Non-traditional ME student frustrated beyond belief.

[Exovetech]

Hi. My name's Seth. Here's my situation (the abridged version believe it or not) I have 12 years of experience as an avionics and weapons systems technician in the Marine Corps (5 as Marine and 7 as a contractor). I have an outstanding record with awards for various accomplishments as a technician. I received my transfer engineering degree with a GPA of 3.94, however after transferring to UW (ME), I had an absolutely horrific experience. The first year I was losing half my day to commuting and was dealing with medical issues related to my time in service (neurological) and ADHD that did not adversely impact me when I had more time in a day and I was able to immerse myself in my work. I will soon graduate with something between a 2.3 and 2.4 GPA if I’m lucky. What irritates me about this is that if I were not a transfer student, I would be able to include my first two years and have a GPA above 3.0. This is in my mind a serious equity issue when it comes to non-traditional students competing with traditional students for a job. Aerospace is likely out of the question for me now, which is what I have been working towards for 17 years.

I’m 38 years old and got a late start in life due to good ol’ fashioned socioeconomics and situations beyond my control. Should I just give up on this fantasy that I can catch up this late in life starting a new career? Should I marginalize myself and settle for something far less than what I feel I have earned? Any advice would be welcome.

 

[Reverse Polish]

Hi. My name's Seth. Here's my situation (the abridged version believe it or not) I have 12 years of experience as an avionics and weapons systems technician in the Marine Corps (5 as Marine and 7 as a contractor). I have an outstanding record with awards for various accomplishments as a technician. I received my transfer engineering degree with a GPA of 3.94, however after transferring to UW (ME), I had an absolutely horrific experience. The first year I was losing half my day to commuting and was dealing with medical issues related to my time in service (neurological) and ADHD that did not adversely impact me when I had more time in a day and I was able to immerse myself in my work. I will soon graduate with something between a 2.3 and 2.4 GPA if I’m lucky. What irritates me about this is that if I were not a transfer student, I would be able to include my first two years and have a GPA above 3.0. This is in my mind a serious equity issue when it comes to non-traditional students competing with traditional students for a job. Aerospace is likely out of the question for me now, which is what I have been working towards for 17 years.

I’m 38 years old and got a late start in life due to good ol’ fashioned socioeconomics and situations beyond my control. Should I just give up on this fantasy that I can catch up this late in life starting a new career? Should I marginalize myself and settle for something far less than what I feel I have earned? Any advice would be welcome.

Short answer: It's never too late. I'm sorry you've had to face such adverse experiences, but I think these types of obstacles easily become character-building strengths in the mind of a determined person. In twenty years, I've never had a prospective employer ask me about my college GPA. I've found they are always more interested in my experiences, aptitudes, and professional interests. If I were interviewing you, I'd want to speak to the person who was hellbent on never settling or selling himself short. That's the kind of person I want working for me.

 

[Tiger15]

Hi. My name's Seth. Here's my situation (the abridged version believe it or not) I have 12 years of experience as an avionics and weapons systems technician in the Marine Corps (5 as Marine and 7 as a contractor). I have an outstanding record with awards for various accomplishments as a technician. I received my transfer engineering degree with a GPA of 3.94, however after transferring to UW (ME), I had an absolutely horrific experience. The first year I was losing half my day to commuting and was dealing with medical issues related to my time in service (neurological) and ADHD that did not adversely impact me when I had more time in a day and I was able to immerse myself in my work. I will soon graduate with something between a 2.3 and 2.4 GPA if I’m lucky. What irritates me about this is that if I were not a transfer student, I would be able to include my first two years and have a GPA above 3.0. This is in my mind a serious equity issue when it comes to non-traditional students competing with traditional students for a job. Aerospace is likely out of the question for me now, which is what I have been working towards for 17 years.

I’m 38 years old and got a late start in life due to good ol’ fashioned socioeconomics and situations beyond my control. Should I just give up on this fantasy that I can catch up this late in life starting a new career? Should I marginalize myself and settle for something far less than what I feel I have earned? Any advice would be welcome.

I worked in aerospace for a defense contractor for 8 years. Then for a different defense contractor in Navy shipbuilding for the next 5 years.

If you're applying directly to NASA (depending on department) they might care about grades because much of NASA is a research organization. But other than that I wouldn't expect it to be an issue.

Generally speaking, grades are used to distinguish between recent graduates who have little-to-no experience. But with your experience, I wouldn't expect your grades to be a major stumbling block. Maybe you might be asked about it in an interview, so have a good answer prepared, something like.... "I had a 3.9 in my previous education, but had some medical issues that made my last couple of years at UW difficult. Unfortunately my tranfer GPA isn't included in my UW GPA." I wouldn't specifically mention neurological issues or ADHD in answering that question. Companies aren't allowed to discriminate against someone for their medical status, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Once you're employed then you're more protected.

Also you should seriously consider the aerospace defense contractors like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Raytheon, Northrup Grumman, etc. They value people with military experience since their main customers are the military. Employees with military experience know the culture, the chain of command, they much more easily related to the military customer reps, and they are generally extremely hard workers.

 

[Platypus Engineer]

@Exovetech

My experience is similar to yours. I graduated in 1992 with a degree in aerospace. MY GPA dropped towards end of college (2.5 at end, after being at 3.0) because of working nearly full time to help pay for school. Due to the end of Cold War, and it was also right after on of the space shuttle accidents, job opportunities were extremely limited. I wound working temp jobs, even at retail store for a few years.

I eventually started working in corrosion control engineering found my path there. I was 41 (52 now) before I finally found some stability and security. I do not think I would trade my experience for my originally intended path. I have to been places most other people have not.

As some of the other posters have said your work experience should overcome any GPA issues. Plus being in military and working as contractor should enable you to get a security clearance more easily than a traditional college grad. I would try to get transcript from previous college.

Sometimes the path isn't clear.

 

[Dleg]

Late to this thread, but I have only very rarely seen GPA matter. It can matter mostly when applying for very high demand jobs where it is used just as a way to whittle down the number of applicants. But I have known many engineers who told me (later) that they had low GPAs but they were outstanding engineers and workers. I would think your service career would be a strong selling point. Employers are looking for people who know how to work, just as much as they are looking for people with the right degree. With that said, it's probably best not to even acknowledge your GPA and certainly don't try to make excuses for it (commuting, ADHD, etc.) otherwise you can give the impression that you might become the kind of employee who slacks and then tries to blame anything and everything on things other than their own performance.

But yeah, definitely don't give up. Just keep looking for that first job then kick butt and make a good impression, and that will get your career off on the right foot!

 

[Gato 93]

First, thank you for your service to our country.

I attended the same college throughout… my GPA would have been way higher if I could only count my last two years of college or courses in my major. It appears that your GPA reflects some of your personal circumstances and maybe a lack of foundational knowledge from the weed out courses that are offered the first two years. I did take some junior college courses over the summer and they were way easier than the 4-year courses that I took. For me, the higher level courses were easier as I was truly interested in the materials, had the foundational knowledge and was willing to work harder because I enjoyed it. I had terrible study habits, so amazing that I made it. My last semester I took 19 hours (I only needed 13) of difficult classes and had the best GPA - I also worked part time.

If you apply for federal jobs, you will have veterans preference on your application for your military service, so that may outweigh your GPA. For federal jobs, review the application and write out experience that you have including specifics related to your military service, any volunteer work that you used the skills listed, and problems worked while in college. Broaden you search outside the aerospace industry for federal engineering jobs.

Good

 

[14bk41]

What areas of ME do you want to work in. I am in Facilities and know quite a few contacts (inside and outside the Government) that needs MEs (HVAC, dat centers, industrial) from time to time. Are you willing to relocate to other states?

 

[Exovetech]

First, thank you for your service to our country.

I attended the same college throughout… my GPA would have been way higher if I could only count my last two years of college or courses in my major. It appears that your GPA reflects some of your personal circumstances and maybe a lack of foundational knowledge from the weed out courses that are offered the first two years. I did take some junior college courses over the summer and they were way easier than the 4-year courses that I took. For me, the higher level courses were easier as I was truly interested in the materials, had the foundational knowledge and was willing to work harder because I enjoyed it. I had terrible study habits, so amazing that I made it. My last semester I took 19 hours (I only needed 13) of difficult classes and had the best GPA - I also worked part time.

If you apply for federal jobs, you will have veterans preference on your application for your military service, so that may outweigh your GPA. For federal jobs, review the application and write out experience that you have including specifics related to your military service, any volunteer work that you used the skills listed, and problems worked while in college. Broaden you search outside the aerospace industry for federal engineering jobs.

Good

Sorry. I have been away for some time. I graduated over the summer and ended up with a lot of distractions since. I'm just now trying to get back on track. I did well in my core courses, but I need to review the material because it has been a while. Like I mentioned I graduated with honors with my transfer degree from Green River College, which has an excellent pre-engineering program for being a two-year college. The problems I faced were unique to UW. I am not happy with that school and would not recommend it to any non-traditional transfer student. Also, the lockdowns completely sabotaged my capstone project due to lack of facilities access. There is no making up for that. I'm confident I will qualify for a federal job with my resume. I’m just not confident in jumping right into it having not taken any internships. I probably wont qualify for any of those at this point because I already graduated.

In a way I feel like I am both over qualified and under qualified at the same time given my resume and experience in the aviation industry as a technician, but being new to engineering. I'm thinking about studying FE exam material if not to take the exam, at least to be ready for interview questions. Any recommendations for prep material? What kind of questions would be asked at an interview that I would have to answer off the top of my head? Would it be similar to FE exam questions?

Thanks

 

[Exovetech]

What areas of ME do you want to work in. I am in Facilities and know quite a few contacts (inside and outside the Government) that needs MEs (HVAC, dat centers, industrial) from time to time. Are you willing to relocate to other states?

Thanks for the response and sorry for taking so long to get back on the forum. I have 12 year of experience in Aviation so it would make sense for me to stay in that field. I'd like to eventually end up in a system dynamics/mechatronics related field. I hope to find a job where the combined skillets of a technician and new-grad engineer would be appreciated. A federal contractor job or government job would be ideal given my time in service. I would be willing to accept any internship type engineering job in the south Puget Sound area of WA, but I would want the job prospect to be solid if relocating. I am ok with possibly relocating to a few states including Texas, South Carolina or Tenesee due to familly in the area.

 

[WingNut]

OK, to sit and bitch about what happened before is foolhardy. You are where you are-- now, let's move forward and go where you need to go! Everyone of us has had some challenges getting here-- some, admittedly, were harder challenges than others, however, we have all had them. You are NOT the lone ranger here.

The GPA question-- just be honest if the question arises. No apologies, no whining, it is what it is. I can assure you, with 100% confidence that a positive, cheerful attitude, strong work ethic and drive, dedication and desire will get you any job you wish. Try it-- it works.

If you wish to relocate-- find a company that is looking for folks in your area of expertise. Remember, the grass is NOT always greener across the road, however, that does not mean that you should not explore if that is of interest to you.

Take the FE exam-- study the syllabus carefully, know the material and ace the FE exam. Gain the requisite experience that you need and then take the PE exam. As others have mentioned, you need to review the jurisdictional rules for whatever jurisdiction you wish to become licensed in. All are not the same-- similar, but not the same.

Get started and get going. Develop a timeline and follow it-- you can do this.

 

[Exovetech]

OK, to sit and bitch about what happened before is foolhardy. You are where you are-- now, let's move forward and go where you need to go! Everyone of us has had some challenges getting here-- some, admittedly, were harder challenges than others, however, we have all had them. You are NOT the lone ranger here.

The GPA question-- just be honest if the question arises. No apologies, no whining, it is what it is. I can assure you, with 100% confidence that a positive, cheerful attitude, strong work ethic and drive, dedication and desire will get you any job you wish. Try it-- it works.

If you wish to relocate-- find a company that is looking for folks in your area of expertise. Remember, the grass is NOT always greener across the road, however, that does not mean that you should not explore if that is of interest to you.

Take the FE exam-- study the syllabus carefully, know the material and ace the FE exam. Gain the requisite experience that you need and then take the PE exam. As others have mentioned, you need to review the jurisdictional rules for whatever jurisdiction you wish to become licensed in. All are not the same-- similar, but not the same.

Get started and get going. Develop a timeline and follow it-- you can do this.

I agree with you 100%. I think the reason I got side tracked with what you see as "bitching" is because my VA voc rehab counselor was breathing down my neck trying to pressure me into applying for jobs ahead of being prepared for the interviews which is nonsensical. I explained to her I should do what you suggest and it went over her head. Some people just cant accept "I need more time". I need to ditch the VA and do this on my own.

 

[Badger]

Good luck, I took most of my pre-engineering courses at Green River, too. I liked it. The I transferred to the UW when I was 40 and graduated at 42. Returning to school was difficult for me after over 20 years, my GPA wasn't great either. I did graduate and passed EIT in the last quarter. The PE took several tries 12 years later. Like WingNut suggested get your FE/EIT out of way as soon as possible, and prepare for the PE and take it as soon as you can. I took paper and pencil exams, and I think that was easier for me than the new CBT exams. Also nobody ever asked me what my GPA was either.
Thanks for your service, and I hope you find a good position that you like.

 

[GTGodzilla]

IMHO your grades are not gonna be much of an issue. Your experience in the military sounds exemplary! Who looks at GPA unless you’re a 22 y/o with no experience?