NationStates Jolt Archive

Okay, so I'm a high school jr. who's looking at going into engineering...as I looked over the 1st-year requirements at a school like LaFayette (Calc I, Chem, First-Year Engineering Seminar, and an Engineering course who's name eludes me), I noticed that United States History and English were conspicuously absent on most of the required courses lists for that university if I go engineering.

So now I have reached a predicament: do I want to skip the AP US History Exam? The same goes for English (both Brit and World Lit) as well; it's starting to look like I'm only gonna take APs in BC Calc (so I can skip over Calc I), Econ (Business minor), and French (will continue to learn it thru college).

So anybody who's majored/will major in engineering, your advice is requested.

I'm a recent UK engineering graduate, but I will give you my advice - keep the English class. Believe me, a bit of extra fluency in your writing will go a long way. Even though it may not be a requirement, it is really useful stuff, don't drop it. Remember, education is not about satisfying the system's minimum requirements, it is about learning something of value to yourself. And you will need English.

The US History though is most likely going to be a waste of time.

Well I major in CS, not engineering, but in my ever so humble opinion...you should still go for the other AP tests as well, if you think you can handle it. Most people change their majors throughout college, so you never know if you'll suddenly end up in a department that requires those classes. Plus, free credits! Yay!

I'm planning on majoring in financial economics (that doesn't make me boring), but I plan on taking the AP US exam. History contains all elements, especially writing. I think it would be permissable to take the exam. If you get some credit, that's excellent, if not then no harm done.

I would suggest that you pursue any educational opportunity that you can get. US history would give you better perspective on politics and things of that nature which you as a citizen could use knowing in order to vote and things like that. The English is useful in case your program actually does end up needing English as part of a core or just simply to improve your writing ability. I suggest taking it for the practice and to make yourself a stronger student.

I do think that LaFayette requires an english course in college though (Eng 110. College Writing) most schools require US history and English anyway. Oh, and don't take lit if you hate literature.... unless absolutely necessary. I am taking AP lit right now and I hate literature and I really wish I could have only taken AP english language.

Hmm... are you planning on going to Lafayette for your degree or what schools are you looking at?

Here at Georgia Tech, "humanities" courses are required eventually. You decide when and which ones to take.

So the 3 free credits you get for history if you get a 4+ on the AP exam will be totally worth it.

I'm thinking it will be similiar at other engineering schools.

What type of Engineering are you looking to go into?

I was a EE major, my advice is take the AP exams. At the very least it gives you some elective credit that you can use to take a lighter load one semester if your engineering classes get too intense.

Plus you never know if you're going to end up wanting to minor in a humanities field. I didn't plan it when I started, but I ended up with a minor in History. Having already taken those extra classes can come in handy.

Your most likely going to be required to take at least tw o history/government/poly sci classes as well as at least 2 english classes in order to recieve your degree. Take the Ap's and get them out of the way and then you won't have to worry about filling them into your schedual when your in college.

Drop college and get a job in construction or something. Learn by doing and work your way up from there.

Well, the general advice I've received is this:
*Study a lot. Anything that gives an extra edge. Languages. Different fields within the discipline. Culture.
*Study as many different things as possible, since even though you'll become an engineer, even engineers still work with people and ultimately serve the customers.
*Graduate "quick and dirty", but graduate. Don't buy this "school is just useless" crap. There are some very few people who have so much natural ability they can do without the diploma, but there's a 97.4% chance you're not one of them. Yes, Bill Gates is a dropout. But are you Bill Gates?

The thing is, that you don't want to exclude anything. In India and China, there are engineers with just as much ground in engineering as you, but they're willing to do the job if they get a TV instead of a radio to their living room. The engineering knowledge is just a "passport", but you need it as a starting point. From then on, nothing helps but general education.

(Or so Jari Sarasvuo says.)

Well, to you I'm probably ANCIENT at 33! Anyway, I got my degree in Chemical Engineering more than 10 years ago, and here are my thoughts based on my experience since then.

First of all, I got a minor in Psychology while I was in college. I found it to be really useful at the time as a GPA booster (which helped to balance out those not so great grades I got in the weed-out classes in Freshman and Sophomore years), and it's come in super-handy in the real world. People are quite impressed that I'm more than "just a geek" and actually possess some modicom of social skills. LOL!

Also, getting a degree in engineering is one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. Just to keep my own sanity, I wanted to keep up with things that had nothing to do with it. In school it has a terrible way of sucking you in and leaving room for nothing else, so I think it's important to set yourself up for some other course of study. Several people I know have found that combining engineering with a graduate degree or certificate program in business or writing have done wonders for their careers.

And my last point would be that when schools look to accept you into their program, they're looking for someone who's very well-rounded. If you only do AP work in math and science classes, you're showing focus in your intended field, but it's also a sign that you may not be that diversely gifted, and innovative thinker that they'd like to invite to their campus.

Hope that helps...