Shaneyj
Senior Member
- Location
- Katy, Texas
- Occupation
- Project Engineer
College
- Thread starter JoelP
- Start date
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JoelP
Member
- Location
- Stroudsburg Pa
Thank you, I am going to do EE
Shaneyj
Senior Member
- Location
- Katy, Texas
- Occupation
- Project Engineer
Good for you...
If I can help-advice or questions- message me. . I'd be happy to offer what I can.
Looking back, I didn't know enough to even have the right questions to ask...
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Barbqranch
Senior Member
- Location
- Arcata, CA
- Occupation
- Plant maintenance electrician Semi-retired
If you can find a community college that is closely associated with the college/university you want, you may be able to get a lot of your general ed out of the way for a lot less money.
Personally, I wanted to spread out my general ed, which was also wise because you had to start right away in the program I was in. I figured it was a good way to meet women, but then it turned out I met my (still, after 46 years) wife in a majors class.
Personally, I wanted to spread out my general ed, which was also wise because you had to start right away in the program I was in. I figured it was a good way to meet women, but then it turned out I met my (still, after 46 years) wife in a majors class.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
Take your gen-ed classes first semester/first year, and scatter some common classes needed for either degree in there and find out what you are good with and go from there. You may even find out you are more interested in something different but still somewhat related along the way and adjust your courses accordingly. The gen-eds will be good for nearly any degree and will be out of the way sooner if you take them early on.
ggunn
PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
- Location
- Austin, TX, USA
- Occupation
- Consulting Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
When I went for my EE degree I already had a BSChem, so most of my electives were already covered. That resulted in my having to carry a full load of engineering courses nearly every semester. It was... strenuous.
Ultrafault
Member
If you plan on working be prepared to dedicate most of your time to studing. Leave yourself 4 hours of study time for every hour of class time. Some classes will take less some will take more. I do not leave the desk much less the house on weekends. Every ounce of effort you put into studing and practice pays dividends in later classes. You will see the c students from early semesters begining to struggle as they have to learn what the should have in eariler classes. The only hard thing about EE is making yourself do all the practice it takes to succeed. If you can master that you are done.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
When I was 18-24 years old I was probably smart enough to pursue an engineering degree, but definitely not disciplined enough to put that kind of effort into studying.
gadfly56
Senior Member
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
Concepts are relatively easy, application is harder. My regret is not putting in the time just working example problems until I understood how to set up and apply the equations and which equations to use when. Like getting to Carnegie Hall, it takes practice, practice, practice.
ggunn
PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
- Location
- Austin, TX, USA
- Occupation
- Consulting Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
You're singing my song. My first time through college (BSChem) I went there straight out of high school and the 'rents paid for it. I managed to graduate, just barely, in and out of academic probation the whole time. I survived almost entirely on what I could pick up in class, when I went to class, and cramming for exams.
My second time (BSEE) I was in my 30's with a wife and kid, and I was on my own dime. I did much better, but it took putting in many 100 hour weeks, which I would never have done before. How I even managed to get myself into engineering school given my prior poor academic performance is another story.
I found the opposite
Imo the concepts and basics took the real effort
mentally visualizing
derivation of the basic equations like Ohms Law or Kirchhoff's from field theory was the difficult part
but once done everything else falls in place
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
I think those schools know they get more dedication from nearly every student over 25 vs how many under that age will put as much effort into earning whatever degree they are after. If you are that age and even thinking of pursuing a degree you must be serious about it. Yes there are younger students that are very good students, but the majority of students are younger in the first place, nearly all the older students are there for a purpose, the younger ones are still trying to figure out what they might want to do.
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
I went EET. If I had it to do today knowing what I know today I would strongly suggest EE. Solely because there is a slow but noticeable movement to make it harder for engineers to do much of anything without a PE license and it is all but impossible to get a PE license with just an EET degree. The curriculum is not a lot harder academically, although I think EE is more rounded in various engineering areas outside of electricity.
The significant difference appears to me to be that EE degrees typically require an extra semester or two of math, some ME classes, and some chemistry classes. The physics is about the same although EE usually goes at it from a calculus basis rather than the algebraic basis in EET curriculums.
If you can handle calculus, which is required in both EE and EET you should not have any real problems with any of these other classes, even if you might not enjoy them as much.
EE degrees also seem to have a lot more fluff to them. This is to make the coursework more profitable to the school. They can have a TA teach fluff classes to 100 kids at a time and charge the same tuition as if a real instructor was teaching 20 kids an actual engineering course.
If you go EE, take the EIT test after taking the review class while you are still in school. It will make it a lot easier to pass and you have to pass it to become a PE. Think of it as one of the merit badges you need, sort of like becoming an Eagle Scout.
kwired
Electron manager
- Location
- NE Nebraska
- Occupation
- EC
People sometimes forget these colleges are in business to earn money just like many other businesses.
Don't be completely fooled by "State" or "Non profit" schools either, they still have to compete with the others and play some of the same games, they just need to justify their expenses to their boards and regulators.
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Occupation
- PE (Retired) - Power Systems
The lack of non-technical courses (is that your fluff?), is often a big stumbling block for EETs and foreign school EEs, when it comes to getting their PE.
ggunn
PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
- Location
- Austin, TX, USA
- Occupation
- Consulting Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
This is true; at least it was in my case. My first time through I was there for the wrong reasons, which were to enjoy the social life and to stay out of the war in Viet Nam. School was a sideline and I had no idea what good the degree I was sort of pursuing would do me when I got out.
My second time through I looked at it as vocational training. My social life consisted solely of Quality Time with my wife and daughter between getting out of class on Friday afternoons and heading to the library on Saturday afternoons. Sundays were prep days for the week ahead. I left the house Monday through Friday at 7AM and got home after 7PM (sometimes a lot after) Monday through Thursday. It was the hardest thing I ever did, but it was worth it.
gadfly56
Senior Member
- Location
- New Jersey
- Occupation
- Professional Engineer, Fire & Life Safety
Sir, I salute your self-discipline. I am pretty sure under similar circumstances I would not be able to do that grind.
ggunn
PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
- Location
- Austin, TX, USA
- Occupation
- Consulting Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
Nothing worth a damn comes easy.
Fnewman
Senior Member
- Location
- Dublin, GA
- Occupation
- Sr. Electrical Engineering Manager at Larson Engineering
Lots of great comments, so I'll add a few based on 50+ years. The engineering program at any major university will be almost all theory, meaning a lot of high-level math and theory related to many of the various electrical engineering fields. After all, they only have so much time and neither you or they know whether you will end up designing computer chips or cell tower antennas, just to name two possibilities. For sure, you are not likely to see any courses about codes, motor control circuits, etc. For me, the best combination was a co-op program at a great university so that I ended up with a therotical understanding, along with some really good practical connections to the real world via my industrial job.
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