EE degree

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bolthead

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I am going to go back to school to finish my EE degree that I started in 2004 and had to abandon due to divorce. I am looking for advice on completing this task while still working 40 hours a week. Anyone else done that? I am also looking for a little guidance from people in the industry as opposed to people in the acedemic end of this degree. Any and all thoughts are welcome and I am sure I will recieve plenty as this forum ALWAYS produces, if nothing else, a variety of opinions! By the way, I am in Southern Louisiana so if there are any opinions on schools in the area that would also help.
 
I know middle age guys that have done that. They make good engineers because they have worked as an electrician in the field.
As far as Louisiana I can't help you. Unless you have kids, so you can't leave. You might consider NC State University.
 
Thanks "Local". I have over ten years in trade, part of what is driving me to do this is, the fact that so many guys/gals engineer and have no concept of what they design.
 
More power to you. Get at it.

I worked part time, ate lots of Mac-n-Cheese and tuna caserole. Got minimal student loans - no more than I absolutely had to. Got it done as quick as I could.

I was somewhat older most and that was occasionally an issue. I didn't have any time for the activist idoicy. It worked out okay, I dodged them and there were a enough of the older ones for a study group when I needed.

I'm a power kind of a guy so that's what I would recommend - there are not a lot of us out there. I took every power class I could get, and every math class as well. Makes for a marketable skill.

If you like the field work as I do, there is no substitute for your field experience. That really gives you a leg up. I was once introduced as, "This is our Electrical Engineer. He has actually touched wires.":rolleyes:

cf
 
Yeah I would go for it as well. I work with a co-worker who is a EE, but has field experience as well, he is leaps and bounds ahead of me and I wont be able to catch up with him lol. He just took his unrestricted contractors exam and he said he feels he waxed it and he didn't really study.
As was mentioned take Power Electives, you will have an advantage upon graduating.
I know about any schools in Louisiana, but as long as you go to a school that is ABET EAC accredited you will be fine. All the best in that endeavor man.
 
School is paid for by a GI bill.

I am 36, and i dont tolerate the "activist idiocy" either. I want to get in get out and get to work! I dont care about the college experience as long as I get the college education. I have an A.A.S. from a comm coll. so I should be able to finish quickly.
 
I did it, but I have to admit it was a lot tougher than I thought and I don't recommend it. I already had a 2 year degree and thought I could do it in 2 more years while I continued to work full time to support my family. But it's really really difficult to schedule regular work around lab based classes; they tend to not be offered at times when you are not expected to be working. I had to take night shift jobs to accommodate them, and that meant no sleep for months on end. It would have been easier were I in my twenties, but I was already in my late thirties. When I finished my 2 year plan 4 years later, I was already in my 50's, or at least it felt like that... It was hard on my family too, my baby girl used to refer to me as "that man".

That's not to say you shouldn't do it, I just believe in full disclosure.
 
Check all you local / regional universities in your area first. I'd go for a review of your school records locally to date to see what will transfer into a brick and mortor school and/or an on-line one... The on-line might well be restrictive as to your exact choice of learning, but you might be able to get some of the required courses out of the way.

Brick and mortor might well have "long distance learning / I-net" but some also require that you spend some time on campus...

The following might be nothing, but...

If for example you have a 2 year course studies program that was not aligned to a big university you might be disappointed as to them transfering your accomplished credits to date. Even worse sometimes when you leave the State your in.

Believe it or not Schools have aggreements between themselves and
others and are sudo regional only as to what they will except.

Call and get a copy of your transcripts to talk to the on-line people.
brick and mortor schools only except college to college mailing of your records.

Good Luck in your persuits!
 
Back to School? At your age?
More power to you!
I wound up with 239 semester hours,
last graduation at age 41, and always worked full time.
Several of my relatives have earned Ph.D.s under similar circumstances.
Adults make the "BEST" students, because they take life seriously.

Sure wish I could work it out to go back to school
and get something in E.E; that has been a long time dream.
When I was in school during the 60,70,80 period, there was no E.E. at night,
so I went the another technical route. I also graduated the last time Debt Free!
Now that I don't have to work all the time, maybe ...

One thing I learned, about myself is that
IF there is no school work,
THEN I dream up projects and burn the candle to learn about them.

Keep all your text books and class notes, write an engineer's journal,
they all make great trophies to show the grand-kids.
 
Jraef,
You are right about it being hard on the family.
I wished I had seen some counseling person about my attitude
as my family would have been happier.

I loved the status of being a good student,
and having my grades posted on the board.
But my family would have loved having me at home.

So you were 'that man' ?
Can't repeat what my wife called me! cause of my studious (competitive) attitude.
 
EE Degree

EE Degree

Bolthead,

So you want to get the degree while still working... I would suggest that you go to school full time and work on your breaks only if you can somehow make that work. I was able to get my BSEE this way and I never took out any loans.

I would also suggest focusing on power systems. It isn't the most glamorous track for most younger students, but you will find that having that degree, with the experience that you have, will make you very marketable. You will most certainly get very good internships if you want, that pay pretty decent for being a student. I worked in a nuclear power plant, and a decent sized utility company's control center.

Check out the schools in Texas like A&M, and UT Austin. I hear they are good. Of course of you want a really good power system school you should consider Iowa State! :) No really, do the research and find a school that performs research in the area that you like, and there is a good chance that they have a good undergrad program in that same area.

Just curious about you other power system EE's out there- what is your Alma Mater? Any other Iowa State EE's?

Have a great night and good luck with the decision!
Matt
 
All the best in returning to the school for the BSEE. I worked full time while attending school. It is a rocky road but once complete it is a sweet feeling. Also form a study group. Just to give you the heads up the 3 classes that can throw an upper cut at you are Signals and Systems, Electro-magnetic Field and Waves, and Random Signals and Processes.

All the best
 
My personal opinion: An engineering degree will require full time attention, or it will take too long to complete.

I would recommend only working during breaks. I wouldn't even suggest working part time through the school year.

I hate to disagree with Don, but I don't think online courses get any respect. And with the job market getting tougher, personally, I would reccomend you stick with a big name college with a strong reputation.

Money magazine ranks college engineering programs every year (or at least they used to.) If possible, attend one of the top ranked schools.
 
72.5kv said:
All the best in returning to the school for the BSEE. I worked full time while attending school. It is a rocky road but once complete it is a sweet feeling. Also form a study group. Just to give you the heads up the 3 classes that can throw an upper cut at you are Signals and Systems, Electro-magnetic Field and Waves, and Random Signals and Processes.

All the best
Click to expand...


Which school did you attend, I had a real good teacher for Signals and Systems I can only imagine what it would be like if I didn't. Random Signals and Processes? - Was that an elective?
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
You could look to a online program like this one.
Click to expand...

Yeah that could work, but make sure its ABET acredited dont want to see this
"Therefore, this online degree is not yet an ABET accredited program. We plan to seek ABET accreditation upon the graduation of the first class of students"
The University of Deleware has a nice online BSEE and MSEE program.
 
So you?re 36 now, and it might take you 4-5 years to complete. How old will you be in 4-5 years, if you don?t do it? :wink: :D

It took me 3 years to complete a Masters Degree program. I took 2 classes at a time, so that I was away from home 2 evenings a week. During the same time, my wife finished here BA degree and went on to get an Masters in Library and Information Sciences. The kids called us ?latent overachievers.?

I'd say go for it, and do not be concerned about the ages of the other students.
 
don_resqcapt19 said:
You could look to a online program like this one.
Click to expand...
Assuming the website Don posted is currently up to date, my concern with online universities is that very few are ABET accredited. Most claim they should be soon. Louisiana is like most other States, in that, graduating from an ABET accredited program is a general requirement to sit for the Fundamentals of Engineering exam without jumping through a lot of hoops. They can be jumped through; however it often adds several years to the process.

Having been one of my employer’s college new-graduate EE recruiters for nearly 10 years, the only Louisiana school with anything near a solid electrical power curriculum is Tech and it has slipped over the years. In the interest of full disclosure, Tech is my alma mater.

Oddly, enough when I graduated I was in the first class of what was then called Electrical Engineering (Computer Technology emphasis). I believe most folks would agree I do OK in power. One of my colleagues, who I believe to be one of the best in the Power industry, graduated from a very prestigious school – that basically had no power curriculum beyond that taught in a general cross-discipline class. (At least, I took two power courses: D). Your current background should put you in good stead.

At the moment the ABET accredited schools in Louisiana are:

Louisiana Tech University
Louisiana State University
McNeese State University
Southern University
Tulane University
University of Louisiana at Lafayette
University of New Orleans

BTW this is the order they are listed on the Fundamentals of Engineering application, I didn’t give Tech undue billing.
 
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I also put myself through school while working full time...ended up with a MBA...not bad, but I realized that the greatest impact my degree had was not on me but on my children. They watched me put out the effort and they watched my wife support me.
My daughter is an emplyeed lawyer, my oldest son is a fine electrician but will be a competant CPA, and my youngest will be a degreed finance person or teacher.
Instead of telling them (my kids) what or how to do things, my wife and I showed the that "we" could walk the walk!
Good luck and do it for yourself and your family!
 
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