Thinking about getting a degree in mechanical engineering

Hello, my name is Jonathan, Im 23 and living in GA,

Im currently debating on goin back to school to get a degree in m.e., but im not sure if its what i want to do.

Ive read a few things online about it being boring, and you really have to have a passion for math and science. I cannot say that I have a passion for either of those, but math came fairly easy to me in H.S. I also find myself interested in what makes things tick, I enjoy taking things apart, workin on things, working on my quad (I race 4wheelers), I find that these things come somewhat natural to me. Im wondering though if engineering is just sitting at a computer designing random things like the parts of a dryer or something??

Also im wondering about job outlook. Obviously it will be 3 or 4 years before i graduate (already have about 1 and 1/2 year of school done) but ive read some things about people coming out of college the past few years and still not finding work after putting in so much time and effort to get a mech egineering degree. Are alot of the jobs being outsourced to other countries? Will there be more job openings if the economy picks up in the next 3-10 years?

And last but not least, how do you like your job? What are the pros/cons? I cannot stand the thought of straping on a tie everyday and crunching math probs into a computer... is engineering right for me??

Thanks for any info/advice you may have!

jonathan said:

Thanks for any info/advice you may have!

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I think most people will say that engineering is one of the harder things to study in school. And I don't know if you need a passion for math, but you need to be good at it because almost everything in engineering school is math related at least for electrical engineers (that's what I am). After school you can find jobs with a lot of math or almost none.

If you haven't taken calculus you should. If you did well in calculus you probably have what it takes to get started. You could also take an intro or survey engineering class.

There are all sorts of different kinds of engineers - if you want to be more desk bound you can find jobs like that, if you want to be more hands on there are plenty of jobs like that.

I think most people on here like their jobs as much as any other profession. I've worked in various areas (defense, space, semiconductors, energy), in various tasks - desigining, testing, prgramming, hands-on, and in various fields - private industry, military contractor, teaching - I've liked them all. I'm currently in a job I feel was made for me - regulating and writing energy policy.

One thing for sure, engineers consistenly have the best chances of getting hired out of school and staying hired. It is tough for everyone now, but really tough for humanities grads.

And finally, if a person named rppearso answers your post, ignore him about money. The pay is reasonable compared to other jobs. At least for those of us living in reality.

And since you're in GA a good place to check out is GATech.

I don't personally know any engineer who wears a tie unless he also happens to be the CEO of a company. Strong math skills are requisite along with problem solving skills and a host of other skills. Design seems to be looked down upon by some, but that seems to be the spot for me given that I've always designed things usually using a computer aided drafting program or giving someone the specs and advice how to do something.

Engineering is a big place. You certainly can find a job as a desk jockey in mechanical or electrical or work all over the world on platforms as a petroleum or construction.

I chose it mainly due to the fact I don't think I would enjoy anything else.

For the job market now, I think most would agree it sucks. It'll come back however hopefully by the time you graduate. Today's graduate probably needs to be a bit more creative in the job search or open minded to positions that he'll take.

Try looking into whether any colleges around you have an Intro. to Engineering class. At the college I graduated from, this was a required class for freshman. You spent a whole semester learning about all the engineering fields in order to help you figure out which one you wanted to get your degree in.

TXCourgarPE said:

Try looking into whether any colleges around you have an Intro. to Engineering class. At the college I graduated from, this was a required class for freshman. You spent a whole semester learning about all the engineering fields in order to help you figure out which one you wanted to get your degree in.

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X2. That's how I ended up in Welding Engineering.

have you thought about Motorsports Engineering? UNC Charlotte has an excelent program and they team up with Lowes MotorSpeedway and many of the grads get jobs onboard with the Nascar guys, or other vehicle related operations....

If you can get past the second year... you'll do fine. That's when you transition from the generic classes to classes more in your specialty... the stuff that gets you excited.

What are you doing now? It sounds like ME could be a good way to go since you are interested in taking things apart/figuring out how things work. There are always people out there that will say any profession is boring. Mechanical Engineering is a broad field and it's up to you to find the niche you want to be in. As far as the 'passion' for math and science, I like them both and am interested, but I'm an engineer, not a physicists. Personally, I don't do a lot of heavy math on a day to day basis (I design of utility systems in manufacturing building.) My typical math level that I use is high school algebra.

As far as the job market, I don't have much advise there. I've been out for about 5 years now. All I can say is to be open to different opportunities. Saying I only want to do work on widget A and nothing else, you box yourself in and it may be hard to find a job, even in a good economy.

I have been pretty lucky at my job. I really like what I do, so there aren't really any cons (some small petty ones, but on the whole I'm happy). I was in Switzerland for about 8 months for a job a few years ago. Currently, I'm on-site construction engineering support through the rest of the year. If you are willing to be open to opportunities, they are out there.

Hope this helps.

Also im wondering about job outlook. Obviously it will be 3 or 4 years before i graduate (already have about 1 and 1/2 year of school done) but ive read some things about people coming out of college the past few years and still not finding work after putting in so much time and effort to get a mech egineering degree. Are alot of the jobs being outsourced to other countries? Will there be more job openings if the economy picks up in the next 3-10 years?

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Jobs may be hard to come by at this point, but I've read numerous studies from different sources that claim that there are a shortage of engineers and that engineers should be in high demand in the coming years. Part of it is a lot of old timers retiring, another part is that engineering is in fact a hard major and a lot of students are turned off by this.

Try looking into whether any colleges around you have an Intro. to Engineering class. At the college I graduated from, this was a required class for freshman. You spent a whole semester learning about all the engineering fields in order to help you figure out which one you wanted to get your degree in.

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They did this where I went, except it was a full year. We didn't have to declare a discipline until after freshman year, and didn't start taking engineering science classes - statics, thermo, etc. - until sophomore year. I was leaning mech, but decided on envl.