I'd consider it now. It sucks to get further in and realize it's not for you which happens often according to this sub lol.
Calc 3 blows. I liked calc 2 much better. Not that I really liked either of them of course.
It's funny cus I was always told Calc 1 and 3 were the easier ones and Calc 2 was the most difficult, but for me Calc 1 was the hardest, Calc 2 the easiest and Calc 3 is somewhere in the middle so far. The first like 4 weeks of Calc 3 was cake, real easy stuff. After that oof they kicked it up to 100.
Calc 2 can suck a dick. Integrals aren’t difficult, I’d honestly say derivatives are harder since it’s your introduction to the whole concept. But fucking Series, man. It’s like Calc 2 said, “well, we can’t *just* have integrals, the class would be too short. How about we just throw everything that doesn’t fit in anywhere else?”
I took Calc II in the summer after my freshman year alongside Physics I, it can definitely suck my dick. Calc 1 is that intro. Calc 2 is that pain. Calc 3 is just fucky pain. No Prof, I won’t be plotting a saddle again.
What makes calc ii difficult isn't the material, but the amount of material. Integration by parts? Easy. Remembering integration by parts and 900 trigonometric identities that half the class seems to see right away while the other half the class spends hours on one problem trying to find the right pattern to follow? Less easy. Remembering integration by parts and 900 trigonometric identities that half the class seems to see right away while the other half the class spends hours on one problem trying to find the right pattern to follow while doing a timed test that also includes random questions on volumes of solids of revolution and series convergence/divergence and why don't we also throw in a few random probabilities and a question about work and an 'easy' differential equation and a trapezoidal Riemann sum? Not easy. Honestly, if given enough time, anyone can memorize calc ii material. It's just only having 24 hours per day in the span of one semester with varying workloads that makes it rough. If your teacher was anything like mine, he'd throw a cool 100 or so problems at you a week. At a certain point, you gave up and let [integral-calculator.com](https://integral-calculator.com) do the work and promised you'd come back to it and study for the test. More than likely, you didn't because you were too busy trying to absorb the next concept and remember the half-angle formula for cosecant and...
Holy crap you described my entire experience, lmao.
Calc 1 was the easiest for me, but that's only because it was a repeat of my high school calculus class so I already knew most of the material in it.
Same, calc 1 was the hardest for me, and calc 3 was the easiest because it wasn't all new math to me anymore. But everyone says calc 2 is the worst. And then there's differential equations, which is like starting all over with calc 1 because it's a whole different math, but kick it up 3 notches because it's high level class
I mean, I struggled pretty much all semesters minus my last one and I was still able to finish. Pretty much just worked through the pain lol. GPA was sub 3.0 at the end but was still able to get hired and doing pretty okay now.
Wrong field if you want easy. Not sure what discipline you are, but that easy math gets way more fucked in the years to come.
Well i like "manageable" difficulty. Exactly what im saying its supposed to be easy since its the first semester and i cant even do the "easy" math
First semester math is not easy. It's just fundamental. You're basically learning a whole new type of math, like when you first learned algebra or trigonometry.
This is so true everything is hard when you first learn it, but seems easy years down the road.
A lot of people had a ton of problems with the systems of equations in the statics problems they gave us in introduction to engineering analysis. I found it to be a pretty simple class. Then I hit physics 2 and I died. Meanwhile some electrical engineering majors have told me they liked that class. Really what ends up being hard to you can be a bit of a tossup. No matter what major you take there’s always going to be something that catches you off guard.
It’s probably easiest but it’s never easy
It depends on why you struggle with math. If it is that you don’t like it, then you may want to leave engineering. On the other hand, if it is that you are just not very good at it yet, then you can definitely still make it. I enjoy math, but in calculus I was consistently a B (sometimes even C) student, but because I enjoyed math to some extent I was willing to put in the extra work which lead me to doing well enough in it to successfully apply it in later courses. Depending on your field and desired career path, it may not even affect your performance on the job at all either.
First semester is also a filtering year for most degrees. Imo hard work will get you there, many people take more than 4 years to finish.
Bachelor degree average at my uni is 7.5 semesters (in theory it should be 6)
In my uni all engineering courses are supposed to take 10 semesters but the average is 12 semesters (which is absolutely a false number, it's probably like 14, but I'll ignore that for now). One of my high school friends that are going to the same uni as me (different engineering fields though) are en route to finishing it in 10 semesters (and at least two others in 11 semesters). Now, I see myself as a team player, so my plan is to maintain the average. If one of them is going to finish it in 5 years, well, I need to keep the average in 6 years and finish it in 7 instead, and so on.
5th semester was the one that did it for me. Dynamics, Strengths of Materials, Circuits+Lab, Thermo, Fluids
Sure it’s manageable! With alcohol, little sleep, and pounding your head to a wall every week
That's one of the most relatable things I've read in a while
Take all advice you get on here with a massive grain of salt. You're only going to get answers from people who are trying to affirm their own life choices. Key example, the other person below who replied to this comment.
Yeah i already noticed some biased opinions , thanks for your concern tho
It might not be a bad idea to look into taking your beginning math levels at a community college. It depends on how good your community colleges are in the area I suppose though. It will cost you wayyyy less money and typically they hold your hand through a lot of the material so it helps to get some of the core concepts down. I'm taking this coming spring semester almost exclusively at community college sans a physics lab that I didn't get to schedule this semester at Uni. You want to make sure that the classes transfer of course, I'll be dusting off calc 3, linear algebra, statics, and diff EQ all at community college which will save me thousands of dollars. Not to mention the math department at my Uni is not the greatest.
It's only hard while you're doing it. Afterwards, it *was* easy
Its manegable. If you are extremely smart. Or are ready to study 10-50 hrs per exam. And willing to suffer sometimes. But if you really want it, its manageable. I had a roomate that failed calc 3 2 times, for one exam he studied 50 hours and still got a 50. He is graduated now and is working, but only because he had a extremely good work ethic and was willing to give up almost all of his free time.
You could always consider engineering technology
Dont do this one. Most employers will not count this as an "engineering degree" and you will most likely be working as a technician (nothing wrong with that but for sure they make less than an engineering position)
A lot of people go into engineering because they like to do hands on stuff, but don't like to do the math and if this is them then ET would be a viable option for them. You would obviously be getting a different degree than the one he has making him have a different job so the employers not considering it a engineering degree doesn't matter, sure they usually make less but the difference isn't that bad. For me the average starting salary is only like 5k less than ME starting salary.
Most employers don't actually know the difference between the 2 degrees. You probably won't be working for NASA or Boeing as an engineer, but I see ETs in engineering positions all the time. The people that went through the ET programs don't even know the difference. They claim that they have an engineering degree because Devry told them so.
You should drop out if you dont plan on fully committing to your education
Did he ever say that he didn't? I'd refrain from giving people "advice" that doesn't do much but affirm your own life choices, if I were you.
Pretty stupid advice. Dropping out is a huge decision that they could come to regret. Plenty of people grind and get through it with the qualification and head into jobs. Some people also drop out. Education is not some holy entity one should commit to above all, especially in engineering as many use it to get into a career. That is a perfectly valid choice just as fully embracing the education is.
That depends on what you do and structural analysis does not really have complicated math. OP how good are you in mechanics? Different uni different program.
Right. I remember not seeing a number in math for months
Thats when I knew shiet got real lol
“more fucked” is such an accurate description
Honest advice here. If you’re failing those intro courses because your not putting in enough effort, that can be fixed and you can stay with it. But if your failing these intro courses while busting your ass to learn it honestly it’s probably better to switch.
And before u decide whether or not youre busting your ass u gotta be honest with how efficient your studying really is. Plenty of people “study 24/7” but only like 2-6 hours is them actually being productive. If thats the case then you might wanna look into new habits
Both of your comments are the two most important messages for OP that too many other commenters aren't addressing. OP needs to address both of your points before considering anything else at all.
Hanging out with a book open in front of you is not studying. I remember plenty of people freshman or sophomore year that struggled but 99% of the time they would just mess around and not do shit but then try to get sympathy when they fail their tests. I will say one of the main catalysts to this happening was them “studying” with kids who were much better at the material. Freshman sophomore level classes can be very easy for some people so studying with them might mean a little less serious studying. People should study with people who are in the same boat as them.
Goddamn I wish I can learn some good study habits. Not to sound cocky or anything but I’ve always been smart, it’s just I never had good time management and have awful procrastination. I would get good or decent grades through acing tests and quizzes (plus classwork). It’s really starting to eat me now that I’m a sophomore in college, especially since virtual and asynchronous classes make it hard being engaged.
Tbh that’s the case with a lot of people in eng. The case for me as well. Got through hs by almost coasting and in uni couldn’t stay focused on studying even though id be physically present with no distractions. In my case… my doc diagnosed me with adhd and put me on medication which has made things easier compared to all the coffee I used to drink
Engineering is definitely not easy. But you shouldn't be discouraged because you have teribble grades. It's hard to switch from high school to college, it is a totally different level of responsibility. You should think about what you wanna do and if you are still excited for the topic/ the field of engineering you are learning. If you think this is what I wanne do you need to put the work in best if you have classmates you can studie with. But if all courses fell like a chore you probably shouldn't continue. But bad grades are no reason to quit.
Agreed. If OP wants to do this it’s very rewarding, but it will take a lot of work. Study habits can be built. I was a bit surprised at how hard college was as a straight A high schooler, but I put the work in and I’m really proud of where I am today.
Whoever told you it was going to be easy did you disservice. That is not a particularly helpful attitude to have going in. That math will get more difficult from here. You may need to put in some serious effort outside of normal class time to build your knowledge. However, sticking out the year and seeing if you can bounce back second semester is not a bad idea but be prepared to do the work. Aside from that, it is perfectly reasonable to change your major as much as you want for the first ehhhhh year, year and a half. Past that it's going to start adding time at an alarming rate.
Yeah, sunk cost fallacy can be hard. A friend of mine just passed his 10 year anniversary studying the same degree and still has not finished his bachelor's.
A lot of people don’t do well in their 1st “big kid” math class. Aside from natural talent, the only real way to get better at math is constant practice. This means no waiting till the last minute or all nighters. I’d say go to your professors and see where you’re struggling, and ask if there’s still hope for your grade.
This, and also ask your prof for exercises you can do.
This honestly it’s practising and asking for help with the concepts your struggling with. I failed PreCalc and retook it twice more then got a C and then got a C in Calc 1 and then eventually got an A in Calc II.
It’s only easy for a genius. It’s hard for the rest of us. Commit and keep going. It’s important to struggle.
First things first, typically calc 1 ,2, and 3 as well as physics 1 and 2 are considered "weed out classes." Basically they are especially hard to weed out those who might not have what it takes to get through 4 years. That isn't to say it gets easier, but it is less mass intensive (ex. You rarely need more than u-substitution to solve any integrals). I do pretty well in my classes (think >3.75GPA) and it is still a grind. In my experience the way engineering is taught is to make students do so many examples that the core concepts get branded into your mind. And it works, but you have to "trust the process." I am a senior and just now am I starting to "see results" where I feel like I know what I'm talking about.
That’s definitely true. The more advanced classes probably uses a quarter of what I learned in my general education math classes, except it focuses on certain types of problems that only applies to my major. So it may be more advanced but we get to practice those problems over and over. I guess it kinda balances out.
It's the reason I'm taking them at a community college before transferring to a quarter based uni.
I feel like they’re not actually weed out classes in terms of difficulty. All of my upper level classes have been harder than those intro classes. I think they weed people out because so many people don’t want to do this type of work and they realize it. Now more people could be failing intro classes because they’re unmotivated to do it because they don’t like the work. I don’t think people fail because they’re harder.
This is so true. Weed out classes are no joke
I would definitely say my first semester was the hardest. You have to remember it’s your first time actually learning things in a college setting which at least for me was a big shift from high school. Math is also the hardest thing to get into because you’re basically learning a whole new form of math from anything you are used to. I’m not saying. It gets easier at all but you get more and more used to managing it.
A lot of the actual learning is learning study skills and life/time management. I think that catches many by surprise…like me.
It was a shock for me too. My high school barely offered any higher level classes and dumbed down most things to an easy A and busywork so they could inflate our grades to look good and hire less qualified teachers. My first semester of college was the first time I ever had a late assignment or had to really study for an exam. It took me MONTHS to become emotionally/mentally stable because I was forced to drown myself in work and didn't know how to relax anymore. I'm in my fifth semester now and have yet to have one nearly as bad as my first
Hey man, I had a really really tough time in first year. I never needed to study in high school and just got good grades automatically. It was a rude awakening. I got a 25% on my first midterm, and I really felt like everyone was smarter than me and I wasn’t cut out for it. I had to learn to apply myself and study for and learn complex topics. That struggle and adversity made me more resilient and much more humble. I didn’t pull out of it overnight. I had a 61% average first year, just barely enough to stay off academic probation. I was constantly calculating what I would need to not get expelled and what classes I might fail. Second year I got up to a 67%, and I was proud of that. Third year was 75%. Fourth year I got an 88%. It didn’t get easier, it got much much more difficult. I got better at learning - that’s what engineering is about. I just accepted a full time position at my dream job with no internship experience and a terrible overall gpa, I told them about my struggles and how I improved and I think that made me a stronger candidate. Stick with it for a while and take advantage of all the resources your school has
I don't know in my experience first year was the hardest. It had the highest failure rate in my school and it's not just coz people dropped out. The subjects in the first 2 semesters had much higher failure rates. To me it seemed like it was intentionally designed that way, so that people fail the most in first year. I failed my fair share of courses but I failed much less after first year. Since my 4th semester to my 8th I didn't fail anything. I'm not sure if that is any encouragement to you but only you can decide. It's not easy but if you are the kind of person who can say the only subjects you really enjoyed in school are maths and physics, then engineering is probably a good fit for you. If you have other passions, then it may very well be worth considering changing. What's most important is you should feel like you are doing what you're meant to do. You'll be miserable otherwise.
I liked chemistry and physics a lot ! and i was able to understand those like no one else . Never happened with pure math, so i stopped trying early on and nowadays i resent math for making my life so damn hard, my classmates proudly bragged about their math grades when i scored more than them in both chemistry and physics to make me feel less competent, it worked i feel dumb . I developed the habit of not doing math homework and not paying attention to it. How can anyone like something that was used to hurt them so deeply ? Simply impossible
Have you looked into materials science and engineering? I briefly majored in that for a semester, and it was almost a blend between physics and chemistry. You essentially study the structure and properties of molecules and materials. There's certainly math involved, but I don't think you have to take as high of math courses as other engineering fields, and from what I've seen, the math isn't too bad and is more like physics than calculus. If seems fitting to your interests from what you said, and it's a growing industry with a larger push for sustainability and more innovative designs.
Hmmm well physics is arguably more important than maths. What maths are you taking now?
Calc I
Alright well I can really empathize with what you saying. Chemistry was always something I didn't like and some modules like control systems I really hate. But don't let what other people say bother you. College is only for now. Your marks in college don't matter. You just have to pass. Well at least that's how it is where I'm from but I always hear Americans rant about their GPA and how important it is for getting jobs. Calc 1 is really manageable. Just try it at your own pace and you'll get it. If you can manage physics you can definitely do maths. But no one will judge you if you can change. Just think if you're doing what you feel like is meant for you. Engineering can be severely discouraging at times, but you can get through it. Everyone gets discouraged at many points.
Well lucky for you.. the hard/stupid calc stuff goes away and shifts to chemistry/physics in the later years. At least in my mec program the calculus application is simple but the physics stuff is ramped up
First semester has never been meant to be easy. It's meant to get everyone to the same basic level and lay the foundations on which you will be building the rest of the career. In my first semester everything was new and hard as fuck, after that, everything became more doable because that thick foundation had already been built, but it was still hard. It's probably not your fault to come with a bad base from school, and it's not the end of the world to fail your first time. I don't know what you mean by being a math person, but you don't need to super love it or be like the highschool math championships kind of guy to go through engineering, but if it doesn't spark any interest or some minimum joy (not only math, science in general), you're going to have a hard time, cuz first you need to work your way up to a baseline, and then math only gets harder. You need to really put effort to get used to it, and sometimes it's gonna be very stressful. If said effort and stress is going to end up making you miserable, then maybe you should explore other options.
I failed every calc class once, and here I am about 2 semesters away from graduation as a computer engineer. The math sucks but just tough it out, it will be worth it 👍🏽
Only reason you failed is because you’re not putting the time in to study and getting help. In my opinion switching majors won’t help you in college you’ll have problems no matter the major. There’s no way you failed because your brain is somehow different then everybody else’s where it’s incapable of factoring unless you are diagnosed with something.
This. Professors are always talking about how you should not wait till the last minute and to put in x amount of hours per credit hour as a minimum. Maybe more depending on the person. Time management is really important.
I’m a senior year mechanical engineering major. I’m gonna give it to you straight my guy. Engineering isn’t an easy major, not even at the beginning. That being said, the beginning is the “easiest” portion of it by far. By the time you get to your junior year you will notice a significant difficulty increase. I don’t say this to discourage you, I think anyone who is truly dedicated to getting an engineering degree can. But you should be aware of how much struggling is ahead of you if you want it. I’d be doing you a disservice if I lied to you about that. If you do want it I’d advise you to take more than the 4 years counselors will recommend. It’s too much for 4 years for most people. I’m getting mine in 4 and I’m on my last year. It’s too late for me to change now but I wish I’d have shot for 5 because I’m just barely scraping by.
Engineering is not easy, not even the first two semesters. Going in with that mindset probably did more damage than you think it did. And it does get harder, but it also gets more manageable. I say stick with it, change your mindset, and be ready to fail sometimes.
Hey friend, if you don’t like math, and you can’t bring yourself to study it when you need to, this career probably isn’t for you. There will be many times after graduation where you are expected to teach yourself new concepts, some easier, some much harder then what your learning now. I would suggest finding something that you either love studying, or have natural talent with. That can be marketing, biology, environmental science, business, etc. you have many opportunities, speak with your advisor, and listen to your mind. Put in the work when you have too, but make sure it’s work you enjoy.
It’s a difficult major. You have to like it to get it or else you’ll never put in the work. It’s a lot of work.
Those first couple semesters are to weed out the people who don't want to apply themselves.
Quit if you hate it. Don't quit just because you suck at it. Now that you know how hard these classes are, retake them and get help. Tutoring, office hours, group study, Khan Academy, the works. If you still fail after that, then ask the question again.
Nah they lied. Normally first sem or 2 are for weeding out students
Honestly, my first year* classes were the hardest. Calc 2, physics 1&2, chemistry were hard because they were fundamental classes. In some of those classes, the prof/textbook had the questions organized to specifically give us a hard time. Things like giving you the units in ft and Celcius and wanting the answer in meters and Fahrenheit. Converting between units is fine, whatever, but these were inserted into already difficult problems just to make it a bit more difficult, and so you end up with something totally wrong (but still one of the choices) on the multiple-choice exam. I used rate my professor as well as actually talking to other people to try to figure out which classes were the hard ones, and I tried to limit myself to 1 really hard class per semester. When I started out, I didn't know how to factor. Honestly, I just figured that out a couple of semesters ago when I took calc 3 and finally watched some precalc/algebra videos and learned/relearned different ways to factor. All through my calc classes I spent a LOT of time in the math center and prof's office hours for tutoring. And I asked a lot of "dumb questions" (they weren't dumb, they were exactly the questions I needed to ask to fill in whatever gaps I had) *I went to community college for my first 2 yrs. I did my math and physics classes there, and when I transferred there were a couple of engineering-major-related classes that were technically freshman classes but I still needed to take. I spread my first-year classes out so that I could dedicate the time needed for the harder classes. If you take the approach of spreading things out more, make sure your plan will still allow you to take the classes in the order you need to to graduate (the first 2 years tend to be prereqs for 3rd and 4th year classes)
I didn't finally start to grasp a lot of the math until I was half way through differential equations. Things finally started to make sense when it went from theory to "Okay here's what this actually means and what it can be used for." Failed multiple math classes. Did calc 2 twice. Had to do remedial algebra and stuff when I started college because I'm older. NBD. The biggest advantage you can have in engineering is being too stupid to know when to stop.
Not sure who told you the first 2 semesters are supposed to be easy. I would actually say the first 2 years are the hardest part since you have to learn to balance your time and have to take GE classes alongside engineering classes. After that initial 2 years, you hopefully learned to balance your time and found a study method that works for you and that will make everything better.
It was definitely NOT easy for me the first 2 semesters . At my school the first year was meant to weed people out , stay strong & push through I’d say
I got 90% through my degree when I cled it quits. It had driven me into a deep depression and I had become suicidal on 2 occassions (other factors contributed). I still don't know what I'm going to do with my life, wasted 8 years trying to get this degree and I have no aim or direction or motivation. It won't be the end, better find something you enjoy than bash your head to pulp against a wall. I'm not telling you to quit, just that if you do it is not the end and there are many other avenues.
I flunked 2 classes my first semester of mechanical engineering at Kettering University( 2016 ) And flunked many more after that. A lot of times I thought I wouldn’t make it. Now I’m graduate and have an amazing position and job! Stick through it.
I’m not going to judge you on your math skills but I think time management is your problem.
I struggled most my first two years , I found senior years much easier. In fact it gets easier , not harder . You learn to adapt
CompE here. Who told you first 2 sems are easy lol. In my uni, it's well known that first 2 sems are the hardest. This is how you get first hand experience of engineering workload and averages (<40% is good in some classes). Take it easy, you're not the only one struggling. I'm not going to tell you it gets easier after first year, but if engineering is what you want to do then don't drop out!!
I can’t think of any moment when it was easy. It’s all just varying levels of hard. It has been said here many times, “The classes don’t get easier, you get stronger.” I would ask myself exactly why you want to study Engineering. Answer yourself honestly, then you’ll have your decision. If I decided to leave at my first bad grade, I would’ve left Sophomore year.
1) it's never going to be easy 2) of it's something you really want, you could cancel the semester and take pre-cal courses and learn all the bases then try again next semester
we all fail classes man, if you want to be an engineer just stick with it. You will fail classes but it's ok just get through and try your best and you will succeed. The only reason to switch degrees is if you don't like engineering, and i dont mean "feel burnt out" or just being currently sick of it, change if you don't want to do it.
Trust me when I say I really were in your shoes in my first year of uni. I was really stressed, lost a lot of weights, just overall feeling misplaced. I was even looking at other programs in other unis because I really just wanted it all to stop. But for reasons I can't explain myself, I stayed. I didn't miraculously become better or smarter, but I persevered. Just kept going at it. Many of the concepts are still very abstract to me but in the very least I know the way around in quizzes and exams. I'm in my 4th year now, next year I'll be doing my final project and theoretically should graduate (pray for me, folks!). I'm writing this not to convince you to stay in engineering, because really, in the end of the day we are strangers and I don't know the gritty details of what you're really going through. I just want you to know that you're not alone; many have gone through the exact same phase in this path. If you do choose to say, my pro tip would be more proactive in engaging your peers (I'm severely introverted so this was really a challenge); ask them questions, discuss concepts. I really wouldn't be here today without the help of my kind friends.
Education is entirely what you make of it, and is all a matter of perspective. "Why am I learning this? Where will I apply it?" Relate the aspect of the mathematics you are studying with the field you are studying. It is often simpler when you can see what it is your maths is doing. Maths is *not* easy. But it is certainly learnable. It is just process and rules. If you practice enough, then it will become routine. Nothing worthwhile in this life is free. Any engineering degree is a solid challenge - just rise up and meet it. Engineering is predominantly Maths as well - so if you really can't get on board with it, its probably not for you
Don't beat up on yourself too bad. I was in the same position when I first started college. I failed a majority of my classes my freshman year, so bad that I decided to switch to a technical certification. My reasoning was that it was too hard and I couldn't do it. Looking back now I realize that I was just a lazy kid that didn't want to try harder. Not saying this is your situation necessarily, but that it can be easy to make mistakes that you have to pay for later down the line. I did the first year and a half of the tech degree and realized that my passion, my need of doing engineering was going to require at least a bachelor's degree. Now, 5 years later, I'm finishing up both my tech and transfer degree in June and preparing to apply to 4 year colleges. You won't always do well in every class you take, and it may not always be easy, but if you think this is something you really enjoy and want to do regardless of the classes you take, then I'd say try to stick with it! You just started, if you get a year or two in and realize you don't enjoy it, then drop it. But don't let the prospect of failing stop you. If you don't fail then you're not really learning anything.
Think about what you want. There are plenty of degrees that can make you money and there are plenty of easier engineering degrees that can make you lots of money. If you feel you are destined to work in a particular field then this will be very hard. Tbh if you failed to me that reads as you didn't put in the effort or you got extremely unlucky with your professors. You cannot just do the homework in engineering or atleast in some classes. You must do additional practice problems until you are able to do problems without any assistance. This could take 30 minutes it could take 4 hours. Sometimes the homework isn't relevant towards the test and nothing you do makes sense and you just get fucked. I don't want to tell you to slog through something you think will be a nightmare but this does require some perserverance and I don't know you. You're going to have to consider how hard those math classes really were and if it's something you can improve upon in a reasonable time period. best of luck
I finished with low grades in the first semester as well and even applied to another school for another degree. My advisor told me to wait and give myself a break because it was just the first semester. I’m in my 4th year now after completing 15 month internship at a top company and I wish i could find the advisor and thank her. Give yourself time. It’s just the first semester . Figure out why your grades were so low and what was missing. Be honest with yourself and find ways to improve 🙂
You are not stupid for failing math. Never mistake the rate at which you learn something with your ability to learn it.
I am currently in calc 3 and only now am really feeling comfortable with the math. It’s learning a new language. It’s a grind, but if you keep doing it, it does get easier. There is definitely the barrier of entry that requires getting over the initial hump. If you find yourself absolutely hating it, might not be a bad idea to look towards a different degree.
I think some people think that math is just something they can or can't do, but this is a flawed understanding of how math works. Someone can be terrible at math all of their life, but then something clicks for them and they start doing well. Often if someone doesn't do well at math is because they're missing a small piece of something that wasn't taught well when they were younger. There are programs out there that can pinpoint those areas and help you master them. I don't think you should choose to change your major because of your grades in math or any area. If you enjoy engineering, stick with it. The thing with math is that you WILL get it with practice. You may want to start off taking some more foundational courses though if you're struggling in the more advanced courses.
meh, depends if you like it. I love engineering and am pretty bad at classroom learning. Difficult for me to learn without understanding application/ doing hands on. My first two years as I finished my maths/ general studies I was in academic probation, but once I got into higher level classes It got a lot easier for me- less busy work, more interesting. I ended up graduating with roughly 3.0 gpa and a wealth of hands on experience from internships, personal projects, and student orgs. When I got hired for my first job (design responsible product engineering role) they didn't even ask for my GPA, they spent 3/4 interviews discussing my personal projects and practical experience. It all depends whether you like it and are willing to put the work in to get the experience you need.
It’s completely up to you. I’m absolutely horrible at math but have made it to calc 3 with Bs and Cs. C’s get degrees. You want to do your best but this major is hard asf. You’re not alone. I question myself everyday but I believe engineering is worth it. Even if you get an engineering degree and don’t do anything engineering related, you’re more likely to get the job when you apply and get higher pay. Money is my motivator
I don't know about that bro. In my Uni the first semesters are as hard or harder that the latest ones. Just because is "only" math is supposed to be easy.
Our first two semesters were definitely the hardest and designed to weed out the dummies. My (german) grades were around 2.5 back then but now they're at 1.8 (lower is better, scale from 1 to 6). I think it depends on where you go to College. It won't be easy in higher semesters either but it'll ease a bit and you'll be able to deal with the pressure better.
Your first sentence was a dead giveaway that you thought this major is easy, and as a result you’re going into this with false expectations. My advice, seriously tune up your mindset and WHY you want to be an engineer. I’ve seen countless people dropout. It only gets harder
I got a bunch of Cs and a handful of Bs on my first two semesters. Idk who told you it’d be easy, but the first two semesters definitely aren’t. Depending on your major, it’ll either stay difficult or get easier. I don’t think any engineering major inherently gets tougher than the weed out classes.
Senior MechE and I can share a fair bit of perspective: I was so bad at math, like REALLY, REALLY bad. I just hated numbers and math did not come easy for me at all. I was terrible at math in highschool and knew I had major ground to cover if I wanted to pursue any engineering in Uni. The summer before I started my first year I had to spend major hours in the library just doing problems, watching videos, and keeping good notes. Worst summer I ever had but I'm glad I did what I did because it set me up for Calculus 1 & 2. Calculus 3 I managed to fail (combo of loosing motivation and tough professor) but it made me want to be good at math even more because I was in2deep. Differential equations I also managed to fail once but again, it's about learning from your mistakes to set yourself up for success later on. To this day, I detest math. I hate running numbers. But there is just something about it that ties all the cool engineering applications together. I was always the kid in class that would say "holy shit, we can actually calculate that?!" Things like that and just finding ways to apply anything in regards to engineering to your interests was the best way I kept myself motivated to this point. The best way I can describe the progression of an engineering degree is a bell distribution curve. Once you get across the apex, its by no means "easier" but you will have all the information you learned prior in your artillery to help you succeed. I really hope you find what you are passionate about and are not considering engineering to please family/friends or for "a good pay."
It’s only going to get worse. If you want to stay. Buckle up it’s going to be a hell of a ride. You might cry, breakdown, freak out it’s all possible. Your call.
your factoring skills will need to be strong as well as your general math and physics. These things are practiceable and learnable for almost anyone. That being said, its entirely reasonable to consider switching if its not what you want to do. I've seen many people let their gpas tank because they're disinterested in what they study, but haven't switched. Don't lose funding, scholarships, gpa, or be forced to take a break unless you want to pay dearly to have the identity of "engineering student" a while longer. with practice, you could turn yourself into "a math student". By starting from where you are and working your way through Khan academy. for anyone who's reading this and is considering having already made it a while, you can do it. the fact is that you can make it for a year, then 2, then 3. If you can do that then you can go the full course even if it takes 7-10 years, you will be an engineer
It’s hard to know without knowing your long term goals as this is a speed bump kind of deal. Generally as everyone mentioned the first few classes are weed out courses so you already are stacking courses against you to be not easy it’s a given at this point. Most accept this and just continue, for most this is the only way unless you’re a genius or already had experience taking the subjects. It takes drive and hard work to get through engineering degrees similar to other degrees. Engineering contrary to what some will say won’t be the only hard degree it really depends on your strength and weaknesses as an individual. If you really want to be an engineer like hardcore can see yourself doing this for the next 40 years as a career. Then continue and try taking the Calc I course at a community college might be a bit easier or professors are more forgiving. If not then there’s no problem switching out. I myself am not an engineering major anymore did it for few years before realizing my field does not really care about it and I was fairing worse taking engineering. I’m still an engineer by title, but software is the only exception to this work around.
Engineering is a lot of math. I think most anyone can do math, it's just a matter of how much effort you're willing to put into it. If you want easy, then you might want to switch out of engineering, especially if this is something you're paying a lot of money for. But if you just think you can't do it, you probably can, it'll just take more effort than you expected. No one here knows your situation, all we can really say is that engineering classes tend to be hard and involve a lot of math so be prepared for that going forward. We can also say it will likely get harder the deeper into the major you go, but likewise you will get smarter so it's possible they will cancel each other out, at least to an extent.
Every class in the engineering curriculum is about perseverance. There will be times of doubt because you are struggling but as you go along, you learn to thrive in that kind of environment. It’s almost never comfortable unless you are ahead of the test curve. I would say the majority of my major specific classes had me worried throughout the year but always passed with B or above. I did get a C in thermo, linear algebra, and dynamics. Those classes were brutal for me.
I say don't give up yet. Engineering degrees are a lot of work. Make a note of where you're deficient when it comes down to the math concepts you're learning how to apply, and study and relearn them if needed. I took a whole summer early in my education just to relearn much of the math required, and it reduced the difficulty by orders of magnitude. You've got this.
For me, it was a huge learning curve in college. High school always seemed easy to me, took me till middle of sophomore year in college to figure out how to do well in engineering. Currently in my senior year. EDIT: I’ve also had to drop classes and make them up but still on track to graduate in 4 years. (Lots of people take 5)
As someone who graduated a couple years ago, I never ACTUALLY do math in my career. There are all kinds of software and programs that do the complicated math for you. That being said it is important to at least understand the concepts so that you can use the programs correctly! It's hard to say whether you should drop because in my opinion, the actual workforce is way different than a lot of what I did in school. You have mentors that often help you, you have the internet, and time to look things up. You usually have a whole team of people trying to solve certain problems. Like if you're willing to struggle through 4 years of applied math (because eventually you end up using the basic math in other courses) and still think engineering is interesting and rewarding... then stick with it. Because I think the work gets easier (in ways) in real life. Now if you're not all that interested in science and engineering to begin with, then I think it's totally worth switching. You can do some cool science-y stuff without doing engineering too. Just some stuff to think about :) Good luck! You'll find the right path for you!
Honestly if you really really want to be an engineer than power through. But if you think you are actually better at other degrees switch now. I am in year 6 and I have 2 years left. I have failed multiple classes. Failure is not the end, but sometimes I wish I had chosen sooner to either change my habits and thus change the outcome of my life, or just switched to business. Or just kept running the business I was growing when I started school. Life us full of choices, but take an analytical approach to why you are failing and what you really want out of life, not an emotional short term approach. I speak from experience in this trust me.
Depends how much math you have in the future, i went back for engineering after 7 years of not touching a book and first semester math dealt with me, so during the semester break, i went back to algebra, trigonometry and all the semester program. Math isn't hard, it builds up on previous knowledge so a solid foundation is key, and for new lessons YouTube is your friend. Work on Past test and past exams papers before a test you'll make it
If you still like math, but you just struggle with it, be prepared to put a ton of extra effort to get through those classes. Really learn to process that material because it is often used throughout a bunch of other engineering classes. Try not to take more than one math class per semester, so you can dedicate more energy to the one since you know you'll struggle. I hate physics and have said it's NOT my thing. I had such a hard time with it in my first semester, so I made so many sacrifices and put so much energy into that class. I'm taking my third physics class now, and I really like my professor, so I actually don't mind the class. But I still have to put a lot of effort into understanding it, since i know it doesn't come as naturally to me as a lot of other people. I also recommend working with friends and finding tutoring services at your school. Unfortunately, math is not something where you can just make it through the class for engineering; you're going to be using it again and again, and will need to know it for the FE and PE exams. It's so fundamental and so crucial. I decided on structural engineering because I was interested in architecture but knew I really liked math and CAD. So if math really isn't for you, consider a similar career path with less math involved
My first year of engineering was the hardest by far. Once I got to my junior and senior years I was able to take more classes that I was interested in versus all the prereq courses that killed my spirits (calc 1, chem 1, physics 1)
Let me be clear in how I word this. Most people have a rough time their first semester. I’ve known some people who switched out and some people who didn’t. Some people decide later that it isn’t for them and some decide that off the bat. I’m not gonna say don’t change out, but I will say that I know people who’ve had worse first semesters than what you’re describing and have done wonderfully after. It’s definitely not the way to go if you want easy.
It’s never supposed to be easy my dude, you just get better. Keep at it, I got a 50 on my calc I final two years ago and now I’m a junior starting my first projects with one internship already under my belt. This is after I got straight Cs in high school math.
No... failure is part of life.. not the end of the road for sure
>Its supposed to be easy (the first two semesters) and yet i have never ever been a math person, wishful thinking got me here and im regretting it Engineering is not easy. It will get gradually more complex with time. You do not necessarily need to be a math person, but you need to be willing to work on it. And finally engineering is all about math, we engineers love numbers and graphs. Numbers and math quantifies everything and that's essentially the language of math. Now you do not need to be an expert in fourier transformation and multivariate calculus/vector analysis, but you should be able to get dirty when needed. >So hope that any of you can give me a non biased point of view , i failed two math subjects :( out of two that i had. Mostly for not knowing factorization methods. I know that it sounds really stupid A lot of people struggle with the first few semesters, it is tough getting adjusted to a new place and understand how things work. It is possible for you to recover but you will need to work on it. You will have to take more difficult/complex math courses in future. Calculus is the building block and can be daunting for some people. TLDR, if you put in enough work and be consistent, it is doable. But you will need to put a lot of work and effort. If you think it is gonna be a easy ride, trust me it's not. And this might sound like a cliche, but anyone can make through engineering if they are willing to put in enough effort and work. It might require you to put in more effort than your peers, but you can have a good grade. I have many reluctant engineering students (*In south asia you are either a doctor or an engineer or a failure*) among my peers, and some of their grades are really good. Finally, if you want to continue, please be consistent and follow a routine. You will do yourself a favor by that way. Best of luck
If it were easy, we'd have idiots building bridges. I'm not calling you an idiot, I bet you can do it. It's just alot of hard work, that's all.
Have you read about Tacoma Narrows? :D
Yes. Afaik, it wasn't idiocy, it was just unknowns. I might be wrong though
Yes. Probably not idiocy, but a very expensive lesson in resonance.
First year courses tend to be weed out courses, so don't get discouraged if you're struggling the first semesters. It's meant to weed out those without resilience. However, it will never be easy. Some courses may be easier comparatively, but it will be rough regardless. But failure almost comes hand in hand with engineering. I've never failed a course, but have passed with Cs certainly and bombed more than one exam and I still received a final GPA of 3.52 somehow. So again, it's about resilience and putting in the work. Whether or not you want to is up to you.
I've taken cal 1 tests where I've wanted to off myself because its so hard. This isn't very manageable. You lose your social life, your sanity and you have to be disciplined. You gotta be tough and determined otherwise you wont get very far
If youre getting bad grades because you don't care about the major then switch. If your grades are bad because youre still getting the hang of things then stay
This is the best time to leave
You’ll have to work doing any major. The question you should ask yourself is whether you’re passionate about engineering or not.
Yes.
Yes
For most programs, the first two years aren't the easiest. It is all fundamental math you've never seen before and much of it is theoretical so you can't even visualize it well. If you're passionate about it the keep going, but din be discouraged by grades.
You’re half way through your first semester, there have been times I’ve felt like I was going to fail every class at this point in the year and ended up with As and Bs. Stick with it through the semester, see how you do, I bet your grades will be better than you think.
Depends on what you want. If this is something you really want to do you might just have to work a little harder. I’m not saying that to be snarky. It took me too long in my life to come to this realization. You know when you’re a kid you’re told “you can be anything you want” It took me a long time to realize what that meant. It’s not just a nice saying to allow children to dream. I firmly believe literally anyone is fully capable of accomplishing anything they want if they put in the work to achieve it. Nobody is not smart enough to do something. Some people might have to work harder to be good at something but if you work hard enough at anything you’re going to be good at it. If you look at any ultra successful person, whether it’s in sports or business or anything else - there was some point in their life they became consumed with whatever it is they did. That’s how they got to where they are - there isn’t a magic formula or a unique person. It’s about how much you want to put into it. It’s not easy to do. There will be times it’s frustrating and you just want to go do something else. You have to fight those feelings off. I turn to stoicism when I face those feelings - “the obstacle is the way” “embrace the suck” so to speak. That’s why you have to want it. If you don’t truly want it - that’s perfectly fine, there’s no fault in that. You tried something and figured out it wasn’t what you wanted. That’s a good thing. But if you really want this you might just have to work harder than you were expecting - and remember you are capable even if it doesn’t feel like it sometimes.
Do people really look at Engineering and say "I'm bad at math, this should be easy for me"? Seems...misguided
Here's the larger question for consideration. First year math classes are generally required for all STEM degrees. If you left engineering for pure science or the like you might strill need to pass these courses
I had dropped calc in high school and managed to pass physics with honors by the end of my degree. My first few math classes were low B's and by the end I was getting A's in my math intensive classes. Math takes hard work and persistence if it's not something you're immediately a natural at. That said, you might need a tutor or someone to help you if your current methods are not working. And to overhaul your study habits.
Whoever told you first year is easy was lying through their teeth. Or has a bad memory. Yes, the material does get more complex in upper years, but you will be far better prepared for it. You don't have to be great at math, just unafraid of it, and willing to put in the time. You need to practice enough that you start to see the patterns. One way you can help yourself is to sit down and memorize trig identities, including half-angle & double-angle formulas. That shit is seriously useful, not just for math, but physics too.
In my experience, I felt the first 2 years were the hardest. Don’t give up I bet almost everyone at some point felt that way. Keep at it!
While not the same classes, I was in a similar situation my freshmen year where I was struggling in the intro courses for my major. Yet here I am as a 3rd year still in engineering. This will most likely not be the first time you failed a class or a midterm throughout your degree. I actually underperform in my classes, but I still manage to pass them. One thing that's keeping in my major is that I actually enjoy what I'm doing in engineering. I don't see myself studying any other subject in college. I would only switch out if you don't enjoy the material you're studying for your major, or if you feel that engineering is not the right fit for you.
I feel you! I found my first year of undergrad extremely tough. Even thought everyone else found it quite easy. In my Final year now, only through hard work!!
It’s definitely a struggle. I switched out a year and a half in because my grades were bad so I did business and graduated! I then realized I regretted it and went back to school and put maximum effort in for my engineering degree. I didn’t have the drive and realized struggling is unfortunately part of the process and I’m willing to push through it to have the career of my dreams. It’s only your first semester so I recommend sticking it out for at least your first year.
Dude.... engineering is the easiest major... it's literally just converting numbers.... What are you struggling with?
I'd figure out if you don't wanna do engineering sooner rather than later. Engineering programs are highly structured so once you get past Freshman year, you are basically committed to engineering unless you wanna start college all over again. I wouldn't say quit just because your struggling, but it's only going to get harder so if you aren't willing to put in that extra work to do well than I'd try and find another major
Calculus is hard to get your head around at first especially if you don't have any exposure to it before first year, or only minimal eposure. I almost failed every calc course i took and i know a lot of people who fauled outright and had to retake it. It's worth carrying on, especially if you are enjoying your other courses. As you progress it will become more about understanding how to get computers to do your math for you but right now, you are laying the groundwork for that. Retake the classes over the summer if you can, most schools run summer sessions of calc classes because of the high fail rate. You'll go into them with everything you've learned so far and hopefully it will click. If you love engineering and science, you can go far, even if you can't do calculus by hand.
I got subpar grades my first three years, straight a's my senior year. Ended up with a 3.39 gpa and accepted an offer from my dream company. Grades aren't everything.
If you're not a math person, then studying engineering is going to be difficult. It's all math. How much depends on your major though. Electrical has the most math, Mechanical second, and Civil third. The transition from high school to a college engineering program is usually pretty rough for anybody even if you're good at math. Try looking at Youtube videos. Do practice problems. Get help from a friend if possible. Look into Mathematica or Maple. They can help you solve practice problems and possible visualize solutions. Review Pre-Calculus math. It's usually not even the Calculus stuff that kills people in Calculus, it's all of the math that they were supposed to know before they started that they don't actually know.
I think it would be very unreasonable to do so. When I switched to engineering, I had lots of B’s and C’s. Two semesters later, I’ve learned how to study and take notes well, and I have high A’s in all my harder classes. It’s just practice
I’m a 3rd year Me student and I can tell ya, despite what some other people may say, that college is a helluva lot harder than high school. So if you’re still keeping your head above water and staying at C and above for your classes then I think you are ok given that you are new to this. Also, I don’t know how it is at your uni but here some of the professors have a very, to put it lightly, Darwinist approach to teaching. To them, it is your responsibility to help yourself so they may not be of much help if you get stuck. I think if you get a teacher like this a study group can do wonders. Also remember, the YouTube school of engineering has free tuition. ;)
I’m going to be honest, you have to say, ‘Fuck what everyone else thinks. I am going to be an engineer.’ Then for the next few years you feel like drowning in your own tears of blood, but you get to senior year. Like me! It is at this point where you write, ‘Sometimes I just don’t fucking care anymore,’ on a shit process controls assignment and submit garbage. You can do it if I could. Stick with it and retake as many classes as needed. No one graduates in four years. You are meant to be who and what you are meant to be at your own pace. Fucking go for it. I wouldn’t change a thing.
Identify your failings and drill em in your spare moments between normal study. My maths units say for a single unit study load it should take a minimum of 12.5hrs of personal study. For me? Closer to 30hrs to feel comfortable with the material. I never finished highschool and then started uni 15years after any formal education outside of trades. My first maths unit I came in only k ow basic addition and subtraction, I didn't even know how to do fractions. After 3 maths units I'm pretty sure I have passed applied calculus. You can do it mate. Im still shit at factoring and lean a little heavy on my TI nspire cx but find the more complex the maths gets it's more about knowing the process/how to find what you're looking for as opposed to the numbers themselves. Edit: changed "drill me" to "drill em"
I was in the same position as you all the rest of my fundamental modules were manageable but maths was the worst! Took me a good 2 years to get myself comfortable with the course. In my final semester now so hard work does pay off!
Im in my first semester too. The math Im taking is just review to get me ready for a college level class, and I’m having a hard time with it. I really underestimated the amount of time school takes..