I'm not to sure if this is just some crazy phenomenon of mine, but I feel that my courses in ME are getting easier? Is this the case for Seniors and super Seniors taking ME courses. Is is supposed to get easier, or am I just fucking loony.

After my semester of Calc III, statics, statistics, Fortran, and physics 208, my courses seem to be getting easier.

Right now I'm taking diff eq 1, dynamics, solids, lab 305, and mse 200. And I actually have extra time to do shit during the week. Hope this doesn't change.

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12/9/2008 9:26:47 PM

done with weed out classes? idk

12/9/2008 9:29:37 PM

I guess so...maybe

12/9/2008 9:30:46 PM

fluids & thermo are what tend to get the MEs...

12/9/2008 9:41:14 PM

mse 200, diff eq, and 305 are very easy courses

12/9/2008 9:45:21 PM

just wait til you get to fluids and thermo...

12/10/2008 12:18:29 AM

I got them next semester...should be a piece of cake.

12/10/2008 2:04:02 AM

I'm graduating next week, but I will agree that you aren't out of the woods until you get through Fluids and the Thermos + Heat Transfer. Those should be your last weed out classes. Later on MAE412 combines your knowledge (and uses the exact same books throughout the semester) of Fluids, Thermo, and Heat Transfer. After that it gets slightly better, but it's not a cake walk either.

12/10/2008 2:07:49 AM

yeah you haven't even started the real stuff yet.

12/10/2008 2:11:38 AM

i mean, MSE 200 is almost impossible to not pull at least a B in. Theres no homework, there are very few (but easy) quizzes, and I'm pretty sure they still drop your lowest test grade. amirite? anyway, it's pretty much like you're taking 12 hours of classes...assuming you don't have a job, you should have plenty of free time during the week. i don't see the whole "wtf" about it.

12/10/2008 8:04:05 AM

I would consider nothing past freshman year as "weed out"

I would rather say that you as a student are growing to learn the principles and practices that you should be learning. gg.

12/10/2008 11:55:44 AM

Have fun in Thermo

12/10/2008 12:26:04 PM

Don't forget vibrations and controls...until now i still don't understand anything in these classes

12/10/2008 12:35:16 PM

your schedule looks pretty easy this semester. And for the record I thought fluids and thermo based classes were a lot easier than the other ME classes.

12/10/2008 1:01:31 PM

the most important thing i've learned in engineering is how to teach myself stuff. learning to learn is key.

sounds like you've done this.

[Edited on December 10, 2008 at 1:31 PM. Reason : also, those are some of the easier classes lol]

12/10/2008 1:30:40 PM

Quote :

"the most important thing i've learned in engineering is how to teach myself stuff. learning to learn is key."

that would be my biggest advice for anyone about to step out into the workforce.... I didnt have that mentality when i was doing an internship, and the difference now is night/day

12/10/2008 2:09:44 PM

I actually thought dynamics was easier than statics... I know weird.

It depends alot on the teacher, but i'm finishing up the 300 level courses this semester and the hardest so far have been vibrations and heat transfer.

12/10/2008 4:30:34 PM

looking back on my ME courses, none of them were really that difficult. maybe you're just getting smarter

12/10/2008 7:07:33 PM

^yep. getting good grades in ME isn't hard, just time consuming

12/10/2008 7:09:30 PM

^^^ solids 2 (316) was a lot lot harder than heat transfer (310) IMHO. heat transfer was one of the easiest MAE classes, basically slept through it and got an easy B.

12/10/2008 7:23:39 PM

wait til vibrations and controls rock your shit

12/11/2008 12:06:40 AM

Quote :

"It depends alot on the teacher"

and

Quote :

"yeah you haven't even started the real stuff yet."

12/11/2008 7:42:14 AM

in ECE, it definitely seemed like the 300 and 400 level classes were easier than the 200 levels

hell, even the 500, 600 and 700 levels aren't that bad (from the few i've experienced)

[Edited on December 11, 2008 at 2:00 PM. Reason : of course that probably has to do with finally being able to chose the classes i want to take]

12/11/2008 1:59:10 PM

I think I'm just getting smarter and learning to learn like what's been said.

12/11/2008 3:06:45 PM

Depends how much you cheat, apparently everyone is cheating now days and not learning shit.

12/11/2008 4:13:18 PM

I don't cheat, how do you fucking cheat on a test and feel good about yourself. I've grown up since high school

12/11/2008 4:24:36 PM

Apparently people use calculators, and study tests from peers that previously had the professor.

12/11/2008 5:42:53 PM

the easiest engineering classes i've had have all been 400 level

12/11/2008 5:46:48 PM

Quote :

"study tests from peers that previously had the professor"

this is not cheating

12/11/2008 6:58:52 PM

CHE got easier as soon as you got over the hump of junior year (thermo, transport, labs)

senior year (despite senior design) was much easier

12/11/2008 7:22:33 PM

^^ it's cheating if the professor does not explicitly state that you can use tests from previous semesters as a study aid.

perfect example of students not understanding what "cheating" means. integrity is hard to come by these days...

but that is a whole 'nuther thread.

12/11/2008 9:54:46 PM

Quote :

"I'm not to sure if this is just some crazy phenomenon of mine, but I feel that my courses in ME are getting easier? Is this the case for Seniors and super Seniors taking ME courses. Is is supposed to get easier, or am I just fucking loony."

you are an idiot; of course classes are getting 'easier'. While i'm sure the subject matter is come complex, or tough to comprehend. The classes themselves get easier as far as tests, help from professor, and work wise goes.

A lot of sophmore and junior classes are weedout. By senior year professors let us create cheat sheets, on several occasions i actually was allowed to turn in homeowrk late, and hell i even had a professor halfway do one of my projects for me b.c i kept coming to office hours having trouble with the material.

12/12/2008 9:24:29 PM

Quote :

"^^ it's cheating if the professor does not explicitly state that you can use tests from previous semesters as a study aid."

Actually no.

It is cheating only if the professor explicitly states that you can't use past tests as study aids.

12/13/2008 3:40:35 PM

It just seems like an unfair advantage to other students that do not use them or do not have access to them. If it was ok, I would think the professor would make them available to everyone.

12/13/2008 4:12:45 PM

Quote :

"It just seems like an unfair advantage to other students that do not use them or do not have access to them. If it was ok, I would think the professor would make them available to everyone."

whether or not i think using old tests is kosher is beside the point. but by that argument, using a TI-89 is an unfair advantage to other students who do not use them or do not have access to them. or being friends and/or study with the smartest students in the class is unfair to the rest of the people.

having a perfectly level playing field is never going to happen. some people are always going to be smarter, and some people are always going to study smarter

12/13/2008 4:44:26 PM

The ti-89 one is easy, just be like some professors and only permit the calculators approved on the FE exam. The ti-30 isn't too shabby.

12/13/2008 4:49:22 PM

Quote :

"Actually no. It is cheating only if the professor explicitly states that you can't use past tests as study aids."

not true. if the professor has not authorized the use of past tests as study aids, it is cheating. a lack of a statement on the use is not an assumed authorization. that's a dangerous assumption considering all professors are different.

if it's not stated and you aren't sure, just ask...

Hey Prof,

I have access to old tests from previous semesters. Can I use those to study for our exams?

the answer will either be yes or no. i have never had a professor refuse to answer that question. after i've gotten the answer, i've never had a problem getting the professor to announce it to the class so others would know.

like i said, it's a whole 'nuther thread.

12/13/2008 5:32:03 PM

Quote :

"It just seems like an unfair advantage to other students that do not use them or do not have access to them. If it was ok, I would think the professor would make them available to everyone."

just like at work in the real world, it's who you know and things aren't fair. get out of your academic fairy tale.

12/13/2008 5:44:40 PM

you are just learning how to beat the system know as college. Same happened with me. It's a good thing though.

12/14/2008 12:47:59 AM

Oh, you ME n00bs. Of course your courses are easier. ME is so spread out and needed. If you were in a major where the work force is shrinking (AE), then your classes will be harder as you go on, until the very last few classes.

12/14/2008 2:10:30 AM

12/14/2008 11:44:11 AM

^^stupid people that will have jobs.

12/14/2008 2:55:25 PM

I love my major(s).

12/14/2008 6:00:45 PM

you don't need the parenthesis there

I'm Big Business and i approved this message.

12/14/2008 10:14:12 PM

seems like your course load is easy as of now. Like everyone else has said wait till you get into vibrations and controls. It really does depend on your teacher, some grade MUCH easier then others. Boles is a great teacher (I think) for thermo however he is a dick with his grading. It get easier but then your final semesters wont be too bad. Most teachers understand that its just an asshole thing to do to fail a senior who is about to graduate.

12/15/2008 12:27:50 AM

Back on topic

Quote :

""It just seems like an unfair advantage to other students that do not use them or do not have access to them. If it was ok, I would think the professor would make them available to everyone.""

gaining access to old tests/useful information is a skill that that needs to be learned. You still have to comprehend the work done in it. Unless the prof gives the exact same test from year to year.

but that is a whole 'nuther thread.

12/17/2008 7:14:00 PM

I thought it gets easier, but that's only because the further along you go, the better your problem solving skills become. You look at a problem, the assumptions come to you easier, you have a good idea of what the answer should be before you start working the problem. Also the class sizes get smaller and study groups get established. I don't maybe that's just me.

12/24/2008 9:33:00 AM

senior year it goes from mundane crap to fun imho... thats the only reason it felt easy.

12/24/2008 10:38:03 AM

If you think engineering is easy, you're not doing it right.

12/24/2008 4:08:25 PM

Classes aren't getting easier, you're just getting better at taking classes.

12/26/2008 9:30:56 PM