Hi, I am going to school to be a Mechanical Engineer. I have heard that the schooling to be an engineer is a lot harder than the actual job, and that actually working as a Mechanical Engineer (or any engineer) is a lot easier than going to school to be one. Is this true or false?
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To some extent. You'll learn a lot of things that you're probably not interested in and probably will not be useful, which will make it seem hard. For example, all engineers are usually required to take a class on circuit analysis whether they'll be designing electronics or not. And in a job, you don't usually have homework. And a lot of times things are done in a lot simpler way in the real world than in college.
For an example of the last part, I did a mechanical engineering internship the summer before I started college at an architecture/engineering firm. (I didn't care for it that much and did materials engineering instead, but it was still good experience). One of the tasks I did was pipe sizing for plumbing systems in buildings. An engineer there told me how in college you learn a fairly complicated formula for it. But in practice, they used some standard approximations and an excel spreadsheet. Since you can only get pipe in certain sizes, you don't need an exact value.
For an example of the last part, I did a mechanical engineering internship the summer before I started college at an architecture/engineering firm. (I didn't care for it that much and did materials engineering instead, but it was still good experience). One of the tasks I did was pipe sizing for plumbing systems in buildings. An engineer there told me how in college you learn a fairly complicated formula for it. But in practice, they used some standard approximations and an excel spreadsheet. Since you can only get pipe in certain sizes, you don't need an exact value.
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Working is generally easier (usually no homework) except for one minor exception: When you make a mistake working it costs money or even injury or death.
However, if your team is understaffed, you can work your butt off.
Personally, I got a lot of enjoyment out of seeing my designs being used successfully.
However, if your team is understaffed, you can work your butt off.
Personally, I got a lot of enjoyment out of seeing my designs being used successfully.
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i think this is true for any job. i mean look at surgeons, they gotta survive uni, med, and residency school for 12-17 years in total.
its not all about just the study, its your money and social life as well. obviously your not gonna have a proper job so your gonna be a broke, your gonna have to take a part time job somewhere for maybe 3-4 hours a day. this limits you for assignments, study, review and what not. even then you have friends and other interests, you have to see your family members and friends and hang out with them.
and then think about it when you do become an engineer. your working for 8 hours a day which is practically like school hours. your doing something your good at so you wont be making stupid mistakes. you have money and time for friends and family.
you just need to analyze the life of a student and a life as an engineer. youll actually see which one is harder.
its not all about just the study, its your money and social life as well. obviously your not gonna have a proper job so your gonna be a broke, your gonna have to take a part time job somewhere for maybe 3-4 hours a day. this limits you for assignments, study, review and what not. even then you have friends and other interests, you have to see your family members and friends and hang out with them.
and then think about it when you do become an engineer. your working for 8 hours a day which is practically like school hours. your doing something your good at so you wont be making stupid mistakes. you have money and time for friends and family.
you just need to analyze the life of a student and a life as an engineer. youll actually see which one is harder.
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False
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It depends on the job.