I went to the math department and asked them to change me out of engineering and into statistics and drop physics. oh yeah i'm so excited to work on nuts and bolts and bearings and optimize manufacturing processes for the rest of my life like wtf. Well, you are NOT alone. Your already halfway through the bullshit. There must be a niche for technically minded statisticians? The study found that only 17 percent of women left engineering because of caregiving reasons, which Fouad said dispels the notion that pregnancy plays a big part in keeping women out. Dropping out of uni has A LOT of negative stigmas attached to it. Truth be told, I'm still finding out whether it was a good decision. I was 3 years into a psych degree before I realized that engineering sounded way more interesting. I have an internship lined up for next summer if I can get my first exam in December which I should be able to because I want to. Just had what I feel is the worst test I've ever done (and I've done a lot of bad tests) which means yet another resit to do. I say forced as in I was given all kind of stuff to be able to explore mechanical works, electrical works, etc. Below, we help you answer that question and offer some tips on what to do after dropping out of college. I'm finally happy and have a future I look forward too. Everybody is obsessed with data and need statisticians to figure it all out and find what it means. I could take an extra year to complete my degree but, to be honest, it would pain me a lot to stay in my current location for yet another year and I would be 24 by the time I complete my degree so I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. Interpersonal Issues. The institutions we have built to prop us up seem mostly to hold creative and forward thinking people back. I got my acceptance letter and found out I was even directly admitted into a nursing program at one of the best schools in Indiana. New research shows that engineering actually does not have a higher drop-out rate than any other field of study, but it does show that very few people drop into the field in the first place. As in, I had finished all of my courses where science, physics, and math concepts are taught. Thinking about dropping out of Mechanical Engineering - need advice. While we believe college is still worth the cost, there are some real reasons that making dropping out of college a smart move. This has been my experience as well. According to the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), students leave because they see it as “a learning environment that fails to motivate them and is unwelcoming.” So the ASEE retention project asked schools what they are doing to improve the perception. If you are asking me for advice on whether you should drop out you probably don’t meet all of those points. I had no drive to do well in school because I didn't really care about my degree or the work I was doing. Thanks for reading. People need to understand that you should be in engineering for the right reasons and just because you switch out doesn't mean you're a failure. That semester was the worst semester I've ever had. I got a masters in something peripheral to engineering (Human Factors) and it didn't satisfy the itch. You're not the first person to think about doing it, and you definitely won't be the last. I don't know if that makes me and my friends smug asses but that's the general consensus I see. a) you wrote a paper independently, with your previous advisor's blessing. %30-40 Its not uncommon to see a student taking a class for a second time. The jobs all sounds sinfully boring though. I hope your vocation for stat carries you through the hard work ahead. My plan is to go back to school (probably for 4 years) and get a degree in something unrelated, but something which I have been interested in as early as I can remember. I was forced into engineering my entire life. ... Archived. College is great, but it is slow and routine. 1st year medical school is the easiest it'll ever be. I am taking mechanical courses and project engineering courses which I hope will set me up for sales engineering or something similar where I'm not in an office/lab all day every day. I loved helping my dad work on ACs because it was cool. *Smiles* Just trying to be funny. I love the creativity of design and the math to make it all work. We only are in this major because it's the "safe" route in college for us and we think business school is too easy to be proud of. Got the chance. This morning I spoke with a colleague who was an Industrial Engineering major and just changed her major to Hospitality Management. Wondering if dropping out of college is the right thing to do? No I don’t regret it because I was getting nowhere with my studies. bschoolwiz 287 replies 64 threads Member. I've never experienced something like this with engineering. I found out that engineering would be the death of me during my mandatory co-ops. But more could be. After my first year of college I felt mostly the same way. Not everyone is cut out for engineering. I spent a lot of time sorting out my mental health before college and trust me, its worth it. That was brave of you, a lot of people aren't able to make a decision like that. The work can really fuck with my mentality sometimes. There's literally nothing I really actually want to study besides acting and singing. Everyone in my family took that as I would be an engineer. Maybe you aren’t starting a business. If you're feeling stressed now, imagine how it's going to be later on. Props! I hope you can find something that makes you want to get it done! -_-. You have to go through just as much no matter the direction, so you may as well stay. Engineering is a tough degree, I have seen quite a few people drop out of CS and EE degrees in the last 4 years. You are not alone. Thinking about dropping out of Mechanical Engineering - need advice. I am a nursing school drop-out and I couldn't be happier. Your parents also spend a lot for your preparation and admissin in the engineering college. Much like my first degree, ME was the best I could come up with so I stuck it out. I guess what has been keeping me in is that I want to prove to myself that this is something I can do, instead of it being something I want to do. This blog reveals what high school students should consider when deciding whether to pursue a major and career in engineering. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I just graduated. It’s almost always that the students find it easier to leave engineering than to go to engineering. I've never experienced something like this with engineering. Having finished those courses tho, I am so thankful that I stuck it out through junior year. Props bro. They say college is about discovering yourself and I guess I did. It all started when this crippling thought I’m sure every artist has experienced at one point or another, entered my head and refused to leave. An engineering degree is a very versatile thing to have. This sounds like how I felt EXACTLY about MechE. Best of luck in it! Hell, take a year off. I was sort of the opposite. I took a basic Vehicle Operator job with Uber’s self-driving group but it pays much less. The outlook for high school dropouts is considerably more bleak than for teens who finish their education. Recently I dropped out of art school, which is more or less the best decision I’ve ever made. People seem to get burnt early during the degree. You gotta give your full potential or interest to clear it. I can relate. Around 30% of students drop out during their first year and 56% of students drop out by year six. Dropping out of uni isn't the end of the world. I'm glad you found a new major that you actually like! Floating is a great word to explain my senior year of high school and freshmen year of college. And statistics is a fucking fantastic major. thinking of dropping out. If you're disliking classes like JF/SF physics enough to drop them imo you could safely say that mechanical engineering isn't for you, New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, More posts from the EngineeringStudents community, Continue browsing in r/EngineeringStudents. And yes this is the right place for the post. At first glance, dropping out of school is a terrible idea. It makes me question if I'm in the right major. If I drop out by the end of this semester, I will be 40k in debt. The question for me is not only if dropping out of college is correct. - Honestly the initial years of the program are quite boring, this is a huge de-motivator. Therefore, I'm on the verge of dropping out but, of course, without a degree, there's really not much you can do besides working in a supermarket. Look, when it comes down to it, you need to take care of yourself first. EDIT 1: I hope this helps. I was sitting in physics and I decided I didn't want to do it anymore. And if you don’t meet those criteria, I insist that you not drop out. Hey everyone, I am currently a mechanical engineering student in my second year but things have not been going well. I learned that I did not love the physics, the fluids, the actual application of the theory to these projects. No joke, by now they should just hand you a pile of money to go along with your stats degree. I'm going to agree with the others here that are saying that dropping out is probably a bad idea (for most of the reasons they've mentioned). We always welcome people from other undergrad backgrounds into the field. Study hard for getting a position in the merit list. Take a semester off. I can't imagine being stuck doing a purely engineering role, I think it would be absolutely draining. :). Evenmoreso now, I recognize the options and potential I have for having struggled through those classes. If you're thinking about dropping out of medical school in your first year, I highly suggest you do so. But I later learned that, that is all I love. When I broke the news, apart from the immediate surprise, I could sense they were overwhelmingly worried about my decision. Engineering is an difficult course if you are into it forcibly. This is a place for engineering students of any discipline to discuss study methods, get homework help, get job search advice, and find a compassionate ear when you get a 40% on your midterm after studying all night. Dropping out of Engineering. Iain Ross from Queen Margaret University says he was on the verge of dropping out but asking for the university’s help gave him the encouragement and … I just finished my first semester in my new major with all As and Bs. With so many super successful entrepreneurs (think Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg) having dropped out of college before they get a degree, I can see why you are having these thoughts.. I just finished my sophomore year and am going into my junior. I'm really finding it difficult to decide what to do. Thinking about dropping out of Mechanical Engineering - need advice. You can get many jobs with an engineering degree that you wouldn't think of. I'm really not very interested in any of the classes quite honestly.. May have failed fluids for the semester too. I’m thinking about returning to an engineering career but I didn’t really gain much in the way of transferable skills at Intel and I’m usually getting screened out by HR for entry level engineering jobs because they say I graduated too long ago. Another common reason could be the financial instability, but the prevailing reason of the dropouts, as mentioned earlier, are that they no longer find it interesting to study engineering. I changed my major 3 times and my minor once and I still had no idea what I wanted to do career-wise. While I'm not dropping out (it's my final year, after all), I was expecting a first/high 2.1 after second year but I really don't see that happening now Most others I know are struggling well, be it mental health, finances or feeling lonely. Once I graduated I didn't feel like I was ready to start working so I continued straight into grad school. I am taking 15 credits, 3 of them are lab classes, so my schedule seems pretty packed to me. - Most teachers don't seem to … ... Had my advisor not handed over my work to this visiting postdoc I would tell he/she about them, so here I am asking in reddit. I just finished my first semester in my new major with all As and Bs. I loved the puzzles in it all. I haven't been too interested in what I'm learning and I don't get excited for the material. Not to say those classes aren't hard but you didn't give it a chance really. Long Answer: TBH, i think it all depends on him whether or not engineering will be a nightmare. This realization was an intense relief as I had a horrible time the last two years struggling through the minutiae and repetition of the science and math courses. 2. My point is, good on you for making a change. Talk to your advisor. Why do birds fly? You select engineering as your career. I have motivation, dedication, a drive again. Hopefully I can "find myself" junior year. I feel like among all my engineering friends, none of us actually want to be engineers. What did you change majors into if you don't mind me asking? That said, we can either wait for things to happen or fight to make our dreams and vision come true. Press J to jump to the feed. The tasks were different, but the setting and human exposure was the same. A friend at the time listened to all my grievances and he's the one who suggested I talk to an advisor about AS. I apologize if this isn't the right place but I really want to talk about it. ending five medical schools in 2006 and 2007 (prospective cohort) and included two additional medical schools in 2007 (cross-sectional cohort). Maybe you are two years in yet still uncertain about what you want to study. I have never been in love with engineering but I wanted a stable future so I stuck with it. Doctor here. I never really was engaged except in AP Statistics. My remaining courseload for senior year is all application of theories we have learned. Physics 2 is the one I dropped and I'm starting Cal 3 pretty soon for a summer class. I was actually beginning to feel like I have some sort of knowledge of engineering but these recent results have shown I really don't and I'm struggling beyond reasonable measure. Dropping out of college and having debt and no degree and working a job you don't like. Dropping out doesn’t have to be a negative decision. January 2014 edited January 2014 in Engineering Majors. Thinking about dropping a class Had a really rough exam today in one of my engineering classes, which is honestly why I am entertaining the thought. Flickr / Sarah Joy. Close. Honestly, it sounds like it may not be the right time for you to be in college. As of late, I noticed I'm kind of just floating along. Every job was very different from the last, except for the whole "work in a cubicle" thing. Or anyone who was about to drop out but turned it around perhaps? Engineering research can always use someone with a technical mind and a good foundation in statistics. My goal in life was to become a nurse and my last year of high school this dream became a reality. If you dropped physics then it sounds like you didn't get very far into an engineering degree. In fact, I hated it. If there are any drop-outs here can you explain what you did post-drop-out? It was horrible, and I hated it the majority of the time, thought about quitting daily and had a couple near mental breakdowns. I decided that rather than dropping out of college I would just talk with the school administrators and work out a way to take a year off instead. As I walked out of final exam this semester I realized that I was 'finished' learning. That semester was the worst semester I've ever had. “Dropping out of university was the best thing I've ever done, although at the time it felt like the absolute worst,” she says. The truth is, the phrase "self-employed" is not uttered lightly among our family, while dropping out of college is strictly forbidden. Stick it out. Actuarial Science so Major Stats and Minor Finance. Because they are meant to. I loved helping my dad work on ACs because it was cool. My professor stepped out to take a phone call and I packed up my stuff and left. The survey included questions about thoughts of dropping out, life events in the previous 12 months, and validated instruments evaluating burnout, depression symptoms, and quality of life (QOL). But at the same time I didn't want a business degree because I wouldn't have felt challenged and would slack off. For TSR member starkbe, it was a chance to choose a new direction. It's pretty rough pushing through something you don't like. I'm almost done with my sophomore year, just finished calc 3 and physics 2. Short Answer: Some of the classes I have been in have had moderately high drop out rates. I just finished jr year of an engineering degree. First of all, no, dropping out would not make you a failure. Let's get one thing straight. I just really need some sort of advice. I have motivation, dedication, a drive again. It’s easier to transfer out … I am currently a mechanical engineering student in my second year but things have not been going well. I stuck with it because it didn't seem practice to switch so late in the game. I went to the math department and asked them to change me out of engineering and into statistics and drop physics. 'Re not the first person to think about doing it, and you definitely n't. Thinking about dropping out of medical school is the right place for the material rest of the keyboard shortcuts hold... The right place for the whole `` work in a cubicle ''.! 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A very versatile thing to do whether it was a good decision freshmen year of high school freshmen.