Edit: I love how the replies are just people saying, nooo it’s gonna explode 😭

So my dad gave this to me when I was 16 and I didn’t really know what was going on. I’ve always been interested in electronics but never knew where to start. I would connect led lights to box build doll houses and fix my fairy lights at most. However now, I’m studying electrical and electronics engineering and have some knowledge I understand a bit better. Also I’m a girl, before you say you should have asked your dad to teach you 👀. Yes he gave me the kit but he ain’t the best teacher. I didn’t want insults because of not knowing something that I’m trying to get to know. I probably would’ve been discouraged to study engineering anyway. He had his fair share of compartmentalisation.

Did engineering turn out how you expected it to be? What do you like? What do you dislike? Did it fall short of expectations?

If not, what would you study instead?

Ususally, it is mostly student on here but I suspect some professor lurk in here too. So to them, give your general tips and advice to them to succeed in your class or college in general.

And for context, I am a ee sophomore taking as high as LC1

So I don’t have friends and never had any. The last birthday party I ever attended was 10 years ago in 2016 when I was in 5th grade.
I never had any friend group or actually any friend. Never had sleepovers, trips or anything.
While I have seen all my classmates having all of them especially my crush.

So I always wonder what’s a normal life like and I am an extremely weak student and fail many subjects like now in 3rd year and still having 1st year subjects.
I always see these ppl enjoying so much sometimes on a daily basis going to restaurants and places

im studying mechanical engineering and im in this constant loop of taking classes—>studying—>gym, im being pretty productive and im getting good grades and taking care of my health but its too repetitive im starting to feel a little empty i dont know if that makes sense or if anyone relates at all.

i still have ambitions i want to achieve, i want to make side projects or gain skills in the free time i get but i have zero ideas and i dont know what to do. i tried working on CAD stuff a little but i dont see a point in it, i need something that benefits me later on the long term. whether its something i add to my resume or a skill i gain im not sure. i hope i posted this in the right place.

thanks for your time ~

can you give me tips on how to rethink the way i go about my life? how do i survive this?

im only doing comp eng cuz my dad kinda made it my only option. im going into 3rd year and the hopelessness is growing.

i dont care about this degree, i have no interest in coding and computers, and frankly i dont even care if i dont get a job with this degree. long story short i think there is no way forward but through, and my only motivation is fear.

”what’ll happen if my gpa drops?”

“how much could i disappoint my parents?”

”how will i cope with being such a big failure?”

”how will i cope with wasting all their money?”

and such. i truly don’t have any other reason to live apart from the fact that my parents still love me and need me here. the second they gone im gone too bruh like i dont see any other point or reason.

the thing is i would be happy to do mech eng i love hands on stuff and i know nothings bound to be easy in eng so id try to make it work. i’d wanna do teaching or architecture or fix cars and shit like god why coding why numbers why all this stuff that i dont care about? that ai could replace in a heartbeat? deep down i hope ai gets so advanced they’d never ask for comp eng again and id be useless against my will. fuck bro.

anyways, i guess ive been at an acceptance stage for a long time, and the struggling, fighting version of me always exists in the corner.

i wanted to ask for any tips from anyone else who’s been in my position, so deep into this mess that the only option now is to keep going.

im thinking maybe i pick up a hobby or something to look forward to. i wanna try not to have engineering the centre of my life, although that seems impossible. i just want to be my own person. hard to do that when you’re 20 and still live with your parents.

at minimum i’ll finish this degree by 2030, any tips on how to pass the time till then?

Basically the title. I am currently on my final semester but god damn Senioritis has a death grip on me. I wont lie here but I spend the last three days being a bum. Barely did anything besides applying for jobs, doing some homework for one of my classes, going to the gym, and getting ready for my schools career fair. Today, I started doing some schoolwork to catch up from my lack of performance, but even then I didn’t do as much as I wanted to. Idk if it’s full burnout, no motivation or energy, or because it’s Labor Day, but I will rather just lay in bed then touch anything related to school. Im afraid this will continue to get worse and will ultimately affect my performance in my classes, especially senior design. For those who graduated or currently experiencing this, what did you do reduce or at least manage Senioritis?

Knew a guy who just hated at studying at a technical university here in Germany and went back to the US, he enjoyed it there a lot more.

I don't even know what to say but my prof told us to imagine how bad AI was 4 yrs ago and said that ai learns so much faster than humans so those who don't know anything right now will never beat AI.

This is for my Circuits class like wtf

really making me feel bad for the future but I see why he has a 1.3 stars on RMP

I took my first calculus I test, got a 79. Limits, continuity, and derivatives were the main focus and bulk of points, 13 question test.

For background I never got past 5th grade, got a GED, went back to college in my late 20’s, learned math (fractions, algebra, and trig) for the first time in college as I took each course. By the time I finish my degree I will have more formal years of education through college than in my entire life.

I was so disheartened when I saw the 79. I felt very confident walking out that I got a solid B and it was SO close. I lived in the tutoring center. We had two weeks from the first day of class to the first test. They were so kind, helpful, boosted me up and felt I would do well. I was more disheartened I would bring back my first test that had a result lower than expected.

Here’s the bigger lesson though after I gave it some thought. I didn’t stop thinking about that test after I took it. A classmate and I memorized some of the problem sets and worked them through after the test to see where we went wrong. I haven’t even gotten this thing back yet and I know exactly where and how I got a 79. I’m excited to keep pushing, keep practicing, and pull that final grade up to an A!!

Now I get to focus on my first chemistry test. God speed to you all. Keep practicing, don’t flip through notes when you practice, and don’t quit.

I’m a sophomore currently intending to do mechanical engineering I just transferred To a new school I have sum solid experience in mechanical engineering, so I wanted to ask yall how the internship process works im kinda new and I really want to land a internship for this summer

Hi guys, I just needed to vent a little bit.

I graduated back in June and then had a 3 month internship. I didn’t get a return offer and I’ve been applying to jobs since. I quit my retail job before the internship started because I just couldn’t do it anymore. Now I’m home now most of the time and I honestly feel like I’ve always got a cloud over my head.

I keep getting rejected from everything I apply too even landing another retail job is hard. I miss being in college, I feel so lost and kinda like I’m a disappointment. My mom was so happy and excited when I graduated and now when she comes home from work she just finds me in bed all day. Nothing really makes me happy or excited anymore, all I can think about is this feeling of how I’ve failed.

I’m thinking of just trying my best to pick up another retail job and go get my masters. I do genuinely want to purse one in mechatronics but it’s pretty expensive. I’ve managed to graduate debt free but with a 3.0 GPA. Ive done a lot of internships and personal projects but I don’t think I’ll be getting any scholarships.

Another thing is I’ve been mostly looking for jobs in state. I love my family so much and I honestly don’t have any friends right now. I really cannot be away from them miles away by myself for forever.

I just been feeling slumped, I can’t even watch movies or tv shows anymore. Nothing seems to make me happy. I just feel so lost and empty.

I’m a sophomore at a liberal arts college planning to apply to Columbia’s 3+2 for Computer engineering.

This semester I’m taking:

• Calculus I
• Calculus-based Physics II
• Coding 101
• Econ 101

I took AP Physics 1 in high school and did very well in the class (roughly top 10% on tests/assignments). My advisor told me I could go directly into calculus-based Physics II and take Physics I in the spring because the material in the two courses isn’t very dependent on each other.

So far I’m doing well in Physics II and haven’t felt lost. However, my dad thinks taking Physics II before Physics I was a bad idea, especially since I dropped another class to fit this 8 a.m. section into my schedule.

Has anyone taken calculus-based Physics II before Physics I? Is there any reason I should switch the order if I’m currently doing well, particularly as someone planning on a 3+2 engineering program? (I'll take Physics 1 in the spring).

I am in 3rd year and still have KTs in 1st year and it’s a torture and I truly mean a torture to study and give exam and still fail all the time.

So I was offered a position at a smaller company(less than 100) for a 6 months rotation, and a position in GE Aerospace Engines Co-op, I'm a bit torn on what to do.

Smaller company-plasma propulsion, actually does rocket stuff, gets DOD contracts. 3x it's sized in the last 3 years, does launch rockets, not Blue Origin sized rockets more like short range ballistic missile rockets. It's also a 6 month rotation

GE Aerospace-Spring rotation, only 4 months, but its GE Aerospace so it's larger and with potentially more opportunity?

What should I do, or at least what advice would you give?

Title. I basically have 2 finals on the same day... has anyone prepped for this and if so did you study differently or do anything differently to prepare?

EE student on my 2nd year and I am struggling a bit with physics 2. My funding didn't cover summer classes, so I took that time to work a whole bunch and enjoy some time off of school, and I usually go back to school forgetting a bit of what i learned the year prior and getting it back with some review.

But physics? No. I passed physics 1, the teacher was rather forgiving with the grading too, so probably passed higher than what I should have. I did great by my own standards at the start. It wasn't until the very end when all my classes piled up with finals that I seriously started to struggle, but the rest of the class struggled harder, so he gave our final a major curve. Again, nice guy, but nice to a fault.

I have him again for Physics 2, and I don't remember ANYTHING. When I sit down, I take notes, listen to lecture and I don't retain ANYTHING. I go home try the homework and I can't do ANYTHING. It is almost like my brain just won't take in any of the damn information.

In the end I know I'll pass, but my fear comes to passing these classes because the teacher is nice, and then not being able to do the physics needed for higher courses or even my job in the future. My girlfriend is in ME and had a similar experience, but shes always been more calm about this sort of thing. My stomach just gets twisted in knots from not understanding even baby level material for this course. I spend hours studying just for nothing to click, practice problem after practice problem, going through the text book for no info to be retained, watching videos and breakdowns, just to NOT BE ABLE TO DO THE WORK.

Plus, all the effort is just to ensure I complete the course, but that's already going to happen! I'll get a B if I show up for class once a week! I'm putting in so much effort to actually learn the material, can't, yet will pass in spite of it. And I'm not saying that in confidence that theres no way to fail, but even the bare minimum will get you a passing grade and I cannot fathom why that scares and irritates me so. Some people would say this teacher is their dream, to just try and pass regardless, but that just doesn't sit right with me. Just passing the course but having absolutely no ability to perform any of the material in a serious setting no matter how hard I tried to learn it correctly, its eating my mental alive.

I’m currently in my second semester of Electrical Engineering, and to be honest, I don't love it. The actual EE core content is kicking in, it’s brutal, and I know for a fact I have zero desire to ever work as a traditional bench or design engineer.

I did well in my first semester and am on track to transfer to a better uni next term, but I’m at a real crossroads about whether to stay in this major.

Where I’m at:

• Why I picked EE: In high school, math was the main subject I liked (partly for the attention I got from girls for being smart). I’m decent at math, but definitely no genius—I was only above average because I actually studied abit. I picked EE over CompSci or Business because I enjoy coding personal projects, wanted a hard degree, and thought having an engineering background would give me a massive edge.
• My actual goals: I’m an extroverted people-person. I want to build a career in client-facing or business roles—think Sales Engineering, Tech Sales, Solutions Architecture, Consulting, or general corporate.
• My main fear: I’ve always believed that an engineering degree combined with social skills gives you a huge advantage over standard business grads. But I also value having a life outside of school, enjoying my early 20s, and not completely burning myself out over theory I’ll never use in my career.

Is grinding through 3+ years of dry EE theory actually worth the credibility and leverage it gives you for non-engineering roles? Or am I making my life unnecessarily hard when I could pivot to CompSci, Industrial Eng, or Commerce and reach the same destination with a much better life balance?

I have been doing job stuff for a few months now. I have some problems such as under 3.0 gpa and no internships that make things really hard. I have other problems too and I am fixing them. Regardless I need something as quick as possible and I was thinking maybe technician roles might be faster hiring cycle. A problem might be that I have a bachelors degree so I am not sure if they will shun me out lol which would make sense. And yeah lol I don’t have technician experience too, but a lot of testing experience sure in research. So what can I do?

Things like test technician or I&C are quite good and particular to me would look good on my resume. I only have research and design team on my resume. Any advice? I need a job like yesterday.

I'm applying to major in engineering, would it be best to get my 2 recommendation letters from 1 STEM, and 1 humanities teacher, or 2 STEM teachers?

I posted this in other subs but didnt get any responses :(

I am currently looking at the ATU Sligo Year 4 Mechatronics add-on.

How difficult are the courses and primarily how does Ireland conduct these courses. I have not found much information regarding how tough the grading scheme could be. I am aiming for a gpa on a Swiss scale ( 5.0/6.0 ) and just want to figure out the amount of prep time

For context, I am finishing a degree in Computer Science and Engineering in a year(final year rn) and I have come to realize my interest lies in aerospace engineering specifically the mechanics side, flight mechanics, structures and design areas of it. I studied basic mechanics, fluid mechanics and thermodynamics in high school and genuinely enjoyed it, chose CS on a whim at 18, mainly for the money but I don’t think it’s something what I want to do long-term.

During my university years, I did study Engineering Mathematics across 4 semesters plus 2 basic mechanical engineering courses in my first year but nothing relevant beyond that. Not sure if it will count for anything in credit transfer for admissions or negligible.

I would love advice from people in this field, is switching into aero from a background realistic especially for real design/structures work or will the missing foundation hold me back long-term?

If you were in my position, how would you actually go about and make the switch, bridge courses, masters or a second degree? Has anyone made a similar jump and how did it go?

I'm currently taking a statics course, and the textbook we're using has vector notations I'm not used to. Is there some sort of place I can find all the different types of notation so I can memorize them or have a reference point? I'm not sure if "notation" is the proper term either.

The textbook seems to bold one letter to denote a vector and uses a lowercase 'u' followed by a subscript to denote unit vectors; magnitude is represented by an uppercase letter in italics, but this seems to also equate to other terms. If there's a better wording for what I'm referring to, that would also be appreciated so maybe I can find it on my own. Thank you