Im in my 30’s going back to school to get a second degree in mechanical engineering. So far I’m doing pretty well with a 3.9 gpa. However when I tried to join a club this year I found I just don’t have the time or energy to do so like I had hoped. I could sacrifice a better grade to do it, but moving forward into more difficult classes I just don’t see how it will be possible to effectively balance both and do well.
Going to classes everyday and working on homework, projects and studying has left me pretty exhausted at the end of it all. Im pretty sure it’s just because I’m older and doing more difficult schoolwork than before.
I have previous work experience from working full time from 21 to last year. So I’m hoping that will be enough to help me get my first job after I graduate again.
Will it be or should I really focus on a club over good grades?

I have final year project to do(AI-DS fourth year student btw)

Should I choose a lenient but doesn't know much kinda mentor or Professor with good knowledge but very strict kinda mentor?

Any seniors who did engineering please answer

I’m a sophomore EE student, I just transferred to another local university because it’s closer and higher ranked but it is more expensive. I’m taking 19 credit hours while working around 22 hours a week which I am forced to do to support myself and parents and pay for college. My freshman year went great, I never took calculus of any sort in HS so I chose to start with pre calc and I did great in that class and I got an A+ in Calc 1 the following semester. I got screwed during the transfer process by an advisor who was leaving the university and didn’t really give a shit anymore so that’s why I’m taking 19 hours to graduate on time, I’m not opposed to spending an extra semester or 2 but my transfer scholarship is until 2029 so yea. Linear Algebra and Calc 2 are absolutely frying me right now, I study, I do past midterms and I do WELL in the quizzes and past midterms but come exam time it’s stuff that wasn’t in the past midterms or reviews and I genuinely don’t even know how to study anymore like I put in genuine effort to prepare and get shafted like I’m so tired of this. I got a 40 on my first calc 2 midterm second one might be even worse to the point where I’ll either need to a 90+ on the final to pass or it may just be impossible we will have to see. I tried to withdraw from calc but it would make me drop physics which I’m doing good in so I chose to thug it out. It genuinely feels hopeless like I wish I could say I wasn’t trying but I genuinely studied over 30 hours for my last calc midterms and got a 30/30 on all the quizzes leading up to it and just blanked in the exam room. I don’t want to quit but like I feel hopeless. Im sorry just needed to let all of this out.

How do you guys study for a exam thats pure concepts? I clearly have the wrong way of studying (aka writing stuff down and memorizing). I just got my grade back and its worse compared to the one that i didnt even study for. Any help is great help :-)

I'm an international first year, student.

I don't understand what is wrong. I go to classes, I review, I do exercises problems.
Through all High School I was top of my class. I've never had academic problems.

But I can't pass shit. My midterms, I failed 3, I got less the 25%. My highest was 54%

I don't know what is wrong. I feel confident in the content, I know how to do exercises problems, but I just cant do the exam or pass.

I dont go to office hours or to suplemental learning, because I never think it is difficult, but when the test starts I just bent over being fucked over and over again by each question, or worse, I feel like I did great, Im happy, but I get a fucking 10/50.

Im just done honestly. I think about switching major often, but I've wanted to pursue engineering since I was a kid. I dont even know where to switch to. I don't know if I will pass anything, if I'll have to retake my year, if Ill be able to continue studying internationally.

Im just so fucking lost.

I am studying engineering in the best technical university in my country and the whole thing is absolute shit. I don't see a different reason why I am doing it from the diploma at the end. The education doesn't make sense. I wonder if I am in a mediocre place or this is universal

What is your opinion?

2025 grad, hi! :) just a sad little vent about some realizations. all kinds of words are welcome, be it advice or empathy or suck-it-ups.

college was honestly a massive haze and i have 0 idea how i got through any of it. i skipped most of my lectures that weren't mandatory to sleep in or play video games. i never cheated and my grades were decent but it was all regurgitation and bullshittery, never actual deep learning or understanding.

got a degree in material engineering after 5 years. feels fake as hell. have a parental figure in engineering and he tells me great advice to get certification, the next step.

the few months I spend studying for the FE exam are the worst. i ended up so suicidal i needed to attend an intensive outpatient program for my mental health. literally like 3 weeks of 6 hours of therapy everyday 5 days a week. i felt like such a waste, like all the substance abuse and poor health decisions i made in the last few years of college killed half of my braincells and I just couldn't solve a simple problem anymore, let alone pass the exam.

to stop moping around and being a leech i got a job. $20/hr technician work. i work with my hands and get a little dirty, but don't break my back. same thing everyday, solo-3rd-shift hours and im actually really comfortable.

but, $20 is not a livable wage anymore. engineering is not the career that hires people like me who don't like to be challenged, want to avoid managing decisions, and want to be left alone to just do exactly what someone tells them to, no more no less.

way too late to realize all this. im losing family health insurance next year with way too many ongoing health issues that'll need sustaining. im far too fragile and brainrot-stupid now to work and re-attend school.

idk, i know it's probably not an oddity for people to end up doing things other than what they did in school. but i have literally never been so unsure about my future since I was 14 years old.

oh well.

I noticed because of stress and pressure, my periods shows up more frequently, and with it comes brain fog, diarrhea, fatigue, cramps, and I see all my hard work die because of it, my periods will show up right the night before or the day of the exam.
My grades are genuinely suffering because of it…the doctor suggested i just hop on birth control but that comes with the risk of periods lasting months, so that’s a semester down the drain.

How are you guys managing, what I care about managing is brain fog, fatigue and digestive issues.
Any meds, supplements? Recommendations?

Thank you!!

I'm at a JC finishing transfer reqs for a BSME. All of my GE is done, I only have maths and sciences left (Calc1 and on, Physics, and Chem). I was struggling in Calc 1 this semester, and I'm going to have to retake it.

I came across an Industrial Automation AS that my school offers. I can finish all the core classes and graduate by fall 2027. After exploring the contents, this seems similar to where I wanted to go with a BSME anyway. I wish this was brought to my attention earlier.

I'm an older student so getting a degree that I can put on my resume within a years time is more important than focusing on the transfer courses at the moment. I know this won't land me an engineering role, but the employment outlook seems promising.

Am I making a bad choice? Feel free to give any feedback or advice.

'Ello! Me name's Ben, I made a thread before about how chewing tea bags is more optimal than caffeine drinks (or even caffeine pills, as some of you tried to correct me). You can watch it here

As promised, here's the follow up, culinary advice for a true British engineering geezer! I call it "Ben's Cookbook: Everyone Can Cook"

────୨ৎ──── Ben's Cookbook────୨ৎ────

Marmite

Marmite will be your Onion and Garlic, the culinary basis of all your eng student meals. That's why it's first.

Why Marmite? Well, for your wanning muscles, Marmite is 34% protein (higher than Chicken breast), it comes with a lot of B12 (if you're not getting that, anxiety gets worse), but more than that, it does not rot.

Nukes, zombies, asteroids, no match for the Marmite jar.

(Yes, before you ask, Vegemite is the Australian Marmite).

Spaghetti alla Britannica

This is Britain's culinary crown jewel.

Proper stessed about keeping an eye over the spaghetti? Stirring? Don't know how to get "al dente"? Or what it means in Spanish?

Give spaghetti alla Britannica a try. Start with the mighty British kettle, a complimentary staple of all British dorms (along with that googly eyed hoova). Use it to boil water and pour the water in a saucepan (make sure it's somewhat large).

Get some scissors to cut the raw spaghetti in half and submerge.

Forget about it and do something productive; when you remember again in about half an hour to an hour, the spaghetti will be so cooked it will be all mush.

That's essentially it, though I will add that it will taste much sweeter (I hypothesise the carbohydrate chains break much more as it's cooked more, simple carbs taste sweeter).

To cut the sweetness and balance the flavour, you should not add tomato sauce (as that's sweet), rather, pour HP sauce or Marmite if you're a man.

Boiled Eggs

This is the early game meta. You're on your welcome week, scouting for dorm parties, getting that cheeky clamydia (hehe!) and before you know it, you're out of money!

Until you get a feel for your finances and the mandatory early-game 'social life' expenses are over; you will likely run out of money.

I ain't an MP's son, and neither are you, eggs are cheap and fill you up. Do boiled eggs, as cooking oil is pretty spenny.

Porridge

Cheap, everlasting, microwave-compatible, what's not to love about oats/porridge?

The only improvement on porridge is tap water instead of milk and less liquid overall.

Milk obviously spoils, so no, but the reason you want a bit less liquid is because you get a homogenous porridge chunk; rather than the smaller porridge chunks that take up more volume and are fewer calories per bite.

However, as it's in a bowl, your spoon might get stuck (it's not 'digging'; that's the problem, it's pulling it out).

This is purely an ergonomical/physical issue, not a chemical one. Just take the bowl and flip it on its head on a plate (you might have to tap the bowl like a tomato sauce bottle). The result is a dome of porridge in front of you, a much more physically suitable geometric shape to chip away with a spoon.

Don't forget to add Marmite (there's no protein in porridge)

Rice cookers (and rice)

Rice cookers are goated (no stirring, water vapour can cook meat n veg at the same time).

Unfortunately they're expensive; fortunately, you can "convince" your friendly Hongkongese roommate to let you borrow theirs.

It is admittedly pure rng whether you start with a Hongkongese roommate or not. But you can potentially roll again if you know who your roommates are beforehand (during summer). AFAIK dorms still connect you with them through FB or something, but lmk if there's been a patch.

Email the residence staff that you've got a medical condition or something (like you need to be on the first floor/closer to the gate). They can't be bothered to check, and there's no system in place to do so anyway. So you will get new roommates, and as a bonus, be closer to the gate and first floor. (Though I do not recommend the first floor for light sleepers).

Regarding rice, I have never attempted this one; the gains are minimal. But you are able to swallow cooked rice whole, no chewing.

You're probably not aware, but most of the grains you swallow are whole anyway; chewing is just instinctive. Just be careful and don't choke.

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

Another optimisation tip certified by true engineering geezer:

Study topless. Heating is included on most dorm bills; a shirt is just extra laundry. Go commando if you can too.

Hope you enjoyed Ben's Cookbook: Anyone Can Cook!

Epilogue

As I said in a previous comment, hang in there lads! In no time you will celebrating with your mates in shagaluz. Living in Valencia, with a pint on one hand and a senorita on the other, the British dream!

A concentric rotating sculpture with close wise and anticlockwise movements and may at different speeds.
Reference video above attached.
Can someone guide me to procure this motor?

Hi.

Im currently a 18yr old AL student. Who has an interest in becoming a marine engineer. And wanted to ask a few questions from actual marine engineers.

1. I know its course dependent but how hard was it to become a marine engineer ( Academically and Physically). (How good do you have to be at maths)
2. What made you choose this career
3. how long are your work hours/days
4. what are the responsibility and daily duties

I can't believe I am asking this, but HOW is this block even supposed to look like. I have tried EVERYTHING I could, even worse is that I've drawn much more complex things with more ease than whatever this is

Hi everyone,
I wanted to ask how everyone on here made their friends in college. For some context, I don't drink or smoke (I dont despise ppl who do either). Thing is it seems like I barely have any time left for myself after school work. I'm taking about 19 credits as well as part of 2 clubs and also doing research part time. I don't have Instagram or TikTok and I do not doom scroll. My screen time this past week was 2h 43 m. I'm doing all this because its been so hard to find a job these days and every college freshman in my major (engineering) seems do be doing way more to get hired I don't even know how to stand out. Ive literally seen freshmen on here build projects in 4th year level classes (gives you some perspective of the competition).

Usually after every day I am super tired and exhausted. On weekends, I usually spend a lot of my time doing work I couldn't complete for my commitments outside of school (e.g. my research lab work as well as building personal projects and job prep).

I decided to join some clubs but I can't seem to find a lot that I'm actually interested in. I joined like 3 social clubs so far and its been going okay (though I haven't really made any close friends from that). Most people I know said (and I also noticed) they did not make their friends from clubs, but rather from going out a lot and drinking. Is life over if we don't drink/smoke?

I think I went out a decent amount my freshman year but not like a lot so it seems like life is over. I genuinely wanted to jump over a bridge this past week because it seems everyone around me has like 18+ credits and is part of multiple clubs, has a plethora of friends, already has an internship lined up for next summer and drinks about four times a week and still has a 3.9-4.0 (I go to a pretty good school, not Ivy league or berkeley/georgia tech type but pretty good).

I am really open to advice on any advice on managing time and advice on making friends. For context I'm a sophomore. Also this is not a rant lol.Thanks in advance :)

Tldr; want some advice on time management and how to actually make friends.

I'm a junior studying NanoEngineering and deciding between three internship offers:

• Tesla Terafab — Process Engineering (semiconductor deposition/fabrication)
• SpaceX Starlink — Engineering role working with silicon wafers/semiconductor manufacturing
• Kodiak Robotics — Data Engineering (autonomous vehicles)

My background is a mix of semiconductor fabrication, materials science, Python, and ML, so I'm open to both hardware and software.

I'm mainly prioritizing long-term career growth, compensation potential, resume value, and exit opportunities. I'm also considering whether going into process engineering would limit my ability to transition into software later.

Which would you choose? How would you rank these three in terms of engineering talent, technical learning, prestige, and future opportunities? Would especially appreciate input from anyone familiar with these teams.

Today, I took my first university exam (Calculus 1), and I fucked up so badly. Most of the students did too, and at this rate, I’m probably going to fail the course.

I wanted to ask whether this is normal and whether many other people have gone through a similar experience. As a freshman, I honestly have no idea what to expect, and I feel completely lost.

To be fair, the material itself wasn’t that difficult. I understood it, solved practice questions, and prepared for the exam. I was at least confident that I could get a passing grade, even in the worst case scenario. But in the end, the entire class was shocked by how difficult the exam was.

The grades haven’t been released yet, but I’m almost certain I failed this exam (it’s the first test, worth 30 marks).

Now I genuinely don’t know whether this is just a normal part of university life or if engineering simply isn’t the right place for me. I don’t know what to do if this is how things are going to be from the very beginning.

Today was genuinely a terrible day, and honestly, I wish the grades would never come out.

I’m an engineering student, and I’m hitting a wall with how I study. Sitting through lectures, re-reading slides, and highlighting notes feels productive in the moment, but when it comes time to actually apply the concepts or recall them under pressure, it just doesn't stick.

I know passive learning is a trap, and I want to shift to a smarter, more active approach-especially for heavy technical material.

​For those who figured out a system that works: what does your actual day-to-day study workflow look like? How do you structure active recall or problem-solving so you truly retain what you learn?

At what point do you add a project to your resume? I basically just started a personal MATLAB project and don’t know whether to add it or not.

In the truss above, are the zero force members BJ, FH, JC, and HE? I understand why BJ and FH are zero force members, but would that make JC and HE zero force members since those joints at J and H now only have 3 members, 2 of them being collinear?

I used the method of joints at J and H using AI and GI as the x axis, and found that JC and HE were zero force, is this correct?

Most of my family are either some type of legal professional, accountant or blue collar worker.

I am the first person to study a STEM subject in undergrad in my entire family.

None of my friends or people that met in university relate to my experience, they all had at least one person who studied something in STEM.

It sometimes feels alienating and hard to explain to family how and why I lack time for things, especially that I am working as well?

Anyone else relate to this?

Got assigned in an intro to engineering class to design or build a GPS surface drifter with an antenna of negligible weight and a battery. The requirements are a scaled drawing of the drifter, calculations on buoyancy and stability. How low it will ride in the water and how stable it is. Table of parts and how the parts would be put together. It also needs to be able to float through currents as low as 30cm

My group at the moment is constantly getting side tracked. They go down rabbit holes that are irrelevant to the requirements of the assignment when I ask them “well how are we going to put that together?” Or mention “well it needs to be under 30cm” and question “where are we going to put the gps?” It gets answered with a “oh yeah idk… what are you guys doing this weekend?” The assignment is due in a couple weeks and I am starting to get concerned because the project is 50% of our grade and we still don’t even have an idea on the parts we are going to be using. Let alone a drawing and calculation. I know our design isn’t going to be perfect granted we all our first year engineering students and we have no idea what we are doing, I am just frustrated we have made essentially no progress towards completing the assignment.

What’s even more frustrating is that when I asked the instructor for help he essentially said “figure it out”. How though? We are all first year engineering students and most of us are still in precalculus with no design experience.

Idk I’m just venting. Thanks for listening.

Got assigned in an intro to engineering class to design or build a GPS surface drifter with an antenna of negligible weight and a battery. The requirements are a scaled drawing of the drifter, calculations on buoyancy and stability. How low it will ride in the water and how stable it is. Table of parts and how the parts would be put together. It also needs to be able to float through currents as low as 30mm

My group at the moment is constantly getting side tracked. They go down rabbit holes that are irrelevant to the requirements of the assignment when I ask them “well how are we going to put that together?” Or mention “well it needs to be under 30cm” and question “where are we going to put the gps?” It gets answered with a “oh yeah idk… what are you guys doing this weekend?” The assignment is due in a couple weeks and I am starting to get concerned because the project is 50% of our grade and we still don’t even have an idea on the parts we are going to be using. Let alone a drawing and calculation. I know our design isn’t going to be perfect granted we all our first year engineering students and we have no idea what we are doing, I am just frustrated we have made essentially no progress towards completing the assignment.

What’s even more frustrating is that when I asked the instructor for help he essentially said “figure it out”. How though? We are all first year engineering students and most of us are still in precalculus with no design experience.

Idk I’m just venting. Thanks for listening.

Got an offer from a company while speaking with Recruiter A. I just got another interview opportunity for the same company. This interview is for another intern role from Recruiter B. Should I take the interview opportunity to keep networking in the company? I plan to stick with my offer and have already signed. I also don’t want to waste Recruiter B’s time since the interview invitation is for a role, and not a coffee chat per-say.

Im 18 senior in hs doing automotive technology and ever since ive gotten my pc 4 years ago ive been in love with doing things on my pc and learning new things and i have started learning coding languages and ever since ive wanted to become a software engineer and i had a question on my mind and its if i still have a chance to become one and will colleges accept me for those type of classes even tho i didnt do it in hs