Mechanical Engineers

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

So, i am in my first semester of my second year at Clemson as a Mechanical Engineer. I find myself sitting down from 8am- at least 8pm M-F doing school work, and then Sunday from 8am-8pm. Thats a minimum of 60hrs a week. I am taking multi-variable calc, ceramic materials engineering, statics & dynamics as one course, british lit, and then some one hour BS ME seminar. The multi-variable calc, british lit, and ME seminar have been very understandable to me. I got a B on the first calc test, A's in everything in the lit, and an A for attendance basically for the seminar.

I NEVER comprehend what we learn in the CME course. It has a lot of chemistry and other things that I don't even know how or why or what we are doing. I hate this course and the professor does not offer help sessions or homework problems or practice tests. Its just lecture, test, lecture, test without anything to study except what you are able to copy down from his 20 slides in an hours. I got a 49 on this first test.

The ME statics and dynamics course is also rediculus. There are no grades other than the 4 exams, I go to help sessions with undergrads that made an A in the course last year sunday-thursday. We have our first test today @ 7 which i have been studying for for the past couple of weeks.

I just dont understand how you guys get through this. I put in all the effort possible

and use all the tools that I am offered and still come up with a 2.67gpr last year. This year is going to be like a 2.0. Is this a major that I personally just can't complete or are there other things that people have done to succeed that I have not done or seen?

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[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

It is called growing up. If you don't do it now, real life is going to seriously fuck you up.

Please explain what you mean. Designating 60hrs a week towards school, not going out ever, and drinking a few brews on saturday is "not grown up". Yes i am only 20, and yes i still have maturing and growing to do, but what am I doing that is not grown up? I understand the major will be difficult and that is why ME's get paid a decent amount, but me looking for help/suggestions to doing better is also "not grown up"?

EDIT: yeah, now that i think about it, I have 3 guys over 30 years old in the same situation I am in. They ask me for help. I obviously don't know your definition of "grown up". The guys I speak of work at local places and are trying to get the degree to make more money where they work. All respectable, nice, adults...... they are "grown up" and tend to ask me for help.

 

[l7runner 10+ year member]

Do you actually study....or do you just BS on the computer for a few hours and consider that "studying"?

I cant comprehend someone spending that much time studying and still doing poorly

 

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

Do you actually study....or do you just BS on the computer for a few hours and consider that "studying"?
I cant comprehend someone spending that much time studying and still doing poorly

Well, the only thing i use my computer for is looking up practice problems and solutions. I spend most of the 60hrs i was talking about either reading the text book, reading the notes, practicing problems, reviewing solutions, or whatever else i need to do for my english and calc. I really only struggle with CME and statics & dynamics. BUT I also spend most of my time working static & dynamics problems. As hard as it is for some to believe, I honestly do not watch TV, use my computer for thigns other than school, or anything other than school from that minimum of 8-8. If its past 8pm and i just cant do more work ill go fix dinner and smoke and watch some TV before I go to bed. If i am not completely exhausted i fix my dinner and go back to school. I have learned from my older siblings what to do and what not to do, but even doing what I think is right i just come up short of my 3.0gpr goal.

Its extremely frustrating to turn down all the fun things my friends in ME are doing because I dont understand it as well. Put in 10-20 more hours of work and still do worse than they do. From these same friends I get "You work more and harder than anyone else I know. Why do you have such a low gpr?"

 

[ahole-ic]

Do you actually study....or do you just BS on the computer for a few hours and consider that "studying"?
I cant comprehend someone spending that much time studying and still doing poorly

Some people don't learn easily. I've found that if you truly enjoy something and it is your calling, that you involuntarily learn it. Maybe this isn't the major for you OP.

 

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

Yes it is. Eventually you will learn balance, but until then you have to understand that successful people work up to 60 hours a week and don't **** around every night with their bros, bro.


That's exactly my point. Get use to it now and integrate it into your life so when you're in your 30's people who are older than you are asking you for help because you're their boss.

Yeah, I get that. You must have missed my point. I was asking what I am doing wrong or for helpful tips to get through it. I dont have a problem with putting in the work. I have a problem with putting in the work and doing poorly on exams. Yes, hopefully older people asking me for help are my employee's later on, but if i put in the work now and get ****** test grades, i will never be a boss, ya dig?

 

[l7runner 10+ year member]

I had friends in Mechanical/Civil who would study constantly and still do bad...we would have classes together and I would never study and still do much better than them.

I guess some ppl just have it and others don't when it comes to school.

One of my buddies who doesn't do well already has a nice job lined up tho, so I wouldn't worry too much about grades.

 

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

Some people don't learn easily. I've found that if you truly enjoy something and it is your calling, that you involuntarily learn it. Maybe this isn't the major for you OP.

You understand. That is what I am considering. I have just been thinking since the beginning of the semester what in the world i would like better, and really, i do enjoy statics and dynamics a lot. It is relative to real world problem solving which is my main interest. I enjoy being able to tell you how much stress or strain you can put on an object in different areas without mechanical failure. I enjoy disproving little things that people say with true mathematical and scientific facts. I enjoy building/designing with my hands. I like everything that ME's do, I just cant comprehend the material that we go over well enough to relay what I have been practicing to the tests. It's just like I am a bad test taker. I do well on in class activities, understand mainly all the practice problems, just cant always do things correctly.

Other than the school i currently have to be on top of, my next main focus is finding something that I can make a decent amount of money in and still enjoy.

 

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

I had friends in Mechanical/Civil who would study constantly and still do bad...we would have classes together and I would never study and still do much better than them.
I guess some ppl just have it and others don't when it comes to school.

One of my buddies who doesn't do well already has a nice job lined up tho, so I wouldn't worry too much about grades.

Yeah, I know I can still wind up with a decent employer, I just hate relying on connections that I have to get ahead in the world. I would rather reach my goal by the hard work I put in rather than being one of those people who does well because they know someone that knows someone that knows someone that did well. I have quite a few people to help me get into the BMW plant in Spartanburg which is what I really really want, I just cant rely on that nor do I want to honestly.

 

[ahole-ic]

Yeah, I know I can still wind up with a decent employer, I just hate relying on connections that I have to get ahead in the world. I would rather reach my goal by the hard work I put in rather than being one of those people who does well because they know someone that knows someone that knows someone that did well. I have quite a few people to help me get into the BMW plant in Spartanburg which is what I really really want, I just cant rely on that nor do I want to honestly.

That doesn't work. Life is NOT about your performance. It is about how well you play the game. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be. Look around you at the people that are in positions that you can't believe they are holding.....

 

[TrlcKed_OuT 10+ year member]

Just start smoking dope and rapping if 50 cent can make millions anyone can....

 

[TrlcKed_OuT 10+ year member]

llolol j.k man! I know kinda how you feel all through school I didn't study for sh** and never really paid attention in class..I was too busy having fun and messing around, and I got excellent grades. but I watched my older brother and many friends studying all the time and paying attention in class and all that and they struggled all through school...now I'm not saying they were stupid nor am I saying you are either,but school and class rooms are not for everyone.some people just can't understand and learn like that..so I'm not going to tell you to quit because tsk just not for you, but don't give up maybe try finding a different way to study...or possible try a little less and see if it helps, maybe you are just trying way to hard? Either way if you like it just keep at it! You may not pass with the gpa that you want but hey a degree at 2.0gpa is better than none right?