Beginning of the end (college)

dinger wrote: Just wanted to add that even once you graduate, the dreams that you missed a final and failed the last class you needed to graduate, or wound up a credit short of graduation, don't stop. I've been out of school 8 years now and still have random dreams that I didn't pass my last semester.

Anyone who went past High School gets this dream! And it goes on for the rest of your life.

To the OP...

Life is full of paths, they all lead somewhere. I did an english degree wanting to become a lawyer and ended up as an Electrical Engineer ten years later working in the African oil-patch. This led to owning a brewery in London Ontario and that naturally segued into 5 years in robotic testing for the auto industry. Now ten years into a stint in research medical devices, I have to say that it has been a wonderful journey; much like hitting the road to just drive around for a few years rather than planning a fixed schedule vacation.

So what I am saying is that there is no answer. Do what makes you happy, and when you come to a fork in the road, take it...It always leads somewhere.

As much as the lure of money says "get a job", ask anyone who went to college (well, not a military academy) whether they would rush out and get a job, or just take it easy for another semester or two at school- I can tell you what I'd choose. Never again in your life will you have less responsibility, less stress, more freedom, and probably, likely, more happiness because you haven't crowded your life with the trappings of materialism... in other words... Mo' money, mo' problems.
I'm 17 years out of school, and earn more money than I deserve, have a great family, but man.... give me the opportunity to be early 20's with little money, no stuff, and no responsibilities....tough call!! Congrats anyway, and enjoy that last semester.

z31maniac wrote:

dinger wrote: Just wanted to add that even once you graduate, the dreams that you missed a final and failed the last class you needed to graduate, or wound up a credit short of graduation, don't stop. I've been out of school 8 years now and still have random dreams that I didn't pass my last semester.

9+ for me and I still have the occasional. "Now we have a test and I haven't been attending all semester" dream.

Woa. Thought I was the only one who had these dreams. I'd say once every six months or so.

captdownshift wrote: get a job that will pay for grad school, yes it will be hard to be motivated to go back, but student loans stink. I wouldn't have gone the PhD route right out of undergrad if I had gone then as well.

With the major I had, you got assistantships, which exempted you from tuition and gave you a small stipend to live on. It wasn't much then, but nowadays, a PhD assistantship pays pretty good. Some of my fondest memories were when a bunch of us married students were in grad school and not making squat.

captdownshift wrote: get a job that will pay for grad school, yes it will be hard to be motivated to go back, but student loans stink. I wouldn't have gone the PhD route right out of undergrad if I had gone then as well.

If you don't do what Duke said this is good advice too. I'm currently 2 years into my masters degree and my employer has picked up the tab on the entire thing. It takes a lot longer to finish but it'll save me 30k+. I'm lucky in that there are no strings attached to the education besides requiring a C to be reimbursed. Many companies will require that you stay for at least an extra year after you receive that degree. Might be worth asking in an interview if they offer education benefits and what their policies are.

It's also good to start before you have a house you are renovating, a project car, a significant other, and a baby. Just throwing that out there....

Here's my take. I got a degree that generally pays poorly; one that no one should ever go into debt paying for. I worked all through school, including a few years of retail management towards the end.

My first job after graduating didn't pay great,and I questioned my decision to continue work instead of pursuing grad school. Less than a year later, I expanded my search and more than doubled my salary, and thanks to work, I have seen the other three corners of the country that I never got around to seeing.

Whenever I think about grad school, I can't help but question its value proposition. Deferred wages and experience, student loans... Yes, many degrees pay stipends, but these degrees often lead to careers in research.

ScreaminE wrote: Aren't you an engineering major? Grad school is becoming almost a requirement for getting a job now.

I graduated almost 10 years ago, so my advice may be a little dated (Side Note: holy crap, I just realized I'm getting old.....let's call it "responsible adult" instead). I haven't found this to be true at all, and I have both changed jobs and participating in the hiring/screening of several candidates. Many science majors have fallen into the trap of "needing" grad school, but most of the broader engineering majors (Mechanical, Aero, etc.) have resisted. I'm grateful, as my experience is most new people coming on board with a company require so much training to be great at their job that there is no reason to saddle them with an additional 3 years of debt. Additionally, many companies will pay for you to go back to school if needed. If you have a research fellowship or grad program that waives tuition and pays you a stipend, then I'd definitely consider it vs. your job options, but no way would I go (further, if applicable) into debt to pay for engineering grad school.

Take full advantage of the fact that your life is simple (few material possessions, no family, HUGE freedom), this is one of the only times this will be the case. Travel, take the exciting job in a place you've never been, try and find out what you want to spend your time doing, what you want to enjoy, and who you enjoy doing it with. If you bugger it all up, there WILL be other opportunities and second chances, there always are. Don't be afraid to go after the big dream.

What kind of engineer are you? I just checked my company's listings and we have entry level openings in civil, environmental, geotechnical, mechanical, and structural engineering.

Teh E36 M3 wrote: ...ask anyone who went to college whether they would rush out and get a job, or just take it easy for another semester or two at school- I can tell you what I'd choose. Never again in your life will you have less responsibility, less stress, more freedom, and probably, likely, more happiness because you haven't crowded your life with the trappings of materialism...

So much this. As an engineer you probably have one of the easiest job hunts around. You might not get offers for big money, but you'll get offers anywhere you go. The only other field doing that right now is the medical sciences.

I took 7 years to complete a bachelors in a field that's relatively obscure (geography) and by the time I graduated I was eager to make "real" money. Now I'm 6 years out and I'm wishing I would have spent a year traveling.

Mitchell wrote: Whenever I think about grad school, I can't help but question its value proposition.

Some careers require it, some don't. Mine did. It's not necessarily a value-add in itself, but it may be a requirement.

stuart in mn wrote: What kind of engineer are you? I just checked my company's listings and we have entry level openings in civil, environmental, geotechnical, mechanical, and structural engineering.

Mechanical

And I am moving on towards a more planning and advice thread here. Looking for resume review or maybe you want to give my resume to your boss and also individuals experience in different sectors of mechanical engineering.

One other thing to consider, it may be a great time to take a break and travel, volunteer, work crew for a race team, fight Ebola, whatever floats your boat. Once the career starts, responsibilities grow (pets, mortgage, relationships, kids) and that window closes.

This thread is relevant to my interests. I'm just a second semester junior in college with no desire to go get my masters. I'm a biomedical engineer for what it's worth.

I do not want to do research and design, something I realized midway through my last semester. I'm now taking some entrepreneurship and information technology management classes. I plan on taking more management and project management classes my senior year. My dream, maybe just a pipe dream, is to get a engineering management job in some firm, which will later send me back to school so I can get a masters in operations management, supply chain management, etc. How realistic is this? I'm finding it near impossible to get an internship with a engineering management focus rather than just a R&D internship.

Quite a number of big companies like to hire new engineers into rotational programs which are geared towards cultivating future managers so it is not unrealistic to find yourself in engineering management. Those big companies will probably also pay for you to get a masters concurrently while working. I think it would be tough to find a internship with management focus in engineering but I don't know. Internships aren't long enough. Have you thought about doing a co-op? Longer internships lead to more responsibilities

Edit: You are also fighting an uphill battle because bioengineering is almost entirely R&D isn't it? It is a pretty new field and constantly changing

Agreed with above - I know GE has an EDP setup, and so does Siemens. My brother did one with Abbott.

Most of the bio engineers I know became surgeons.