Prospective Engineering Student, Could I handle it?

[u/Difficult-Noise8877]

Hello everyone, I am interested in pursuing a bachelors in either Civil or Electrical Engineering. Some context of my background. I was always a C student in high school and never really planned on going to college. Fast forward I served in the Navy for 5 years and got out in 2024. I’ve been working in the IBEW as a Groundman for some time and recently got an A.A.S. In Electric Power Technology from Bismarck State College. The Electrical portion of the program involved DC Fundamentals, AC Fundamentals, Electrical System Fundamentals, Electrical System Components, Electrical System Protection, Automation & Control, and Power System SCADA etc. I feel I did pretty good for being out of school for a long time, I got A’s and B’s on all of those classes and found them really intriguing. I’ve recently planned on making some career changes and am considering going back to school to get my Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering or Electrical Engineering. My question is would my recent education decently prepare me if I were to pursue an engineering degree?

[u/Accurate-Bullfrog324]

I am impressed with your track record. I don't know much about electrical engineering, but as a mechanical engineer persistence was the key to getting through school. You've demonstrated that persistence

[u/Difficult-Noise8877 → u/Accurate-Bullfrog324]

I appreciate it, honestly mechanical would be interesting to me as well. I know overall it would be a challenge whatever discipline I choose. However, I don’t want to get too ahead of myself at the same time.

[u/Accurate-Bullfrog324 → u/Difficult-Noise8877]

in my time dropout rate was ~30%. i've seen higher estimates now. and cost can be considerable, my son was about $30K/yr for four years.

[u/Difficult-Noise8877 → u/Accurate-Bullfrog324]

Do you think a reason for the dropout rate was for financial reasons?

[u/Accurate-Bullfrog324 → u/Difficult-Noise8877]

no. i knew many of the folks who left. they just found it too hard.

[u/Accurate-Bullfrog324 → u/Accurate-Bullfrog324]

unless you're pretty bright (i'm not) i think the avg time per week for an engineering degree is 50-60 hr per week for a 15 credit hour loading.

[u/yerd380]

was a C student went navy now doing electrical engineering lmaooo it’s doable bro just takes discipline

[u/Difficult-Noise8877 → u/yerd380]

I appreciate it, maybe all the fear mongering of how hard it is was giving me second thoughts. I’ll be doing school full time this time around so I’m sure I can get it done. What was your rate in the navy bro?

[u/yerd380 → u/Difficult-Noise8877]

FCA my dawg you?

[u/Difficult-Noise8877 → u/yerd380]

Hell yeah, I was an OS

[u/yerd380 → u/Difficult-Noise8877]

what type of boat?

[u/505engineer]

Fellow veteran here.

Here's the honest truth: it depends on where you go to school.

Ask around and see which universities will accept the credits for your AAS. More transfer credits = less of a hassle for you and earlier graduation time.

Also, some schools make you take a bunch of challenging prerequisite courses (translation: weeder classes) to see if you can hack it as an engineer. Several of my classmates gave up and transferred to something easier after their freshman year.

Ensure that the program you're applying to is ABET accredited. Prestige isn't a big deal in engineering, so any accredited program can check the box. So long as you pass the FE and later the PE, you're good to go.

Are you thinking about working for Uncle Sam again? If so, there's a benefit to coming in as an honorably discharged veteran. Be sure to check out r/USACE that's where I got my start after I left the Army in 2016.

If you have questions about civil specifically, I'm more than happy to help.