tell me about mechanical engineering (serious)
Up until this point I had planned on majoring in Automotive Technology at Pittsburg State University (one of the top 3 automotive programs in the nation), but lately I have been reconsidering.

I am now considering a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Kansas State (another good program) for a couple of reasons-

1. The freefalling auto industry and massive layoffs make me nervous about getting into this area. The layoffs mean lots of unemployed workers with more experience then I competing with me for jobs, does not work out well.
2. Mechanical engineering incorporates a lot of the same aspects of automotive engineering, like the way the car is powered.
3. Mechanical engineering also gives me a lot more options besides the automotive industry.
4. Higher median wage then the automotive field. According the Occupational Outlook from the department of labor, my hometown (Kansas City, KS-MO metro area) is the 3rd highest paying city in the nation for mechanical engineers, after Ann Arbor, MI and Boulder, CO.
5. Expected to grow in the next 10 years.

im not going to hold it back, there are a couple of personal reasons too, my gf and the majority of my friends are going to Kstate, i also know older kids who go there. my sister went there, my mom went there as well. i work with people who go there. my neighbor just graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering and got a good job offer down in texas, and he certainly endorsed the program.

i can possibly save on housing (if im allowed) by living in an apartment with my best friend and his sister, as thier parents will be helping with rent, of course i would be helping with rent as well.

Im also eager for the challenge of an engineering degree, ive taken higher level classes these last two
years of highschool, 4 of them i am guaranteed college credit, 2 others i have to take the AP test.
from what i remember, i have cumulative 4.0, 28 on the ACT (which would get me into the honors program for K-state)

What do you guys think of this plan? Anything you can tell me about mechanical engineering? Does anybody here work in the field or taking the courses for it?

 

Are you good at math and physics?

 

Analogy:
An automotive technology degree is fishing in a small bucket.
A mechanical engineering degree is fishing in a pretty good size lake.

Don't ever put limitations on your education. Get the broadest spectrum base degree and then you can specialize if the market warrants it.

 

One of my friend's sons graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and he was quickly employed upon graduation.

Last I heard, he was doing something he never dreamed he would do: Designing and manufacturing plastic garbage cans.

Basically, there are alot of jobs out there that you never even knew about when your were a kid, and a mechanical engineering degree will give you access to a wide range of fields. Go for it, and study hard!

 

X2. I'm doing Mechanical Engineering right now. Unless you're good at physics and math, you're SCREWED.

 

Do well in school and don't use it as a time to party like most of the business/gen ed type folks end up doing. Any engineering will lean towards math and physics, hope you enjoy math, math and more math. That's what you'll be living and breathing for the next 4 years.

Depending on how you do and what the job market looks like in 4 years for mechanical engineers you should be just fine. That said, thinking about an MBA is the way to go. An engineering background and a MBA will take you places. Assuming, you want to end up in management that is.

A ME will take you much farther as far as careers are concerned than an automotive technology degree ever would. You are far more useful with any engineering degree than with a technology degree. I have an Electrical Engineering degree and and was heavily recruited in the Operational/IT Auditing field because of how the engineering curriculum makes you think in terms of processes and outside of the box of how things work.

 

I'm currently a Sophomore in ME at Kansas State, so I should be able to answer any questions you have.

Heres the link to the MNE flowchart.
KSU MNE Flowchart
These are all the classes you will need to complete in order to graduate.

If you are good at math and physics, and have good study skills, you shouldnt have a problem. Just as a warning, your first two years are the most difficult. They try to weed out the people who arent fit, or dont have the intrest in being an engineer.

If you are interested in being an engineer in the automotive field, joining one of the Society of Automotive Engineers clubs would be a great way to get started in that. We have great formula and aero teams. Formual placed tenth at nationals last year, and aero placed second.

Dont expect to graduate in 4 years, its next to impossible to do so.
Dont expect to pass every class your first time. You will have to retake at least one class during your time in college.
Dont get too into the party scene. You wont make it through your first year if you do.

 

Easy scooter. Dont stereotype us business majors.

 

Seeing as how i attend a primarily engineering school, I've gotta say that the engineering majors party much harder than the business majors.

Carry on.

 

AGREED, my failure was working a full time job with an hour commute to my Civil classes. Needless to say, I changed majors and I am a Junior in Business. Sometimes LIFE necessitates changes, doesnt mean we all partied our butt off.

 

im at ASU on the polytechnic campus going for a mechanical engineering technology degree with an automotive concentration, im loving it so far (in my thirdish year) i was going for a straight up ME degree but it was too boring, it was just applied math, and half the time they wouldnt tell you what your applying it too....so now i switched to the polytech campus and its the same number crunching as the main campus but we also do hands on stuff, such as machining and welding...

http://technology.asu.edu/engrtech/u...ech-automotive

 

A lot of good responses here, these make me feel very confident about this choice.

As far as the course work, I am good at math, im taking college level Calculus (will be my 2nd math course for college credit) right now, finished with an 89% last semester and hoping to get in the 90s this semester. I couldnt have taken a physics class this year if i had wanted to (i only go to my home high school for 4 classes), but ive always done well in science, i did well in Chemistry last year, and even better in Biology and Anatomy&Physiology.

The more i think about it, the better i keep feeling better about this.

 

Mechanical Engineering is a great field to go into, so many different job options out there. Im in the HVAC industry now. I kinda wish I would have got my masters right after graduation. But, Ive been thinking about getting it now.

Like others have said, the course work isnt easy but it is deffinitely manageable if you buckle down.

 

I have a ME degree and concur.

Forget the auto field. The pay sucks.

 

Mechanical Engineer here, and man, you're dead on there. At least, when you're talking about any engineer who'll go on to be a success. There are plenty of dorky engineers who didn't party, and they're still the dorky guy in the office who'll have the same job forever.

I'd strongly recommend a mechanical degree over an automotive tech degree for several reasons, some have already been stated. With an ME degree you could always go into the automotive field, or practically any other field. I ended up designing rail roads and leading underwater inspections of various structures.

With a tech degree, you're limited to essentially one field, and you won't be an engineer, which would limit your overall career opportunities. Technicians can find good, well paying jobs, but someone who is an engineer will be able to progress higher, quicker.

As others said, you must be able to master mathematics and physical sciences. Physics is a part of that, but you'll also have to understand chemistry, material properties, fluid dynamics, heat transfer / thermodynamics, etc. It is definitely not an easy major, many people drop, or fail out in the first year or two. If you can get past the first 2 years, you'll be in good shape.

Azmidget91 mentioned there will be alot of theory, especially in the math classes, that don't really seem to apply to anything else. When you graduate, you'll never use that stuff either. I looked at it as more of a test as to whether or not you can understand the concepts being taught. I can't remember the last time I used a Laplace Transformation, or did a triple integral. If I ever needed to at this point, I'd use a computer!

The last bit of "advice" I'm going to give is that you shouldn't try to rush through college. You only get to do it once, and you have the rest of your life to work. My intro to engineering professor told us all to graduate as quickly as possible, so we could start that high paying job sooner. A buddy of mine later said, "When you're 50 years old, which would you rather have: To go back and have an extra year of college, or be in the same position you are now in your career, but only be 49 years old?"

I'll take the extra year of college every time. In fact, I took 7½ years to graduate!

- NCSU