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I am a junior in high school. I want to major in electrical engineering. I have a 4.0 at a public high school that is not great but it is not the worst. How much harder are the UCs than the CSUs? How much overall homework is there a night? Will I have time to do anything else or just study? I am worried about my life after high school. Please Help!!

By Sackings100 (Sackings100) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 09:04 pm: Edit

Im wondering this too!!

By Justinmeche (Justinmeche) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 09:21 pm: Edit

Just about anywhere you go EE will be a tough major and will require you to put in a good amount of effort. Sometimes the workload will be a few hours a day. At other times you could be working all evening when exams and assignment due dates are close together.
You will definitely have time to do stuff other than study, however you may find yourself working more hours than some of the non-engineering majors.
The key to doing well in engineering and keeping up with the fast pace is to be able to learn quickly. I spent two years in a rigorous engineering program and the material was just not becoming clear to me, even after spending many hours each day studying it. When I transfered to a less rigorous program everything became clear to me. And while the program I am in is not rigorous for me, it is for my classmates.
Ultimately, it is a matter of what you decide to major in, the environment in which you are going to school, and your ability to comprehend the material.

By Sackings100 (Sackings100) on Thursday, April 29, 2004 - 09:30 pm: Edit

What about pol. sci. how hard would that be at a UC??

By Burningsands (Burningsands) on Friday, April 30, 2004 - 04:38 pm: Edit

Neumeisterwd - Go to the post titled

ENGINEERING.....THE TRUTH

which is also located in the College Life section. Should tell you everything you ever wanted to know about college & engineering.

By Clickspring (Clickspring) on Friday, April 30, 2004 - 05:33 pm: Edit

haha, i know tons of engineers, they have lives too. i go to uiuc which is a top engineering college. our ee program is #1 in the country. they study hard, but party and enjoy life too.

By Theak (Theak) on Friday, April 30, 2004 - 10:26 pm: Edit

Being a Student at College is like driving a car.

You are worried at first; want to do everything correctly, to impress the driving instructor. Then you get your license and its easy sailing from then on.

Unless of course you are a racecar driver, then it keeps getting difficult.

Eventually you get older and begin losing your quick-reflexes, next thing you know your going 50 on the freeway.

But hey driving has one big difference then College; at least cars come with seatbelts.

By Ginagee7 (Ginagee7) on Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 12:49 am: Edit

How hard is pre-law?

By Lifeisgood (Lifeisgood) on Sunday, May 02, 2004 - 12:23 am: Edit

I love it, Theak! In other words, I guess it's just like HS... I remember freshman year: I always did all the homework the teacher told us to, hated the idea of getting a detention, got really nervous about speaking in front of the whole school, etc., etc.

Now, senior year, I think I've got the whole high school deal just about figured out... what stuff you can do and what stuff you can skip without it mattering... I've stood up for more announcements than I can count without thinking for a second what I was going to say, fooling around, going on about random stuff, etc... Senior definitely rule the school.

Hope it will be the same with college. Here's to being lost freshmen again!

By Bluealien01 (Bluealien01) on Monday, May 03, 2004 - 06:59 pm: Edit

How about asking how boring it can be? Oh well.