Does It Suck To Be An Engineering Student?

Pickens writes "Aaron Rower has an interesting post on Wired with the "Top 5 Reasons it Sucks to be an Engineering Student" that includes awful textbooks, professors who are rarely encouraging, the dearth of quality counseling, and every assignment feels the same. Our favorite is that other disciplines have inflated grades. "Brilliant engineering students may earn surprisingly low grades while slackers in other departments score straight As for writing book reports and throwing together papers about their favorite zombie films," writes Rower. "Many of the brightest students may struggle while mediocre scholars can earn top scores." For many students, earning a degree in engineering is less than enjoyable and far from what they expected. If you want to complain about your education, this is your chance."

hate to break it to ya

[techpawn]

"Many of the brightest students may struggle while mediocre scholars can earn top scores." For many students, earning a degree in engineering is less than enjoyable and far from what they expected. If you want to complain about your education, this is your chance."

That's true in school and real life kid. I'd like to tell you life is fair... But then I'd be lying and in a management position.

I thought it was due to the lack of women?

[ksheff]

I mean the "Sex Kills! Go To Tech and Live Forever!" bumper stickers weren't created just because they were catchy.

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[account_deleted]

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Let me fix that for you

[DJ Jones]

#6: It doesn't get you laid.

You're in college to learn. Get over it.

Re:I thought it was due to the lack of women?

[thatskinnyguy]

I kid you not, an engineering student said the following quote that absolutely dumbfounded me and all who heard it. It was not a shock to anyone that he flunked-out.

"You know why we need more women in engineering? Because women are hot. The End."

He now flips burgers for a living.

Re:Let me fix that for you

[Rebel_lord]

Lemme fix that for you

#6: It doesn't get you laid yet.

Money might not buy you love but it sure can sex :)

Re:The worst of all... I never learned to READ!

[Fulcrum of Evil]

5 years ago called. Apparently you left your jacket at their house.

Re:hmm

[realisticradical]

I think the only majors with a higher general opinion of themselves are philosophy majors.

Now that all depends on how we define one's ability to form a general opinion. For more information read my paper for Philosophy 416, "Our ability to form opinions, real or not." It's clearly an excellent paper, I got an A++++. I'm right because I'm smarter than you are, I have a 4.83 GPA.

How about hiring them?

[glueball]

New Topic:
Top 5 reasons it sucks to hire the new crop of engineering students:
5.) They expect the Statement of work you're asking for completion to be colorful, fun, and well written.
4.) They can relate how their professor who cave them a B- is soooo much better at solving problems than you.
3.) They are convinced working as a TA is real work.
2.) Untraining the bad habits. I block instant messaging for a reason.
1.) They want me to vote for Obama and incessantly drone on about how horrible life is in the US.

Re:You are Freaken Arrogant!

[Anonymous Coward]

How's that hangover?

Re:Let me fix that for you

[Rebel_lord]

Maybe it doesn't get you laid. My mojo had a better uptime than my workstation...

Either you use Viagra or Windows ME. I don't think I want to know ...

#1 Reason

[stronggate]

No girls... Please do not mod this funny, because it's not :(

Re:So lets see...

[jandrese]

Wow, that is some violent agreement there. I think I still have the bruises.

Re:The worst of all... I never learned to READ!

[Iffy Bonzoolie]

The jerk store called, they're running out of YOU!

-If

Re:hate to break it to ya

[techpawn]

We need to learn that marketing is not a four-letter word.

marketing? I count 9 letters... not 4

Re:Bologna.

[Naughty Bob]

The number of times I walk into a restaurant/office/wherever and see a Rothko hanging upside down.

When I was Math Grad Teaching Assistant

[DaveAtFraud]

My first joke when I walked into a new class was, "You're in luck. I speak English." Lots of people laughed but not because what I said was funny.

Cheers,
Dave

Upside down?

[iknownuttin]

The number of times I walk into a restaurant/office/wherever and see a Rothko hanging upside down.

You can hang a Rothko upside down?

Re:Bologna.

[russotto]

Assuming you're an engineer, you've probably proven one of the article's points -- despite a lack of any art education you managed to produce a quite acceptable piece of extemporaneous performance art. At a famous NY museum, no less. Most artists go their entire career without a NY museum show -- maybe you picked the wrong career :-)

Re:NO IT DOES NOT

[rucs_hack]

Hint: Your engineering professor who wrote the book slept through is English Lit. class.

That's interesting, a girl I knew got through a second year english lit course by sleeping with her lecturer.

And?

[HappyEngineer]

I'm not sure what your point is. I loved Primer.

Re:You're missing the point

[Chris Mattern]

A kid smearing finger-paint has no boundaries (literally--ask any mother about all the places the paint gets to), works quickly, and does it with ease and joy, exploring very basic aspects of vision. I propose we populate modern art galleries with children's finger paintings instead of having to pay ridiculous sums to all these grown-ups doing finger painting.

Re:You are Freaken Arrogant!

[el americano]

...every Java-mangling halfwit could also make Titanic.

They probably couldn't make great art, but I think they could certainly make Titanic.

Re:in my experience...

[megaditto]

What's to explain? Just go Yeah, bring out the hot chicks 'cause I am a hot stud.

Re:Bullcrap!

[Cro Magnon]

Complaining about how engineering is hard work is like someone studying to be a proctologist and coming home from the first day at work and complaining about all the assholes

What REALLY sucks is when you're complaining about all the assholes and you're NOT a proctologist!

There's more to a job than money....

[raehl]

For a good number of girls in university, they'd probably maximise their income by forgetting about education and be prostitutes and pornographic actors (what was that Eliot Spitzer prostitute making, $5000/hour?

Upside: $5,000/hr.

Downside: Have to screw Eliot Spitzer

Challenge: Have to convince Eliot Spitzer that you enjoyed it.