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How long does it take to graduate as an engineer?

Well, basically i was wondering the average span of time it takes the average engineering major to graduate with their undergraduate degree or masters in engineering.
Of course factors include things like:
major you selected (civil, mechanical, biomedical etc.)
if you we're a transfer student
which school you went to
family problems (etc.)
quite frankly i'm interested in aerospace at either UCLA, UCSD, or Cal Poly SLO as a transfer student. I'm willing to load up as many classes as i can handle, and i have determination and motivation to make it far and i'd of course like to finish within 4 years if that's possible.
But i was wondering if a few members ( who have or havn't graduated ) could post the average time it took to get your degree if it was a masters, bachelors, or PhD and how long it took you? Also where you went to school and what your major was would really help!
Thanks! i'm very curious
13 repliesOf course factors include things like:
major you selected (civil, mechanical, biomedical etc.)
if you we're a transfer student
which school you went to
family problems (etc.)
quite frankly i'm interested in aerospace at either UCLA, UCSD, or Cal Poly SLO as a transfer student. I'm willing to load up as many classes as i can handle, and i have determination and motivation to make it far and i'd of course like to finish within 4 years if that's possible.
But i was wondering if a few members ( who have or havn't graduated ) could post the average time it took to get your degree if it was a masters, bachelors, or PhD and how long it took you? Also where you went to school and what your major was would really help!
Thanks! i'm very curious

Post edited by B0BTheBuilder on
This discussion has been closed.
Replies to: How long does it take to graduate as an engineer?
If you go to a University straight out of High School it's much easier to do it in 4 years, but some people stretch it out to 5.
and does it help if i do igetc + the major prep requirements? or no? thanks
So I would complete all of the major courses and the minimum UC eligiblity courses. Also check the sites for each university to see what you need to be admitted. Sometimes you don't need all of the courses on assist to be admitted, it just shows which major courses will transfer.
also wondering, how many units did you have when you actually transferred? and what we're most of the classes and which general education courses did u actually have to take? also, sorry if i'm asking too much, but was ur gpa high?
I had way more units than were needed; I had some bad counseling advise haha and wasted a little bit of time on GE courses I didn't need. But you need at least 60 units to transfer and I don't think they accept more than 70, but don't worry if you have more, it's not like they'll deny you. Just try not to get too much more than 70 or you'll be wasting time.
For my major courses I took 3 calc classes, linear algebra, differential equations, 3 classes in physics, chemistry, statics, materials, a few programming classes (only needed 1), and circuits. I think that was all.
For my GE classes, which I had too many of, I had Spanish, 2 english classes, statistics, political science, psychology, film studies, and speech. By the way I think you need a speech class for cal poly so add that to your GE list.
When I applied to schools I had a transferable GPA of 3.45, which is decent. I got into UCSB ME, UC Davis AE, and UCSD AE. I got waitlisted for Cal Poly AE (still waiting), and denied from UCLA AE. I would say for the schools you mentioned try and get a 3.5+. Usually a 3.4 or 3.5 would get you into all of those except maybe LA, but the standards rose this year because of the economy.
Feel free to keep asking questions I'm glad I could help!
More and more engineering majors are taking more semesters to graduate mainly because they want to protect that GPA. Now they can still finish in 4 calendar years if the student takes classes during the summer.
I know my cousin had most of his general education courses during the summer because they are offered much more than engineering courses. He would take one 3-credit course during summer session 1 and another during summer session 2. That left him only needing 12-13 credit Fall and Spring Semesters which was usually 3 courses and some lab.
Depends on the student.
The game is often to compete against those that have been stuck in engineering forever to get your classes, so the average at my school is almost 6 years for a starting freshman and certainly not 2 years for a transfer student!
Electrical is a hard one because it has the longest prerequisite chain, but I am in the running of 3 years (thanks AP credit) if work experience doesn't cripple my ability to progress in my sequence!