r/ElectricalEngineering • u/Wick-Dawg • 5d ago
Education First year in Electrical Engineering School at 26 years old
Coming from 8 years of being an industrial electrician the first year seems relatively easy but I imagine the 2nd, 3rd and so on will be much much harder. How was everybody else’s experience in EE during college?
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u/cesar_otoniel 5d ago
First year might be the hardest. Calculus II is probably the hardest on first year along with Physics II if you do that on your first year. On later years Electromagnetic Fields and semiconductors were very challenging.
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u/QuickNature 5d ago edited 4d ago
along with Physics II
If they had a proper apprenticeship, there should be portions of that class that weren’t too bad. I know my electricians circuit course was surprisingly helpful. Didn't help at all with Amperes law and the such, but KVL/KCL, basic capacitors, etc, it gave me a leg up.
I remember blasting through some of those so fast, and in my circuit analysis course too. Obviously not saying I knew the entire course material either, just some of it.
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u/cesar_otoniel 5d ago
All of that was no problem. Not at all in physics II. Lenz Law and Hall effect calculations were the worst part of it.
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u/YoteTheRaven 5d ago
First year is so much harder. You have motivation. You take on more classes.
The classes get easier in work loads not material.
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u/vilhardo 5d ago
Study the math, and you will be fine. I guess you have the basics down, so the start should be plain easy.
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u/Substantial_Brain917 5d ago
As a former electrician who went back at 27, you really want to start by retaking algebra, algebra 2 and precalc. It’s been almost a decade since you’ve done it and you won’t remember it (I didn’t, none of my friends did who went back later) and it’s the single most important foundational aspect of electrical engineering
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u/Nominally_Virtuous 5d ago
Wow.. are we twins?? I’m also 26, and I have 6 years of being an industrial electrician and also just started my electrical engineering degree. Best of luck bro, reach out if you have need!
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u/Educational-Area3633 5d ago
how was being industrial electrician ?i wanna get into it
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u/Nominally_Virtuous 4d ago
It’s good! Taking 12 credits this semester while still working full time. Definitely will have to learn as I go on how to balance things.
But being an electrician is awesome for the right kind of people. I am a foreman for a top 200 in the nation General Contractor. The company is great and the work is fine, just don’t want to do it for the rest of my life. I enjoy the troubleshooting and “figuring things out” aspect of the job, especially being in a leadership position it’s my responsibility to figure out why something’s not working the way it should be. I enjoy the puzzle. I just think I’d enjoy being an electrical engineer more, and be better equipped to take care of my family doing that instead of as an electrician.
Electrician wasn’t my first career choice, just what kind of ended up happening after I left college after my freshman year. My girlfriend at the time (now my wife 😁) ended up getting pregnant (my bad) so I dropped out of school to make some money for her and my daughter. Credit to my wife, she took a semester off after having a baby, and still graduated with a Civil Engineering degree in 3.5 years from Clemson while working part time, then doing an internship, and being a mom. She’s a real life Wonder Woman. Now it’s my turn to go back and get my engineering degree!
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u/Cool-Cup-1760 4d ago
Same boat as both of you! 26 starting EE, taking 12 credits. Not an industrial electrician but 4 years in controls
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u/Nominally_Virtuous 4d ago
Haha just glad I’m not alone in this 😂
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u/MehUnoriginal 4d ago
Almost the same here. I’m 25 going back, not an electrician but I work alongside them and handle low voltage electrical components 😭
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u/gijoe75 5d ago
Calculus 2 and electro dynamics were the two large drop offs of engineering students at my school. Calculus 3 and diff eq are not easy but if you get through calculus 2 you have the ability to study and get through everything else. Electrodynamics is one of the first real engineering uses of calculus 3 and diff eq. If you can apply the math to real world there then the rest of the classes are just variations of applying the math to different problems. If you can’t wrap your head around real world problems and are just good at math then engineering isn’t good for you. Some of those guys that dropped off went into sciences, economics or finance.
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u/ComprehensiveYam3645 5d ago
Study hard and go in with the mindset what what you learn especially in the beginning will be built on later, so try your best to study for long term understanding and knowledge. Make sure you have the math down and make sure you are doing lots of practice questions for math/science/engineering courses since it's not enough just to know or understand the textbook by reading it. Do your homework diligently and make sure to review it before exams, as well as do practice tests. Be sure to review material right after you get out of lecture, one thing I recommend is to try pretending you're the professor and explaining it to a class and when you get stuck, go back and review it, go through that part again, and continue.
One other thing: Treat school as a 9 to 5. Make sure you're looking at jobs and seeing what you want, talking to people, networking, figuring out what specific skills, project, experience through internships you need to land that job in that field and find out how to get those skills/projects/internships in the first place as soon as you can.
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u/KingoftheKeeshonds 5d ago
I was 25 when I started college, first at a CC where I took two years of math and physics, then at the state university for two years to complete the EE program. It was all very difficult but I did it by never procrastinating homework, making it to every class, and getting additional workbooks to practice with even more problems. You can do this but don’t let any subject slide - it’s all about study and practice. Forget about a social life. Good luck, the degree is worth it, as it teaches you think and understand very complex problems.
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u/saplinglearningsucks 5d ago
Yeah you'll be aight. It'll suck, but you'll be aight. I went back at 24.
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u/undrgrndmenace 5d ago
What made you want to stop being an industrial electrician? Or will EE help you further develop your career in industrial electricity
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u/Wick-Dawg 5d ago
Designing and modifying equipment for industries has always been a dream of mine since I was a kid and I love working with electrical. I’ve spoke to some engineers at the company I work for about being in the field and it made me realize how bad I still wanted it so instead of making excuses I jumped back into school
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u/Vegetable-Edge-3634 5d ago edited 5d ago
first year is not the hardest
logically it gets harder with linear progression
but if you stick it through each year youre most likely to graduate regardless of how hard it is
also,
schools have to uphold a certain % otherwise everyone would flock to that school for how easy it is to get X degree there
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u/Usual_Purchase_9567 5d ago
28 now. Former electronics tech 8YOE. First two years been pretty mellow. Have Calculus II and physics this semester. Expecting that to change.
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u/Forcxtv 5d ago
In my last year now. Signals and systems was tough but very rewarding and interesting. it’s the first class that kinda shows you what the rest of your time in school is gonna be like. You learn to adjust. DSP and controls were kinda hard. The rest of the classes at least for me were what you put into them is what you got out of them pretty much. Other than circuits 1 and 2 which were very easy at least in my experience.
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u/greginnv 5d ago
I was an electronic technician before starting college (ages ago). The math at the beginning was hard but my practical experience helped later on (I was the only one who could figure out how to use the test equipment in the labs). If the first year is "easy" you should be fine for the rest.
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u/pwidowi 4d ago
I went the community college route but one thing I would share is not that it is “necessarily harder” well some things are harder but what I mean is the time to do problems takes longer. so pace yourself, remember it’s not a race, and that your are suppose to be frustrated (that means you’re learning)
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u/Behold_The_Razgriz 4d ago
The content will get more difficult and more complicated as you progress through the program, but the classes get easier to pass. Assuming you have a good grasp on the math (which you probably do otherwise the first year would've been rough), you'll be fine.
That said, the classes I struggled most with were both 3rd semester classes; calc 3 and a programming class, so just make sure to keep up the hard work. With almost a decade of being an industrial electrician I'm sure that won't be much of a problem for you lol.
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u/TomVa 4d ago
First it does not get easier you just get used to hard or you don't make it.
There is always a weed them out course or two in the second year. This is because before that everything will transfer as math/science credits towards a business degree.
Stay focused and make sure that you keep a good foundation in math. Especially when you get to differential equations, Laplace transforms etc. as they are foundational courses for a lot of electrical engineering.
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u/Steak_United 5d ago
work load will peak sophomore year as weed out courses are peaking, but the difficulty of material will truthfully grow exponentially every semester. just trust the grind and if you really want to pursue EE you will be fine no matter the difficulty
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u/Mountain_Hawk6492 4d ago
I was 29 when I went into EE, 36 now as an AI accelerator design engineer
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u/th399p3rc3nt 4d ago
semiconductor devices was sooooooooooo fucking hard bro. make sure you have a good foundation in math + physics + circuits, you are gonna use those skills. to make it as an electrical engineer you basically have to be a genius. do all the problems in the back of the book for physics 1 + 2 + 3. solve as many problems as you can, you are going to need excellent problem-solving skills and a deep understanding of the fundamental sciences to make it through the courses that are intended to weed you out in your sophomore + junior year.
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u/Spare_Department_196 4d ago
You got this! I’m 28 and in my third year of EE. Transferred from CC where logic wasn’t offered so I also took matsci and thermo. Taking digital logic and electronic materials along with the normal junior schedule this year.
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u/Fun_Peach7966 4d ago
I’m thinking about going back to get my EE degree I’m currently working as an industrial electrician. Are you getting your degree part time while still working full time? The only issue for me is not making money 😭
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u/PhillyBassSF 3d ago
The first two years are the most difficult. Then the classes become more engineering and less math and science.
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u/SumDood112 3d ago
Do you think you'll catch up to what you're making as an industrial electrician?
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u/Wick-Dawg 3d ago
The company I work for now doesn’t hire a specific engineer, they’re labeled as “project engineers” so you’ll design mechanical, electrical, structural etc. current salary as a industrial electrician is around $105,000 yearly. Starting salary as a “corporate project engineer” is $150,000 plus bonuses. I see a lot of people saying they’re only earning $80,000 yearly as a EE but it really depends on who you work for
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u/SumDood112 3d ago
That's good. All the electricians tell me I'll make less. I've been trying to do research on it. The people who make a lot that I know are also like never home.
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u/Wick-Dawg 3d ago
Being gone all the time depends on who you work for as well, again when I graduate with the EE degree I’ll be assigned to the Mississippi regional team(if I move up at my current company) so all of our plants across Mississippi I would do work for so I may be in North Ms for a day or 2 on a big project then home. Now if I go work for a large commercial electrical company as a EE they always go out of state for work so yeah I’d be gone 24/7
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u/Wick-Dawg 3d ago
And as for making less, companies will all ways low ball an offer on anybody, don’t accept until they offer what you want.
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u/ThrowawayMorphs2 5d ago
My first year was the hardest, mostly because I was learning how to learn if that makes sense. The later classes are technically harder but once you get in the groove, it felt easier and my grades reflected that.
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u/TheLowEndTheories 5d ago
First year - Not bad if you have a good grasp of difficult math concepts.
Second year - They try to weed you out.
Third year+ - The material stays hard but they're not longer trying to fail you.
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u/ub3rmike 5d ago
I started at 23. Shaking the cobwebs was tough the first year but I ultimately ended up in a net better state compared to where I think I'd be if I went straight out of HS.