any electrical engineers out there?

[dr_peeb 10+ year member]

Professional Engineer, it's a certification really...
nG

A very difficult one to gain, but also very valuable.

 

[DSMW 10+ year member]

I'm planning on going to NIU as that is where i work and can get free credit hours at.

what does it take to get the PE after youre an EE and whats the procedure?

 

[jiggy2dmax 10+ year member]

I'm planning on going to NIU as that is where i work and can get free credit hours at.
what does it take to get the PE after youre an EE and whats the procedure?

My 2 cents:

It takes experience to get a PE. You first need to get your FE(Engineering in Training Cert) which is usually done towards the end of your BS degree. You then a certain amount of working experience before you can sit for the PE exam, it does vary by state and somewhere around 4-7 years.

My take, if your doing Engineering for the $, your not going to like it and chances are will do poorly in it. It is a difficult major and you will be on the grind each and every semester. Your semesters will be about 17-19 credits at first, going down to about 15-17 towards your upper level. You will see your friends going out, partying and getting drunk every night while you will be studying.

Secondly, most engineering majors do not finish in 4 years(Most do in 5) so if that is your reasoning for pursuing EE instead of Pharm, I would rethink it just on the fact that you said Pharmacy was what you really wanted to do.

Your key to getting a job after graduating will be doing internships, industry experience counts for a ton. The upside to this is that engineering interns usually are paid pretty well. Expect a salary in the 50-low 60's upon graduating.

BTW: Im a senior in EE, will need an extra year to finish and have done internships that range from $13-$22 a hour to give you an idea.

 

[DSMW 10+ year member]

im not doing it for the money. I love eletrical things and working on electrical things. also studying the way electronics work. Im 23, so the partying scene is almost done for me. I had no attraction towards it really anyways.

the reason I dont want to do pharmacy, is with EE, I can do classes after 430 PM, which is when I get off of my FT job, thatd id like to keep. pharmacy school they recommend you do not work at all, and study ahrd for 4 years, which i dont mind doing, but my student loans would need to cover living expenses and tuition. I would be **** near 100k in student loans by the time i finished.

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

im not doing it for the money. I love eletrical things and working on electrical things. also studying the way electronics work. Im 23, so the partying scene is almost done for me. I had no attraction towards it really anyways.
the reason I dont want to do pharmacy, is with EE, I can do classes after 430 PM, which is when I get off of my FT job, thatd id like to keep. pharmacy school they recommend you do not work at all, and study ahrd for 4 years, which i dont mind doing, but my student loans would need to cover living expenses and tuition. I would be **** near 100k in student loans by the time i finished.

I'd Say if you're this unsure about it, think about what you want to do. I went away to UW- Madison for 2 years. It was probably the best and worst 2 years of my life. I had no ambition to go away to school. My dad wanted me to go for the experience. It was worth the experience, but that's it. I transferred back home, switched from chemistry to electrical and computer engineering technology and now I'm in my 5th year of college, my third in the program, and I'm still a junior. Yay for credits not counting for anything when you transfer/switch majors. I've got another 2 years for my BS. I can have an associate's after this semester. I'd like to finish with the BS, but I've been in school for so long and all my friends have graduated already. I want to get the **** out, but I'll probably stay and finish. There really isn't money to be made in the Chicagoland area right now in this field.

Long story short, make sure you know what you want to do so you don't f*ck yourself like I did, especially 2 years into it.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Do what your passion is.

I'm in EE, had a full ride academic scholarship, switched my major almost 2 years in, then dropped out. I'm now back finishing my BSEE. It's a 5year program that includes co-op... and it's hard work.

You have to go to every single class, you have to spend hours studying and doing homework. I could not imagine being a FT engineering student AND working a FT job, no possible way. Unless you enjoy having no sleep, and are VERY efficient with your time. No procrastinating.

Anyways, It's hard work. But I'm pretty sure it's what I want to do. Hopefully.

I still don't really know what I want to be when I grow up. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

nG

 

[p3bumpin 10+ year member]

Im in my last year (2 year school) for EET. I have done alot of working in the past year and even more in my current semester. So far i have learned everything from DC/AC circuits all the way to microcontrollers and processors. But the information i have learned is tremendous as i like this field i am in. I took electronics for two years in high school and that got me hooked.

And as jiggy2dmax stated, if your going to just enter this field for the money, your gonna fail at it. Theres lots of information that needs to be known and memorized in order to be successful. If your gonna enter this field, make sure its actually what you wanna do.

 

[DSMW 10+ year member]

well I am sure that I love eletrical things and love how they work and wondering and figuring out how they work. The money is good, but neither good or bad in the fact that money doesnt really concern me, it is just not to know it pays decent. I dont want a job that I do not care about, but there may be sometimes I hate the job.

My option with student loans for pharmacy school is gonna be tremendous by the end as because I will need living expenses covered. But I am significantly interested in both equally, but pharmacists get paid a bit better, but the student loans will be outrageous. The thing that sucks is that the associates for pre pahrm is so direct they cant go towards anything if I chose another major.

 

[statonburrell 10+ year member]

glad i'm going to a PE certified school.. civil engineering major here! 2nd year.. dynamics is killing me!

 

[rtillaree 10+ year member]

Do what your passion is.
I'm in EE, had a full ride academic scholarship, switched my major almost 2 years in, then dropped out. I'm now back finishing my BSEE. It's a 5year program that includes co-op... and it's hard work.

You have to go to every single class, you have to spend hours studying and doing homework. I could not imagine being a FT engineering student AND working a FT job, no possible way. Unless you enjoy having no sleep, and are VERY efficient with your time. No procrastinating.

Anyways, It's hard work. But I'm pretty sure it's what I want to do. Hopefully.

I still don't really know what I want to be when I grow up. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif

nG

looking back, going to school FT for engineering, having a wife and a newborn as well as working multiple jobs to pay the bills, I have no idea how I did it all...just did it all out of pure necessity I guess...makes me laugh when kids ***** about taking like 2-3 gen.ed. classes and working...

 

[DSMW 10+ year member]

I have to still work FT to survive, Id pick surviving over school as i make 11 an hour right now and its not hard to survive and save, I just want to further my education. but working here at NIU (Nothern Illinois University), I get 8 free credit hours a semester, which helps. and my boss may be lieniant about some classes beign taken during the day.

 

[DSMW 10+ year member]

any other opinions, so far it has been very insightful.

 

[jiggy2dmax 10+ year member]

any other opinions, so far it has been very insightful.

A pharmacy program and a EE program are similar in difficulty IMO. Your going to have your work cut out for you in either one, with Pharmacist having a better starting pay. I wouldn't decide my career around my current work situation. If it happens you need to take classes at day, perhaps you can find a different job or a more part time position where you are now that will allow for you to do your classes during the day.

Secondly, I loved and still love electronics but you'll soon learn that not every class you take will be about electronics and you will hate some of the classes with a passion so do take that into account. For a full EE program, expect to take Calc 1-4, Calc based physics and a few other classes. Its hard but doable and is rewarding imo.

 

[DSMW 10+ year member]

good to know, but I am a huge fan of Math, and actually love challenges and rewarding situations. Alot of the ELE classes are at 5 and 6 here at night, so those are doable.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Man if you work at our university (University of Cincinnati), you and your direct family get free tuition...

nG