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So I'm doing Engineering and I had a terrible first year. The first semester was ok, with just one bad grade sand the rest were satisfactory. I thought to myself I will study a lot harder for the second half of the year. I was wrong 
But it's terrible right now. I really think Engineering isn't for me anymore and am seriously considering e-mailing my Dean and telling him I want to drop classes. The problem is, I would probably go into the Arts&Sciences school program, but I want to have a general idea of what classes I should do (that would relate to a major I am interested in) rather than a bunch of random classes.
I thought that I would have done better in the second semester considering I put in a lot more effort, but this made me realize that I am not suited with Engineering at all imo.
My grades pretty much dropped like crazy because of this semester and I may even be considered for dismissal
What should I do if I get dismissed? Community college? If not, I was considering doing pre-business or something. I'm so lost right now ><
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i'm certain your university has academic advisors that can help you out ^_^
if you're not suited for it, switch. not a big deal, many people switch (some change several times)
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Advertising! it's an art and science.
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there some learning curves in engineering courses. math, physics and electronic classes are definitely not ABC straight forward.
If you can retake the class over will you get A-B's? Do you still desire to be an engineer regarding the grades? If so, don't switch major yet.
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Just chill out for a week or so and think about this again. Just do what you really like.
Yes, many people do switch all the freaking time, but those are the ones that spend 8+ years in college...
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artofmagic: I failed one class for sure. If I retake it and get an A or B or C, then the F is completely replaced. The other class, so far seems like it might be a mistake. Because my friend's have the same problem (they don't think it's the grade they deserve) and the teacher usually announces whether grades/exam scores are up. So I will cross my fingers. Honestly, if it weren't for the one failed class, I think I would be pretty decent, because I have a mix of B's and C's.
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Talk about it with your parents, and your close friends. Not for their advice, but just talking it over will give you an idea of whether you want to stay in engineering, why you chose engineering in the first place, and also give you insight into what'll be a good alternative.
What are you interested in? What fascinates you? What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? If your school has an academic advisor, consider making an appointment with them to talk things through. Take your time to think about this. If you have friends or roommates who're doing courses you're interested in, definitely talk to them to see if it's the sort of thing you'd like to do.
It's not that big a deal - many people switch majors, for good reasons. But on the other hand, it is fairly important that you make the right choice. If you don't you'll end up like my friend who has been at college for 7 years and still not graduated, because she keeps changing majors. (You'll also be dead broke.) You may even decide that college is not for you, and that's okay too.
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...it sounds like you're at Cornell in which case you aren't alone, your best bet is to sit on this for the break, namely because think about what you are going through, it isn't Engineering that's kicking your butt, its college. You probably still hang on to some form of high school studying mentality where you simply put work in and good returns come, that isn't true at a college, especially a competitive Engineering school. I see a lot of underclassmen undergoing what you are and have asked myself the same things.
An F isn't grounds for dismissal by the way, it might put you on watch or probation but not dismissal.
By the way, the question you should be asking isn't whether Engineering is right for you, it is whether you put in the effort to do well in those classes (like I said before college classes aren't easy in general especially in the Engineering fields), be honest with yourself. Otherwise come 1 or 2 or 3+ years from now, you'll be walking down the same path you are now.
Oh and while individual effort is important, did you work with other people a lot on assignments? All my Engie friends did/do that on regular basis in their intro and 2nd year classes, it is critical to your success in their and my experience.
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This story is oh so common among those who choose to take an engineering degree Even the immense keeners who really like the material often get C average... Sometimes the average for the courses is even failure.
But I wouldn't let that dissuade you. In the end, a degree is a degree whether you got A's or you got C's it doesn't matter. If engineering is what you like, then keep doing it. When you eventually get your degree, and get a job, it's not going to hurt you that you weren't an A level student.
If you feel like you were pushed into this degree, and you don't like it, then you should switch your major. Arts majors are pretty valuable too. All a job interviewer wants to know is that you got a university degree.
You also need to consider why you were not doing so well. Were you drinking a lot near exams? Other drugs? Do you feel if you WERE preforming optimally, things might have been different? If so, then make amends and find out. For some people the first year is the hardest year, because they don't have the discipline or the experience to know what they should be doing at what times.
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Are you slacking because engineering is not interesting enough or you just aren't focused enough to do what needs to be done? I screwed my GPA up badly when I first went to college because I felt pushed into it, was bored with school, and basically would rather do anything other than study or go to class. I skipped homework assignments whenever I thought I could get away without doing them, etc.
A few years later I pulled my head out of my ass and went back to finish my prereqs for medical school, and got a 4.0. The difference is I knew what had to be done, and had the will to do it. I knew that if I wanted a serious shot at medicine I had to pull my cumulative up to 3.5+, and that if I had a 4.0 for both years I was in college I would only get up to 3.6. So I knew I couldn't screw around, and studied as much as was required to get an A in whatever classes I was in that quarter.
If you think that there is the REMOTEST possibility that you will ever want to go to graduate or professional school beyond a BS degree, do not screw your future up. I can't tell you how many people I've met who decide they want to do medicine, or law, or whatever random doctorate degree 5, 10, 15 years down the road but that 2.X GPA from undergrad still haunts them and prevents them from following their dreams. It's better to take a year off and get your priorities organized than keep pushing through and failing classes.
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I think you're supposed to screw up your freshman year. Only the boring people didn't 
My grades were shit (computer science @ virginia tech), I did too many drugs, partied a little too hard, and transferred to penn state to do biochemistry instead.
I must've gotten it out of my system, because I did very well and now I'm a phd candidate in computational biology.
Don't sweat it; you get another shot. Next time you'll be older and wiser.
EDIT: Plus, if you transfer, you basically never have to show anyone your transcript from the school you didn't graduate from. EVER.
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Computational biology? What exactly are you working on?
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Disease classification gets the publications (mostly microarray->cancer subtypes, but other stuff as well), but I'm moving into gene network analysis for thesis material. PM me if you're curious 
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On May 17 2009 04:08 Judicator wrote:
or the motivation
Maybe. I don't like to think so. A person might not have the motivation to go to university classes, but why then are they paying insane tuition to fail everything? Or making their parents pay that money? A person unmotivated must necessarily both be not working, and lying to whoever is paying for their education so that they can do nothing all day and live in limbo. I'd say this isn't unheard of, but it has nothing to do with the OP.
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engineers make more money
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Chef, sometimes it takes people a semester or two to realize that they're throwing money away. A lot of kids fresh out of high school don't really know what money is worth, and if they're on scholarship and/or loans it takes a bit before they realize they should probably drop out.
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On May 17 2009 03:20 clazziquai wrote:
I want to have a general idea of what classes I should do (that would relate to a major I am interested in) rather than a bunch of random classes.
My friend told me that this isn't the question for our generation. That question is what jobs are available, not what you like. I thought that was really funny.
How many hours a day do you play starcraft (averaged over the year)?
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I don't have any advice for you, but keep your head up dude. I did pretty awful in physics but I've been doing better recently and pulled my gpa up to a respectable level. And it's not like you're an Economics major, where there are tons of people trying to get the same degree. Engineers are greatly in demand and even if your grades are less than average, I'm sure that you will be able to find a job somewhere.
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On May 17 2009 05:54 fight_or_flight wrote:Show nested quote +On May 17 2009 03:20 clazziquai wrote:
I want to have a general idea of what classes I should do (that would relate to a major I am interested in) rather than a bunch of random classes. My friend told me that this isn't the question for our generation. That question is what jobs are available, not what you like. I thought that was really funny. How many hours a day do you play starcraft (averaged over the year)?
I would say like 1-2 hours every time I played, no more than that. Sometimes, I didn't even play.
Another major I was considering was business, but I will see.
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EPT
