Character of EE Major courses?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

I’ve taken up to Calc II, and Physics I/II. All A’s

Have not taken diff. eq or linear algebra yet. I have about 45 credits to graduate with computer science. I was thinking of switching to electrical engineering, as I am very interested in the science behind it as well as the theory.

… not so much the math. In the Physics courses, you basically just try to match up the problems with the correct equations to use, and then solve.

Are the majority of electrical engineering courses like this, or are there courses that are more rote type learning and memorization of conceptual material vs plug-n-chug?

How would you rate the difficulty of the EE major courses vs Calc II or III and Physics I/II ?

Thanks!

2

There is little rote memorization in EE, at the undergrad level it is mostly knowing a set of equations and understanding how to apply them. At the grad level things change and becomes more about understanding how to apply the base theory, but still, the vast bulk of the “conceptual material” for EE is concise enough that I have it tattooed on my arm. Seriously. If rote memorization appeals to you, then I would suggest the biological sciences or chemistry.

Harder. Seriously, I know that people tend to call those freshman/sophomore math and physics “weed out” courses, but the people who get through them then get weeded out even more by the core EE curriculum.

3

This is actually a really good question. EE is a broad major. In my experience there isn’t much rote memorization per se since most classes allow a crib sheet, though you may do quite a lot of plug-and-chug. I guess you could tat Maxwell’s equations on your arm, but I don’t know anyone who chose to rederive everything for their fields & waves tests.

I don’t like comparing ‘difficulty’ (whatever you mean by that) between courses at different levels and places in prerequisite chains. Having said that, if you struggled in Phys II or matrix algebra I would try to brush up before going too far in EE b/c the concepts will become quite a bit more complex.

Lastly, different people generally prefer different areas w/in the major. Computer architecture and digital design are generally good for me…microwave/RF, not so much. YMMV.