Iain...

[Adam Payrot]

I'm going to UTA starting this fall for ME and was just wondering if you have any professors that you recommend? Dr. Han is my advisor and I'm taking his Statics class. From here on out, I pretty much only have my MAE courses to take, with a few that TCC neglected to tell me wouldn't transfer any more (like DG, where TCC uses AutoCAD and never told me about Pro-E)

[srivendel]

I'm going to UTA starting this fall for ME

Congrats! I'm jealous. I seriously explored an ME in college but, at the time, was too lazy to follow through. I sometimes regret that.

S.

[altiain]

That depends – do you want to learn a lot, or do you want to get better grades? My experience was that the hardest instructors were generally the ones I learned the most from, even if my GPA suffered a bit.

A couple of recommendations:

Try to get Dr. Hullender for your required Control Systems and Systems Modeling courses. Most of your fellow students will assume you have lost your mind – Hullender is by far the hardest instructor for this class cycle. He will also teach you more in a month than you’ll learn in a year from anyone else, since he (and Dr. Woods) quite literally wrote the book on the subject.

Try to get Dr. Tong or Dr. You for your Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer classes. Dr. Haji-Sheikh is not a bad instructor, and he is very knowledgeable on the subject, but I felt he struggled a bit to communicate basic concepts to undergrad-level students. Dr. You does a great job of explaining the concepts in a way that is easy to understand, and Dr. Tong is an excellent instructor. Dr. Tong was also my faculty advisor for my senior project.

Dr. Woods is an excellent instructor, and also the head of the Formula SAE team. If you’ve got the time, I highly encourage you to join the team, as you will gain a lot of practical engineering experience and it will look good on a resume. However, expect to put a LOT of effort and time into it – Dr. Woods isn’t interested in anyone who isn’t willing to give 110% to the team.

Avoid taking Composite Engineering as an upper-level elective. It may be listed as an undergrad technical elective, but you’ll end up taking the same class that the upper level graduate students take. Less than 50% of my class made it through the class, and only one of the undergrads managed to pass it (yours truly ). Besides, the class offers very little knowledge on practical application, instead focusing primarily on design theory.

Learn as many software packages as you can. While Pro/E is the primary CAD package that is taught at UTA (and it’s what I use every day), I would recommend taking a CATIA class if you can, especially since this is the CAD software that some of the large local defense contractors prefer. Fluent is another good piece of software to learn.

Good luck in the program. Let me warn you that it isn’t easy – less than 30% of those who start in the undergrad department make it through to graduation. If you need any help along the way, don’t hesitate to contact me.

[Adam Payrot]

Thanks for the tips. One of my goals is to graduate with a 3.5-4.0 GPA, probably a bit optimistic given my circumstances, but I'll be working my off to get it. That said, I'd rather get more out of a class than just a good grade. Part of what makes ME appealing to me is the challenge, I tend to do much better in areas that challenge me. And I'm pretty much half-way there to the degree

I had already planned on getting involved in Formula SAE, if I could. UTA's team is one of the primary reasons why I stuck around here rather than take off to Tampa to go to USF. I just hope that my work schedule doesn't get in the way. I'm going to try working 4 days a week this semester, my weekends will be off, and I'll live at UTA on Wed.

[altiain]

You'll do fine. Once you've got the basics out of the way - in my case, Calculus II and III were my greatest hurdle - you'll find that most of the upper level, engineering specific courses are interesting and a lot more fun than the basic stuff.

[Adam Payrot]

I carried an A into my Cal 2 final, then my professor changed test formats for that last one Cal 1 was painful for me...

[Miatamoto]

I agree with Iain, the core classes at GT were weed out classes. Once you get into the ME courses, things will be better.

Both ProE and CATIA are useful. If you are interested in aerospace work learn CATIA. Also CATIA works better with CNC machining.

We use ProE at my workplace.

[Sharpie]

You can do it Adam!!!!!! Go for it!

[Jiggerachi]

I am also going into engeneering, but an not near as far along. I am 6 years out of high school with maybe 2 semesters of MCSE classes before I realized that they were a joke(at least at Mountainview anyway)...& nothing else. So I am stuck for now in community college getting my uber basics out of the way, then im going to go to UTA in 2 years or so as an undergrad.

I started out interested in mechanical engineering, but now im leaning towards Aerospace Engeneering. Its going to be hard as shite, but thats what makes it appealing to me.

If anyone has any advise for someone starting at the complete bottom, i'd really apreciate it.

[altiain]

If anyone has any advise for someone starting at the complete bottom, i'd really apreciate it.

Go and talk to someone now at the UTA Engineering Department, and find out what core classes you need to take to transfer in. I took the long way around, deciding on a BSME relatively late in my (rather long and torurous ) college career. I found out the hard way that less than 25% of the hours I had accumulated up to that point transferred into the program.

Engineers do not typically graduate with a well-rounded curriculum, so to speak. We don't have the same requirements for lots of Lit/Comp/History/Politics/Psych/etc. courses as, say, a business major. Lots of math, lots of applied sciences. Don't waste your time in community college taking courses that won't transfer. If you'll be over a certain age upon entering UTA (I think it's 26?), the requirements change again. For example, I wasn't required to take a Phys Ed courses - I guess they figured a 28-year-old Engineering student might not be up to them.

[Adam Payrot]

I started out in as a Computer Science major, had to throw away a year's worth of classes when I changed.

The biggest thing with transferring from a CC, make sure those credits transfer! I have to take an extra semester of courses due to TCC neglecting to inform me of course changes. I found out too late to avoid it on a few classes. If you know for sure that you will go to UTA, go to the ME site and download the course requirements. There's also a section that translates UTA course numbers into CC course numbers. I took pretty much everything that I could take at TCC that was on those lists. Also make sure that the courses you are taking (even if the numbers match up) will transfer, such as my DG (design graphics) course. I also have a speech class that isn't transferring, despite the TCC counselors insisting that it would.

[Adam Payrot]

If you'll be over a certain age upon entering UTA (I think it's 26?), the requirements change again. For example, I wasn't required to take a Phys Ed courses - I guess they figured a 28-year-old Engineering student might not be up to them.

They changed the Engineering degree requirements for those entering the program from 2006-07 (maybe 08, I can't remember), so that's also something to consider. I didn't have to have Phys Ed hours, even though I did have some from TCC (and I'm 23).

[Sharpie]

Wow Adam, I remember when you weren't even close to drinking age.

Man time flies.

[Treibenschnell]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one going back to school... classes start for me on August 28. My first tuition payment is due by the end of the month!

[Adam Payrot]

Wow Adam, I remember when you weren't even close to drinking age.

Man time flies.

It sure does. I remember Mike having to get me into a place by saying he was my dad when a few of us after going out to watch Bacon's performance I think for a while there, I was the youngest one around.

[altiain]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one going back to school... classes start for me on August 28. My first tuition payment is due by the end of the month!

Sweet! What are you going back for?

[Treibenschnell]

Sweet! What are you going back for?

Right now I'm continuing the edu-ma-cation I didn't finish over a decade ago... with a major in Political Science and a minor in International Studies. We did the assessments and found that that would be the quickest/easiest way to finish my degree with the 60+ hours that I brought with me. Plus, it's a subject that's right down my alley...

I've gone through orientation already at UNT, paid for my parking pass ($140!!!), and have my schedule of classes. I've been waiting for this for many, many years...

[Sharpie]

Congrats! Don't be a stranger if you have time to waste (when you not studying of course) in Denton.

[Treibenschnell]

I'll be passing your house on a weekly basis!

[altiain]

Congrats, Beano! My wife is a UNT alum, and she liked it there.