[bigshoe]

how much trouble have you had in getting your degree?

I'm starting to have a tough time, but its mostly because I don't have the time to study. currently i'm only in the beginning, general chemistry(with lab) and calculus 1.

my chemistry teacher is hard to follow (foreign), i'm getting a high D
and calculus isnt that bad, I'm getting a low C
chemistry lab is a low A, but that was a pretty simple class.

my problem is i work 40 hrs during the week, and i have alot of travel time also. I have an interest in this stuff (not so much chemistry), but find it very hard to lose sleep to study.

anyways, i was able to move 24 of my work hours to the weekend for next semester, that should help greatly, I'll be taking calc 2, physics 1 (with lab), and c programming.

Ok guys, how bad do i have it???
I know i'm only in the beginnings of engineering here, and i'm not looking good, i really hope that will change next semester since i've made some changes for it.

what did you guys find tough or demanding when it came to engineering classes? I find it takes me absolutely forever to do my homework and focus on it, I blame being out of school for 5 years for that (although i know it could be alot worse).

Did you guys find the later engineering classes to be much more difficult than this earlier stuff?

btw, i'm a Mechanical engineering major, and if it matters, i've completed an associates in EET in 1999 from a tech school

[slowTA]

I know your pain. I would have agree by saying you need to know your core classes pretty well. Also, ditch the full time job if you can. If not then take fewer classes.

For this semester I decided to take a full time temporary position and 2 classes at night. I knew I was going to hate myself no matter what decision I made. Take the job and go crazy trying to juggle both, or take classes full time and go crazy... damned either way!

Even as a full time student I found it hard to concentrate, it's worse now that I have a job. Of course now that I have some money I want to play with the car some. Without a job you wont be as likely to make plans with the car, so it's almost like you have 2 things off you back just by letting go of the job.

Right now I have at least 10 classes left to take, about 12 grand in debt, and I'm 26 already. I'm sick of taking classes, my masters is out of the question, and I don't have a degree at all.

At least you have an associates to fall back on if this doesn't work out, but at least give it a good try while minimizing your distractions. You'll only kill yourself if you stretch yourself too much.