Wyotech

[SupaStealth]

Well, after trying to work my but off at engineering school (Milwaukee School of Engineering), my grades are not quite up to par , so i've decided to go to Wyotech or possibly UTI, i'm still not totally sure which one i'd like to go to, i have a meeting with a Wyotech represntative on the first of november to discuss some thing about the school. A close friend of mine graduated from there already and he's really happy with what he's doing, but i'm still not quite sure i want to be mechanic for a living.

I'm kinda thinking of this as a temperary job before i try again for finishing off my mechnical engineering degree, but i'm not totally sure.

Does anyone have any experience with UTI or Wyotech?

[Aurora40]

How far along are you in your studies? Consider this is a large change in your future and your career. There are companies you can go work for with a ME degree that you can't with a UTI "degree". What I mean is if you ended up in a job not exactly related to engineering, having a BS will help a lot.

What exactly do you want to do with your life? How certain are you of that, so how flexible should you try to keep yourself?

I'm not saying no one should go to UTI or Wyotech, so please don't misconstrue. But have you considered changing majors? What other things are you interested in? How about a different field of engineering? What are the classed you are stuck on? How about a related field like math, physics, or chemistry? Or how about a shift to the business school or something?

Just don't make snap decisions or decisions based on immediate gratification that will have a long-lasting impact on your life.

Oh, sorry, just noticed the temp part. I'll say this, you are probably as capable of learning now as you will ever be. As you get older and further away from academic environments, you begin to lose this ability. Also, the basic concepts and prerequisites for the engineering classes you will go back to take will get fuzzier and fuzzier, not clearer and clearer. It's harder to recall the differential equations class you took 4 years ago than to recall the diff eq class you took last semester.

[SupaStealth]

i'm in the first trimester of my sophmore year. And as for what i want to do with my life, i want to be an automotive designer, i've had a passion for designing cars since i was 14, so 9 or so years.

about switching majors, well thats the kicker, i have a horrible GPA, like 1.6, this school was really tough for me(mostly Calc and some of my ME classes), this is my 3rd chance they're giving me to try and redeem my self, i just cant seem to get it together. I made poor choices in class scheduling, like i chose to stay in a class i knew i was failing so i could learn the material for when i had to retake it...

So i'm assuming with the low gpa from here, i will have a slim to none chance in getting into a different "real" college, I never had any troubles in high school, which gave me troubles in college because in high school i never had to do homework or study to get and A on any test.

so, again, assuming i can't get into a real college, my other option was to enroll for a local community college to raise up my gpa and once i get a good gpa, go back to college, this is going to be an expensive trip...

[Letitroll98]

Supastealth, do not give up on your dreams!!!! If you don't want to be a mechanic now you will not be happy with it in the future, it WILL NOT get better. I second the advice from Aurora40, only I'll repeat it stronger. 90% of people who drop out of college will not go back.

That being said there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with moving over to Community College for a time. The less intensive course environment will give you a chance to get your bearings again. Additionally it will also give you a chance to get your GPA up to standard.

You may not be cut out for mechanical engineering. You may be more suited for another area of study. Or perhaps you simply need to refine your study habits to succeed as a ME (ME may end up being Medical Examiner, CSI is all the rage, you will be very suprised by what happens in life). I would agree that staying at your present school may not be the best course of action, but I wouldn't recommend dropping all the way to trade school if you had scholastic success in HS. (In other words you're not too stupid to make it, from reading your posts I believe you have the native intelligence to complete the course of study). If you had mostly A's in HS I would think it's definately study habits and time management skills that you need to refine.

Don't give up. Reevalute, reload, and keep plugging!

Edit: PS. Don't assume anything about admissions policies and GPA until you ask. Again, you'll be suprised at what colleges are looking for, it's not all that cut and dried.

[Aurora40]

SupaStealth said:

about switching majors, well thats the kicker, i have a horrible GPA, like 1.6, this school was really tough for me(mostly Calc and some of my ME classes), this is my 3rd chance they're giving me to try and redeem my self, i just cant seem to get it together. I made poor choices in class scheduling, like i chose to stay in a class i knew i was failing so i could learn the material for when i had to retake it...

So i'm assuming with the low gpa from here, i will have a slim to none chance in getting into a different "real" college, I never had any troubles in high school, which gave me troubles in college because in high school i never had to do homework or study to get and A on any test.

So are you not able to continue at your current school? Or do they only have an engineering program? If you can continue, have you thoght about continuing part time so you can really focus on one or two classes? Or thought about taking a semester of elective requirements just to give your GPA a boost and your mind a rest?

If that's not an option, definitely consider community college. You will save money and be able to build up your GPA again. You might even consider taking a wider array of classes there. Perhaps there are other fields that interest you. Take a business class, take a comp sci class, heck maybe even take a history or sociology class.

Don't be afraid to take several steps back if it takes you back to the path you know you should be on.

Do you work currently? If you work, then you shouldn't feel bad about taking a class or two in Community College to get you where you need to be. I mean, you don't have to feel bad about it anyway, but if it were me and I took a part time class load and sponged off of my parents, I'd feel like, well, like a sponge... If I were you, I wouldn't sign up for more than 2 classes at community college. Make the safe play and then increase the classload if you find it too light. Don't make the aggressive play and possibly get burned again.

If you want a job that exposes you to some of the car world, get a job at a dealership or at a CarMax or AutoNation. Maybe you could get a job helping mechanics or doing some detailing or who knows what. But you'd be in the scene, and you could see what the lifestyle is like and if you'd really be happy doing it.

[SupaStealth]

Yeah, The Milwaukee School of Engineering is pretty much an all engineering school, although, they do have nursing, but i definitely don't want to be a nurse (I hate needles, heh) And I currently don't have a job, i worked really hard during the summer so i could try and concentrate during the school year.

I'm actually going to try applying for a different college such as UWM (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) and possibly a few others to see what happens, it cant hurt. MSOE's workload is more-so than other colleges since we use trimester systems, therefore they cram a semesters worth of work into a trimester, i've heard that people who've switched to a regular college found it much easier to handle the work load, also the grading scale is higher here, anything under 70% is an F, that made it hard for me to get a C averge since i believe i have to get a 78% to get a C on already tough classes. From what i've heard, the UW system uses the standard 60-D,70-C,80-B,90-A grading scale.

I just hope some of my credits transfer, and that they would allow me to go to their school. the trouble i'm having right now is writing a statement on my admission forms to persuade them to accept me, but i believe i have to explain my situation, which i don't want to insult them by saying that their school will be easier for me

Edit: also i forgot to add I appreciate you guys taking your time to read my posts and helping me out

[erw38]

SupaStealth said:

I just hope some of my credits transfer, and that they would allow me to go to their school. the trouble i'm having right now is writing a statement on my admission forms to persuade them to accept me, but i believe i have to explain my situation, which i don't want to insult them by saying that their school will be easier for me

You don't need to say that you are transfering because school will be easier. All you need to say is that your aspirations in life have changed and that you believe that the new school will be a better fit for you now and whatever you decide to study there will benifet you in the future (or something like that).

I had s similiar problem as you. I failed my very first year of college. So I came home and decided that I would give my local community college a try. After graduating from there, I went to a real 4 year school and got my bachelors. The moral of the story is that in the long run you may not remember how you got to a certain place (the journey), but you will always remember the destination.

Just remember to never force yourself to "settle." When you settle for something you are in effect giving up in some way. Your future is much to important to settle on something. So why not stive for the best.

Good luck in your choices.

Elan