How tough is the math?

Hi,

I'm 24 years old and reside in Southern Nevada. For the last few months, I've been considering going back to school to become a civil engineer.

After I finished HS, I attended a state university for two semesters and was put on academic suspension due to a misspent youth and working too many hours. I later went to a trade school and became an HVAC technician. I've been doing that for the last few years, but I'm fed up with the low pay for the amount of work involved. I don't find it exciting anymore.

With regards to civil engineering, the only thing I am a bit concerned about is the math. I went to a technical high school and took 4 years of math and science. All the classes at this school were honors level courses, and I took Calculus 1 my senior year. However, I barely got by and found it a little too challenging.

Compared to the other engineering professions (electrical, mechanical), is civil engineering more rigorous?

I'm more focused now than ever and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get this degree. I was thinking of attending a community college in order to get a AS in Pre-Engineering and then transferring to UNLV for a BSCE.

Any input on the math would be greatly appreciated.

EASY!!!

JR 1985 in Las Vegas, Nevada said: Hi,

I'm 24 years old and reside in Southern Nevada. For the last few months, I've been considering going back to school to become a civil engineer.

After I finished HS, I attended a state university for two semesters and was put on academic suspension due to a misspent youth and working too many hours. I later went to a trade school and became an HVAC technician. I've been doing that for the last few years, but I'm fed up with the low pay for the amount of work involved. I don't find it exciting anymore.

With regards to civil engineering, the only thing I am a bit concerned about is the math. I went to a technical high school and took 4 years of math and science. All the classes at this school were honors level courses, and I took Calculus 1 my senior year. However, I barely got by and found it a little too challenging.

Compared to the other engineering professions (electrical, mechanical), is civil engineering more rigorous?

I'm more focused now than ever and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get this degree. I was thinking of attending a community college in order to get a AS in Pre-Engineering and then transferring to UNLV for a BSCE.

Any input on the math would be greatly appreciated.

My son just graduated from UMMS as a civil engineer and the math is extremly difficult. There are other components of the course that are just as difficult.

I had a VERY similar experience right out of high school, almost exactly. I too had worked a low paying job for several years, until I was fed up and decided to return to school to pursue civil engineering. After the horrible experience at university I was semi-reluctant to get back into school, but enrolled at the local community college. I have just recently completed all of my basics (including calc I & II!) and am now back at the university, with a completely revitalized outlook! I must recommend going to community college first to get your basics completed. The student teacher ratio is usually MUCH better than the lower level classes at a university, and the cost is significantly less! What I found made a HUGE difference--is the fact that I now really want to get the degree. The first go round at college, I didn't want it bad enough! After working several years at a very hard low paying job (and seeing other older guys who were not making much more than I, AND supporting families), I now know that I never want to go through that again! Yes the math is hard, but use all the outside resources you can find! Take advantage of the community college's tutor lab, and look on amazon.com or the library for helpful books on understanding the theories behind math. (I found a ton of great used books with good reviews on amazon.com) I was horrible in math, in fact I hadn't even taken math in my senior year of high school so it took a LOT of extracurricular studying!

Bottom line is, if you truly want it bad enough, you can achieve it! Sometimes it is just a lot more studying than you really want! There are also many nights when by buddies are out on the town, and I am at home studying. Though I know it will pay off in the long run, and the semesters are actually going by pretty quickly!!

I also want to recommend the book "How to Become a Straight-A Student" by Cal Newport. This book REALLY has some great tips that helped me out.

Good Luck!!

I graduate from an ABET accredited school (LSU) in May of 08. My REQUIRED math courses were Calc 1 - 3, differential equations, experimental statistics, etc. But be warned, you're upper level CE classes will require the application of differential equations.

Look, I'm not going to say that the math is easy but, if you have the WILL to get your diploma, then it shouldn't be a problem at all.

You'll need to study though, and I mean study A LOT.

Some students complain of how hard the math is but they don't do any effort... You won't get good grades if you don't study... If you study and understand the key points, techniques, or whatever your teacher is talking about then you're good to go.

Best of luck.

Civil Engineering is by far the easiest engineering course. But that doesn't necessarily make it easy. I kind of followed the same path as you. I had full ride scholarship out of high school screwed up and found myself serving 5 years in the Marines. After I got out I was behind but had the advantage of maturity and after I caught up I surpassed most of my younger peers. I cruised through the CE program at Cal Poly Pomona with the only challenges coming from the three of the four Mechanical Engineering courses we have to take(dynamics, hydraulics and thermodynamics). Right now I'm getting my Masters in CE Transportation from Cal Poly Pomona. If you want it and you were an above average student in High School you can do it. It just comes down to desire because the first year will be very tough.

BTW
I took Calc I before I found myself in the marines. When I got out and went back to college they made me take Calc II. Hardest thing I have ever done in my life(We dont do alot of math in the marines haha). But once I passed with an A- the rest was a cakewalk because I knew if I could overcome that there was no way I wouldn't pass. Good luck and go after what you want. Do that and you will go far!

Also, once you get passed the GE math requirements everything else is a breeze (except the mechanical courses).

Don't quit your job unless you have to because the market for civil engineers is weak right now. By the time you graduate it will be much better. When I first started grads were getting hired for 60k+ and they weren't even cream of the crop. Plus the benefits are normally great. My friend in Grad school didn't have a job and got hired a couple weeks ago for 44k which is highway robbery. But it is tough for a lot right now.

Yamil in Miami, make contacts with and send resumes to large engineering companies. look in ENR magazine for the top companies. they will hire for diversity, and usually require hydraulic engineers for all the large jobs. Use Linked In website to join engineering groups, contact people, and provide your resume. Maybe even enroll in a community college for little fees, and use their job placement services. you can even join a professional group like ASCE and go to their monthly meetings to meet peers.

Im very greateful for your answer, because although i dont haved homologation for may bacheloors degree, even i which began working in my field.If somebady or you can helpme more im more grateful even. Thanks a lot
Yamil

It really depends on where you study and the level of qualification you have. I studied for my bachelor degree in Ireland, then went to Stanford in the US for my masters and completed my Phd in MIT. I now lecture in civil engineering and I definitely think if you want to pursue a good degree in a good university, then yes, you need to be very competent at mathematics. Of course there are some colleges which offer lesser courses and these would not be as difficult to get through. My advice is that if you are not good at maths, stay away from engineering. And whoever posted earlier saying that civil engineering is the 'easiest' of the engineering courses clearly has not got a clue what he is talking about-what absolute rubbish talk!

Im in the exact same position i was thinking bout becoming a hvac technicion but i want to be some better and im going to start going to community college. The math ive been told is difficult but i really want to do this. Im more motivated now then ever

Hello my name is Charles I know this is an off topic here and brushing up on my math for Hvac because it's needed right away in the field and I would like to get to gather and certainly meet with like minded people as myself who are willing, self~motivated and even dedicated to landing the Right Job in the HVAC Field that they went to Tech School for.

I want to meet with people in the Philadelphia or NJ area and get to exchange knowledge and skills of HVAC and coming together to contribute in helping out one another in developing positive Skills, Knowledge, and Learning more into HVAC for better field preparations because most employers expect you to be more than ready to do the work without any apprenticeship. they want people that have 3 years experience at minimal that can't get that because of the way is.

I want to help bring like mind people together in this field for HVAC to help one another in developing themselves for learning and encouragements of better skills that can be carried into the field right away. As well as helping and learning better resume and profile layouts to share with each other.

I am looking for people and friends in this as I am a person with ambition and a total willingness to learn and help in the same in this search and have with over 20 years experience since being 10 and under in the disassembling and reassembling of electronic appliances.

I been self tout and have developed great troubleshooting skills as a trait that I found applies to all general things in life not just electronics itself and would like to apply my traits and skills into HVAC and helping others for that reason to add on as a contribute to skills.

I want to hear back from motivated people that are like minded in developing themselves for the right HVAC job.

My Email is: cremensnyder @ y a h o o . c o m
www.linkedin.com/in/cremensnyder

I want to hear back from motivated people or people that want to acheive the same goal, getting into the field of HVAC and really want to meet with like minded people in developing themselves for the right HVAC job that they want.

Please email me anytime and we can talk a place to meet at,
My Email is: cremensnyder @ y a h o o . c o m
www.linkedin.com/in/cremensnyder

Charles Remensnyder
4548 East Stiles Street
Philadelphia, PA 19124

I was worried about the same thing as im going for a civil engineering degree. I thought the math might be more than i could handle, but community colleges are great for making math alot easier. I just recommend going to RATEMYPROFFESER, that way you can find the teacher and see if he/she is a good math teacher. Hope this helps and good luck.