<p>I am a rising high school senior, but I am unsure of the difficulty of engineering. I constantly hear about the huge droupout rates in engineering, and that just worries me. I’m good at math but im not great. I got a 780 sat math 2 score, 2130 on my SAT (740 math), and I get A-'s in my honors math classes. I have adhd, so I always make silly mistakes and find it really hard to prevent them. I’m also ok in sciences. I got 760 on the chem SAT, but our school makes us take chem honors AND AP chem, so i guess thats expected. Im looking into industrial and civil engineering, but by the things im hearing about civil (about all the job losses) civil is close to becoming out of the picture for me. If I dont do engineering, I am thinking of doing accounting because I took an accounting class at a community class and I got an A. It wasnt boring, but it wasnt interesting. I was indifferent to it. If there are any Civil or Industrial Engineers out there, your help would be much appreciated. How difficult are the majors and how are the job prospects for civil and industrial engineering.</p>
<p>If you choose a good ABET accredited program, you should be able to find a job in Civil Engineering. You might find better job prospects in this field if you are studying in a large metropolitan area. You might also look into programs that require Co-ops since that gives you a leg up in the job market. If you really like engineering, don’t give up just because the job market is down a bit NOW. Remember you would be graduating in 5 years and the situation could be very different at that time.</p>
<p>As for your math skills, it seems like you are fine from your test scores and preparation. If you are willing to work hard and are well organized, you should be able to master the mathematics necessary for engineering.</p>
<p>Nothing you stated raises any red flags. Your math preparation seems to be fine for a prospective engineering student. Note that the high attrition rate out of engineering tends to be associated with incoming students with significantly weaker academic credentials (e.g. significantly worse grades/scores in math and science).</p>
<p>But have you taken physics? Did you like physics and do well in it?</p>
<p>You might wanna steel yourself though. Some of these classes make you feel like the dumbest man on earth :(</p>
<p>Btw I have adhd as well and make the same mistakes. I do a buncha steps at once and miss something, or forget to change a sign, or forget to multiply a coefficient, or write a denominator. Then i end up with these nasty looking equations which i struggle thru only to find out they are wrong. </p>
<p>I believe that the best engineers are those that are always trying to figure out how and why things work. You take that how and why knowledge and mix in some math and that’s engineering (of course the how and why involves the sciences). So you don’t need great math skills but the better you are at APPLYING the math the better the engineer you will make.</p>
<p>What field of engineering doesn’t always restrict you to working in that field. I graduated as a civil engineer with an emphasis on structural engineering. I worked for 35 years as a structural engineer in the aerospace world. College gives you the fundamentals and the ability to learn. After that, you learn what you need to know on the job and continuing education (both formal and informal).</p>
<p>It is true that many students start out in engineering and then switch to other majors. However, that isn’t such a bad thing. One could start out as an engineering major and decide after the first year to switch to accounting, for example, and still graduate in 4 years. However, the reverse can’t be done. If you don’t start out in engineering, it is pretty much impossible to graduate in 4 years, because of the heavy chains of prerequisites.</p>
<p>Sometimes students leave engineering because it is too hard, or sometimes because they just don’t like it. The most common reason is a poor background in math. Your math test scores are very good - no red flags there. And you have an SAT subject test Math Level 2 score, which means that you had already taken Pre-Calc when you took the test, so you presumably will take Calculus your senior year in HS, which is good. Physics is the other key subject that it would be good to take in HS. </p>
<p>If you think you may be interested in engineering, it makes sense to start out as an engineering major and find out whether or not you really like it, and are good at the type of problem solving required. </p>
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I did the reverse in 4 years and 1 quarter. I also finished MS in one year while I was working fulltime. But I had no social life and I was ok with it.</p>
<p>Those are great accomplishments, DrGoogle. But I do in general agree with the advise. On recent ChemE grad I know started as “Undecided” (totally undecided) in a university. He advises students to not follow that path. One caveat though is to look at specific school policies. I’ve read about Engineering students that decide they don’t like it, but due to low GPA they can’t transfer to a different program. </p>
<p>@Fsswim1 i completely feel you. the exact same happens to me AND OFTEN. if you are an engineering major, can you tell me how it feels from your perspective? thanks</p>
<p>From my own 1980s Mech Engineering classes (and more recent feedback from my college kids and their friends)… Engineering is HARD. You have to be willing to work diligently. But it sounds like you have had good prep for it. </p>
<p>Yes, I agree - engineering is hard! But it’s doable! I found that studying with other students was very helpful. Sometimes we could figure out the solution to a killer problem by working on it together. I also went to professors’ office hours frequently - that’s what they’re there for! </p>
<p>@toesockshoe I just had to learn how to take test. It’s not just showing up and taking it. I take a deep breath and get the adhd under control. Read the whole test, start with the easy stuff and if i get stuck i skip it to come back to it in the end. At the end i go over all my work and tons of times i’ll catch the little things like sign or denominators and other stuff i messed up. </p>
<p>I dont really like taking my meds. At the start of the day i kinda gauge whether i think i’ll need it or not. Sometimes i’ll take half a dose, others i’ll take the whole thing. </p>
<p>I think it really depends on you bro. Mainelonghorn brings up a good point, sometimes it’s great to study with your peers. I’m not an engineer yet, but it’s my understanding lots of projects are team efforts and the ability to work in teams is paramount in an engineer’s career. But i’d make sure the ppl you are spending your time with are really studying and not txting and goofing off. :D</p>
<p>Like everyone here pointed out, you seem to have your ■■■■ together. I’m a Civ Eng student as well, but courted IE for a while. I’d probably wonder if i made the right call if i wasn’t buried in HW. :D</p>