Advice for New Engineering Stidents
Hi I just finished my first year in mechanical engineering and computing technology dual degree at uOttawa and have a job for the summer and thought I’d share some wisdom since I’ve seen a lot of misconceptions on here that I also believed last year.
The school does not matter as much as people think. No matter where you go to school if you graduate with an electrical engineering degree you are all expected to know and will learn through your courses the exact same things. This whole hierarchy of school with tier lists and such do not mean anything. Pick the school based on where you want to spend the next few years of your life not where people are telling you to go because it’s “a better school”
Choosing the right professors matters. Some profs are horrible and some are great that’s the way it is. So when you’re choosing classes make decisions based on professors ratings and reviews. Bad profs will make your first year significantly harder.
Guaranteed COOP doesn’t mean anything. All guaranteed coop means at most schools is they will get you 1 interview with a company not necessarily in your field and you are not guaranteed the job just because you gave an interview.
Your grades are going to drop and that’s okay. As an engineer in uni you are going to have a lot of exams that test your memory. Whether that’s formulas (I had to memorize 3 pages of formulas for a statics final), theory topics, ect. And these types of exams are usually multiple choice and are very easy to make mistakes on. You are going to fail some exams or see grades drop and that’s okay is okay. What’s important is gaining technical experience through your classes. Understand topics and if you make mistakes on exams it’s okay no one is asking you in real life to remember formulas.
Join technical teams. Engineering teams are a great way to gain actual experience in engineering and it’s great to put on resumes when you are looking for coops and internships. Also the upper year students on the teams can help you when you are struggling since they have already done everything you have to do.
Meet people. As much as studying is important you need to be social. You need to meet people and make friends. It is okay to go have fun instead of studying all night. You need to enjoy your year and it’s very hard to do that if you are alone all the time (unless you prefer that obviously) also making friends with other people in engineering is really helpful if you are struggling in a class because almost 10/10 times someone understands it and can help you.
Enjoy your year, have fun, don’t just be a bookworm because at the end of the day your grades are a number on a piece of paper, but the memories you make and people you meet will stay with you for the rest of your life.