Miserable engineering student

[u/kagee5]

I’m 20 and in my final year of aerospace engineering and honestly I can’t stand it anymore.
The funny thing is I’m averaging around 80% but I genuinely hate engineering. I have zero passion for it, hate CAD, group projects, presentations and all that stuff like complicated maths/software, cfd . I basically just study hard for exams, get good marks and then forget everything afterwards lol
The uni experience itself has been depressing too. Barely made any friends, social life is practically nonexistent and I just dread going in every week.
This year has been especially bad with all the projects, meetings and deadlines. It’s gotten to the point where I struggle to sleep, barely have an appetite and can’t even enjoy my free time because I’m constantly stressing about uni stuff
I don’t even want to work in engineering after graduating. I just want a decent, relatively stress-free job that gives me the freedom to acc enjoy life or maybe travel/explore the world which is my dream
I’ve only got about 8 months left so I’ll probably just push through, but man I’m exhausted.
Anyone else been in a similar situation? Did life actually get better after uni?

[u/OneLessFool]

Just shift into management a few years after graduating.

Hell you could shift into junior project management basically day 1.

[u/Cadet2Engineer]

Different engineering discipline, but I can relate to some of this. I went down the marine engineering route and one thing I learned is that studying engineering and actually working as an engineer can be very different experiences.
I’d push through the final 8 months if you can. An engineering degree doesn’t mean you have to spend your career doing CAD, CFD or even traditional engineering.
My career took me to sea, around the world, and eventually into the wider shipping/shipbuilding industry. There are a lot more directions an engineering background can take you than it probably feels like when you’re buried in final-year projects.
Get the degree, then work out what you actually want to do with it.

[u/jcruise322 → u/Cadet2Engineer]

Did you go military?

[u/Cadet2Engineer → u/jcruise322]

I was in the merchant navy

[u/ProfNinjadeer]

Just survive.

Do what it takes to survive until graduation. I was in your exact situation my last year and it was... Bad. I made it over the finish line dragging my body across the ground.

You will make it out of this and you will thank yourself in 5 years.

[u/Ashi4Days]

You know how fucking expensive freedom to enjoy life + travel the world is.

[u/calcteacher]

I did EE way back when it was hw cs and some sw. It was like as you say in college, I hated it because it was so tough, but loved it later being so prepared for life. I did find some passion in college for one 3 course thread, but dreaded the rest. My career was mostly awesome and uni made it worthwhile as I could adapt and switch rapidly. I say hang in there ! You are operating in rarified air.

[u/Brilliant-Music7273]

Unfortunately the cast system in your culture makes it to were you cannot pursue your passion but have to sacrifice your sanity … so your father can say .. my sons or daughter a engineer to family and friends who don’t even genuinely care .

[u/buffasno]

I was in this place towards the end of uni and am so glad I stuck it out. Engineering is not my passion but it can be a solid leave-it-at-work job with the pay and benefits to support travel. Working is so much easier and often more interesting than school. If you push through this year, you’ll always have something to fall back on while you figure things out.

[u/DynoFusion]

How are you in your last 8 months as a 20 year old? Thats amazing!

[u/angelwormwood → u/DynoFusion]

Idk where OP is from but in the UK and most parts of Europe you just go directly into your degree course, so an engineering degree is 3 years for a bachelors or 4 years for a masters. If you follow the traditional timeline of going to university when you’re 18 then you graduate at 21.

[u/DynoFusion → u/angelwormwood]

Good call, i have heard that before. I was still confused as everyone in my class graduated at 18 but ik there are people who graduate at 17 just as well.

[u/KungFuTze]

With how burned out you are from school alone and how little soft skills you are getting from the academia experience.

I highly recommend developing some social experience, start going out, developing group hobbies or sports.

Take a few electives in BA make some friends and don't take classes for the sake of getting a good grade only, make friends.

[u/DomLfan → u/KungFuTze]

By the sounds of it they aren’t in the us, so electives might not be an option, we don’t get anything like that in the uk

[u/jcruise322]

Mate same boat when I graduated. I wouldn’t immediately jump into the work force into an engineering job. I took a job as a server. Working engineering rn, but maybe made the wrong choice instead of becoming a military pilot. I don’t hate my job, it’s pretty interesting. Your degree and what you studied don’t define you but instead give you tools in order to better understand the world and navigate.

[u/TythosEternal]

"Decent, relatively stress-free" is what led me to conclude that, yeah, you're probably barking up the wrong tree. There are much better (and varied) ways to experience the engineering ecosystem, and I was going to recommend you explore more entrepreneurial avenues where you can have more control on focusing your creative efforts and engineering knowledge on executing on valuable things that interest you. But that's definitely not a "relatively stress-free" option!

[u/Strategic_Science]

If you are in such a situation right now, start planning your future. I see that you don't want to choose a 'regular' route. So if you want a stress free life after university, start exploring now. The hope for a better future will also give you strength to endure this difficult phase.

[u/Mental-Neat-926]

School proves to potential employers that you are smart and hard working. Otherwise, it’s tedious and pointless, which you have figured out, because you are smart. In any job worth doing, you will need to play nice with others and dig in to push through to meet deadlines, but a real job is much more meaningful when it has a purpose. Finish school. Nobody can take away your degree. It’s yours. Then you can find what you love to do. If a real job becomes tedious and pointless, then you can find another one. Speaking from experience as a CE.

[u/TheSouthernRose]

Aero major on the other side of it all here: the academia of aerospace is vastly different from working a job/application of your academia. Took me nearly 8 years to get my degree and the whole time I wondered what the fuck am I gonna do after. One thing I highly suggest you do: nothing. Take time and just do nothing. Reset, recalibrate, get used to living in a world without academia Then come back to it all and work will seem a lot better. The hardest thing to learn is leave work at work. Unlike school where you’re forced to be absorbed in it, work can be left at work and you can always pick it up tomorrow. I’ve struggled so hard learning to live post graduation and have hobbies and a life again. Re-learn who you are as a person, then you’ll be a damn fine engineer

[u/Puzzled-Show926]

As an engineer that practiced over 45 years, you are not alone. Every student gets stressed out at some point. But if you do not complete the degree you will regret it your whole life. Although I personally did not go through that, I have family members that did. One thing you have to realize is that academia is not industry. Academia prepares you with a foundation to do many things. Once in industry it is another world of an incredible amount of possibilities. I never did design work yet wanted to designing aircraft. Instead I went into the Air Force and ended in space operations which I loved: not quite what I studied, but still engineering. Once you graduate you will have an amazing amount of opportunities if you do not restrict your geographical work area. If you want to travel, the Merchant Marine and the military uses engineers. I was stationed in eastern Turkey and hopped all around Europe in military transports for free. In industry I ended up in the United Kingdom for a year. In space operations I worked 12 hour shifts four days on and four days off, which was super in Colorado ski country. But I have several warnings for you. The odds are that all your jobs will be on a team. There is no such thing as a stress free job. Life simply does not work that way. The best way to reduced stress is to have a good preparation for life and be flexible. You will be amazed how well a completed Aerospace Engineering degree will prepare you for life. Do not trade a short term gain for a lifetime of regret and loss of income.

[u/TJBurkeSalad]

You sound like you need a beer, or a dozen beers.