[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

[CrashTestDummy]

<SNIP>

Secondly, get in a study group. But be careful who you pick to study with. I found that those with far less understanding of the material than me were difficult to study with as were those with far more understanding of the material. Our group met in one of the engineering student lab rooms as often as possible and we decided that we would NEVER leave campus until all of our homework was done. No one did and we all made it through the program. Some did a little better than others, but we all did pretty well finishing with GPA's from 3.0 to 3.7. You still have to take your own tests.

Don't be afraid to to drop a class if you have a problem with the prof. I dropped 2 classes and retook them with a different prof. That made all the difference in the world. Mt first calc 1 prof looked like Vincent Price and sounded like Elmer Fudd, I couldn't take it. My first Statics prof. spoke such broken English that I couldn't understand him. I retook both classes with different profs and passed easily. In fact I liked my calc prof so much, I took all the rest of my math classes from her. Silly little woman, but she presented the material in a way that made sense to me.

Stick with it and find out which profs teach what classes and try to stick with the ones that make the most sense to you.

Yes, by all means, study groups! Probably more important than having a clue, is being dedicated to do the studying. I got in a group who would be on the way out to go partying whenever I showed up to study. Found some folks at school who were interested in studying, and we helped each other.

I found it really helped to rewrite your notes at least once. If you are in a class where the tests are mostly essay questions, rewriting your notes, especially if the rewriting is geared to answering potential questions is priceless.

Definitely drop the class if your prof sux, or you are getting behind. Taking a little more time to get through school, with the GPA intact is MORE important than finishing in 4 years, MUCH more.

Like you said, vacations are for school. Think of school as another job, only you are working for yourself and your future. Hang in there, it won't last forever. I found I could do almost anything, as long as I knew it wouldn't last forever.

Gene Beaird