- #1
MadMike1986
- 23
- 0
Hi guys,
I wanted to get the input of some people who post on these forums. Maybe some people who are in industry or currently in school.
I'm currently at a university studying Mechanical Engineering. I'm about to enter my final year and only have a few more classes to finish to get my Bahcelor's Degree. The problem is i feel like i haven't really learned anything and I very much dislike the school I attend (I haven't liked it since the moment I transferred there 2 years ago after getting my A.S. in engineering science from a community college). The reasons i don't like it are the following:
1) Class sizes are really big, even in my junior and senior level engineering classes; about 90 stuends per class in lectures for classes like fluid mechanics or machine design.
2) The professors are hard to understand and don't actually teach you, instead just showing power point slides. I feel like 90% of what i learn i have taught myslef. Is this really worth the $15,000 a year i pay? I don't really believe in the whole college as an experience B.S.
3) I hate living in the town my college is located in. I want to live and work in my home town when i graduate. Every time i think about going back to school in the fall i cringe.
As an alternative i was considering forgoing a bachelor's degree for now. I know of plenty of people who have had successful careers without a bachelors degree.
I was wondering what you guys think of a two year technical degree in optical systems technology. My home town (Rochester NY) has plenty of opportunities for careers in optics. Even though this is a 2 year degree that is laregely non-mathematical, I would still continue to learn more math by taking additional classes at local universities. I already have all the math required for a bachelor's degree but i love learning as much math as possible.
After attending a community college for 2 years in getting my A.S. in engineering science i noticed that i learn much more efficiently there. The professors actually teach the material instead of just throwing it at you. I also feel that getting a hands on education will give me faster gradification for what i have learned. I have seen other students with tech certificates or associates degrees that really grasped the concepts in my engineering classes because they understood the importance of what they were learning (whereas I just blindly solved the textbook problems and exam problems with no real connection to what i was being taught). This really showed in our project based classes where hands on skilled students ruled over those of us that didn't have hands on skills.
Class sizes there are about a dozen students and the optics program is very closely associated with local industry and the laboratory for laser energetics at the University of Rochester.
My questions for you guys are:
1) Am i being a wuss for leaving the university?
2) Is a hands on tech degree the wrong way to go?
Thanks for all your input and let me know if you need any more information.
I wanted to get the input of some people who post on these forums. Maybe some people who are in industry or currently in school.
I'm currently at a university studying Mechanical Engineering. I'm about to enter my final year and only have a few more classes to finish to get my Bahcelor's Degree. The problem is i feel like i haven't really learned anything and I very much dislike the school I attend (I haven't liked it since the moment I transferred there 2 years ago after getting my A.S. in engineering science from a community college). The reasons i don't like it are the following:
1) Class sizes are really big, even in my junior and senior level engineering classes; about 90 stuends per class in lectures for classes like fluid mechanics or machine design.
2) The professors are hard to understand and don't actually teach you, instead just showing power point slides. I feel like 90% of what i learn i have taught myslef. Is this really worth the $15,000 a year i pay? I don't really believe in the whole college as an experience B.S.
3) I hate living in the town my college is located in. I want to live and work in my home town when i graduate. Every time i think about going back to school in the fall i cringe.
As an alternative i was considering forgoing a bachelor's degree for now. I know of plenty of people who have had successful careers without a bachelors degree.
I was wondering what you guys think of a two year technical degree in optical systems technology. My home town (Rochester NY) has plenty of opportunities for careers in optics. Even though this is a 2 year degree that is laregely non-mathematical, I would still continue to learn more math by taking additional classes at local universities. I already have all the math required for a bachelor's degree but i love learning as much math as possible.
After attending a community college for 2 years in getting my A.S. in engineering science i noticed that i learn much more efficiently there. The professors actually teach the material instead of just throwing it at you. I also feel that getting a hands on education will give me faster gradification for what i have learned. I have seen other students with tech certificates or associates degrees that really grasped the concepts in my engineering classes because they understood the importance of what they were learning (whereas I just blindly solved the textbook problems and exam problems with no real connection to what i was being taught). This really showed in our project based classes where hands on skilled students ruled over those of us that didn't have hands on skills.
Class sizes there are about a dozen students and the optics program is very closely associated with local industry and the laboratory for laser energetics at the University of Rochester.
My questions for you guys are:
1) Am i being a wuss for leaving the university?
2) Is a hands on tech degree the wrong way to go?
Thanks for all your input and let me know if you need any more information.