Is it too late and too difficult for me to succeed? 4

[lkncva]

I have been in the apartment maintenance field since I was 21. Now at 33 I am an area facilities manager for the state of NC. However, I know this is the ceiling. When I was 18-20 I had no idea, therefore screwing up in classes. I get how things work, appliances, hvac, reading schematics etc. But, I know engineering is going to be difficult. I still want to do it, but I worry if the level of studies are out of my league. Plus I still have the core classes to finish. Is it too late and too difficult for me to succeed?

 

[KENAT]

Too late - no. There have been threads from folks older than you. Keep in mind though that you won't graduate till you're close to 40. So your pay back period on the education is 15 or so years less than folks that go straight to college from school.

Too difficult - depends you you. It will be difficult, but if it's too difficult depends a lot on things about you we don't/can't know, your abilities, your attitude/personality, your personal circumstance, how much time you can make for it, how much you want it...

Being good at Math and Physics are necessary but insufficient prerequisites for succeeding in Engineering. If you really want it, you'll have an advantage over the folks that got pushed into Engineering just because they were 'good at Math & Science' but don't have any real interest in it.

Plus, it seemed like so called 'mature' students worked harder/had better motivation... than us slackers straight from school.

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[rb1957]

what about trades school ? it seems your experience would be ideal for that (no slight intended, maybe a little admiration !?).

why engineering ? yes, it'll be a hard slough getting back into the academic side of things ... very hard. but if it's what you want (what you Really, Really want), you should be able to find a way (or make a way).

ok, you're an experienced facilities manager ... there are always bigger and better facilities to manage ... isn't that a career path in it's own right ?

what about independent contractor ? (maybe you need a license for that, maybe not ??)

 

[par060]

....I went back to school for my 4 year engineering degree after working 12 years in construction...I had a few credits from my younger days but it still took me 4 years to get through ....I went full time as my spouce was able to provide for the family during this time....we lived paycheck to paycheck and scimped on everything.

That was the hard part. Being an older student gave me less distractions and I( think I was more engaged then the just out of high school set. I knew the importance of getting my homework done and doing well rather than just getting by.

Im 15 years into my career now and I am so much better off and the quality of life is so much better for me and my family...it was a great investment.....Im still payiing on school loans but smile evey time I write the check...its the best money I ever spent.

 

[kontiki99]

I got my EE at 36 after being an airplane mechanic for years.

It turns you into an entirely different person on paper. You have the degree plus skills and experience someone is looking for.

Without that paper, you are just another bright but limited tech as long as you work for someone else.

In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice; experience suggests that in practice, there is.

 

[StoneCold]

I would take a good hard look at your math skills. If you don't have what it takes to pass calculus then you are done on the engineering path.
On the bright side you could become a lisenced plumber or HVAC technician. They make at least as good as most engineers and you can start your own company way easier than an engineer.

For what it's worth.

Regards
StoneCold

 

[SNORGY]

Holy smokes...by StoneCold's line of reasoning I should have been done on the engineering path after my second semester of my first year.
But when I studied Gauss Theorem, I was still pretty Green and not especially Stoked.

Regards,

SNORGY.

 

[dwallace1971]

Some things to think about:

-If you're married, your spouse will have to be incredibly understanding and supportive. If she's not, you might have to choose between your marriage and being an engineer.

-Will you have to work while you go to school? If so, consider enrolling in a co-op program. It will pay the bills and keep you on track.

-Are you intrested in becoming an engineer because of money or because you want to be an engineer? If the money is the primary motivator, you will struggle.

-You may have to take remedial math courses in order to be successful. Keep in mind that a large number of prosepective engineers are "weeded out" by the math and physics courses.

You're choosing a tough row to hoe. Your success will depend almost entirely on your dedication and character. You'll be tempted to throw in the towel on many occasions (after a particularly brutal semester, I seriously considered changing my major to history).

Whatever course you choose, good luck to you!

 

[StoneCold]

SNORGY
You might think I am too harsh about being good at math.
However I saw a lot of students spend three plus semesters in the engineering department who then failed calculus. I don't think it was very fair to those kids or their parents who paid a lot of "engineering fees" when they were never going to be able to become engineers.

My two cents.

Regards
StoneCold

 

[MiketheEngineer]

Lets see - you are 33... At 37 you could have an engineering degree OR NOT!!

You figure it out!!!

 

[FixedEarth]

You need to change the following two perceptions.

1- "But, I know engineering is going to be difficult" What makes you believe this perception? - We all come to this earth not knowing a thing.

2- "I still want to do it, but I worry if the level of studies are out of my league." - We are all in the student league.

You are right in meeting the prerequisites: "I still have the core classes to finish"- You need about 124 credits +/- to graduate. Everyone does, not just you.

"Is it too late and too difficult for me to succeed?" - If you do nightly homework, have good attendance, it is average effort. If you are breathing today, it is not too late to start.

Once you change your perception that engineering is not hard, that it is learnable and that you can do this you have a great start.

Once you go on to fulfill the prerequiste classes, you would have enough credits to graduate.

On a related topic- Once I heard a professor mention that most of the students who fail Calculus I, had a negative outlook prior to taking this class.

Change your perception, put in some effort and leave the world without any regrets.

 

[SNORGY]

No worries StoneCold.

Our second semester second year "Applied Mathematics" engineering course in vector calculus was taught by the Department Of Mathematics (i.e., "Pure Mathematicians"). For whatever reason, they made it a "weeder" type course. The result was that we had a number - quite a number - of otherwise Dean's List students take their four A's, a B and an "F" that semester. So, they repeated that course in the summer semester so as not to be set back a year. I was one of those "failures". I remember the summer semester's mid-term: I got 59.5 / 60; that earned me a "B-" since about 40 folks (mainly some very disgruntled engineering students) wrote perfect papers.

No, I don't think you were at all out of line, StoneCold. I am just bitter.

Perhaps my math instructors went on to MBAs or something; that would be my suspicion.

Regards,

SNORGY.

 

[par060]

I made it through all the calculuses....didn't really learn it fully but got through it. After 15 years doing structures....only 1 time did I use calculus to solve a problem...and thats because I wanted to try it that way rather than the stripped down approx method.

Rarely do I use math that I learned after the 9th grade

 

[GregLocock]

Yes, I think that is a common observation by civil engineers.

Mechies and electrical engineers tend to be a bit less plug'n'play, I last solved a double integral 7 years ago (but did at least get it right) but use fourier analysis at least once a month now, and daily in my previous job. It's about 20 years since I had to solve a PDE in anger, by hand, nowadays I'd model it rather than calculate it.

Cheers

Greg Locock


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[FeX32]

solve a PDE in anger

Nice . Where I went mechanical and electrical eng. students had to take a full course on just PDE's for some reason. (all by hand of course) What a course. What a course...
Although, I do love math.


Fe (IronX32)

 

[JeffTech]

They aren't lying about the math, it is Hard...

I am only a Civil Engineering Technologist, and my class went from 29 students to 8 graduates, 90% dropping from the Math portion, and we never even touched Thermal Dynamics and some of the other stuff I've seen. oi.

That being said, don't sell yourself short, you have know idea what your body/mind is capable of as long as your willing to not give up. Their will be trials and had times, time where you think your an idiot, times where you are an idiot, but as long as you have the will to hang in there, and do whatever it takes,(in the words of doctor seuss)
"Will you suceed? Yes! You will indeed! 98 and 3/4's percent guaranteed"



Jeffery V C.E.T.

"If Brute force doesn't solve your problem, your not using enough"

 

[MiketheEngineer]

I have used Calculus ONLY 2 times in 40 years. And instead of actually using it - I programmed a Basic or Excel spreadsheet to iterate to the solution.

I guess I knew enough about HOW calculus works??!!

 

[ScottyUK]

If you discard digital electronics and the like, classical electrical engineering is basically applied maths. Some of it - control, communications, and electrical machines to pick a few - is very maths-heavy during your degree.

One of the things to consider is that maths is essentially a set of rules which are applied to problems - once you understand the rules the problems are easy. The rules are usually very well defined: sometimes it is a case of finding the right tutor or the right text - I used up a few of one and a lot of the other.

If you want to learn then you should go for it. Good luck.



----------------------------------

If we learn from our mistakes I'm getting a great education!

 

[FeX32]

If you go into R&D you will use much more of the Math you will learn in uni.


Fe (IronX32)

 

[SNORGY]

Most of the stuff I do involves math in the following level of hierarchy:

(1) Algebra and trigonometry
(2) Occasional curve-fitting of data using software curve fitters, then using the ensuing function / expression to solve my problem
(3) Newton-Rhapson (which at least means computing a derivative)
(4) The occasional D.E. (e.g. variations on Newton's Law of Cooling)
(5) Simple integrals (I solve all my "beams" this way although it gets rough on me when point loads enter into it...singularity functions and the like...I should bone up on that, but CAESAR does it for me so...oh well)
(6) My FAVOURITE method...Pick up my TI-89T and type in "Solve(f(x),x)".

The latter hasn't failed me yet.

There's a good IPAD app called Math Studio...it's about as good a "solver" as I ever need. Actually if a person searches the Apple Store hard enough, they can find some pretty slick Engineering / Math / Science apps. I use my IPAD at work constantly now, and often have to tell people (MBAs, typically) that give me puzzled looks, "This isn't what it looks like...".



Regards,

SNORGY.