What is the difference between college and university for you. In the US they are pretty much just nomenclature differences dependding on what school you are at. Perhaps your college is more like our Community College, which is another name for the two year schools here? A bachelors of science in engineering degree is designed to be a 4 year program (although alot of people take 5 years to finish it). You can get two year technical degrees on various things, but not usually the traditional engineering disciplines.
i was enrolled in mechanical engineering - design & analysis 3-yr co-op program at the college level. i have completed 1st year.
the university program i am considering is mechanical engineering at the university of waterloo which is a 5-yr program and far more intense.
the important practical difference between the two is 4 little letters after my name, P. Eng.
if i graduate from college i'd be a technologist and
be lucky to make what i make now.
if i graduate from university i'd be a Professional Engineer. that designation carries much more weight, responisibility, and paycheck.
i'm not really interested in investing the next 2 years of my life into a program that, once completed, will more than likely land me with a lower-paying job than the one i quit to go back to school. i'd love to say i'm not doing it for the money (because obviously engineering is far more interesting than graphic design), but in the end, its a job, it pays the bills, and its all about the bottom line.
beyond that, college was like high school. i showed up with 'my game face on' taking everything quite seriously. i quit my full-time job and disrupted my life completely to be there. i wasn't fooling around. in the end, i was incredibly disappointed with the pace of the program, the knowledge of the instructors, the lack of option to add additional courses, and even my fellow classmates (who more times than not would be happy as long as they didn't fail).
i tried to bulk up my course load by applying to add several upcoming courses to my current timetable, and was unable to. some courses they offer only for one semeseter per year. i was left feeling like i was working to about 50 or 60% of my capacity and i felt like i was wasting my time. so when it came time to think seriously about returning for 2nd year... i called my old boss instead and got my old job back. (i also called UofW admissions and had missed the deadline for '05/'06 admission)
UofW is one of the premier engineering schools. it is known to be TOUGH, the math is heavy, the pace is at least twice that of college. before my experience at college i was intimidated to the point where i didn't even apply to UofW or other universities. i had been out of high school for at least 4 or 5 years and i didn't think i could 'hack it'. if anything, the college experience gave me confidence and the drive to achieve something greater than college could provide. i'd rather fail giving my best effort at university than coast through college wondering why i'm there.
sorry, that explanation got long... i'm just a little frustrated with the whole college experience.
the Biggest thing in college is Networking, and Networking.
a couple of you mentioned networking...most people i talk to about this say the same thing. at college, all i found myself being exposed to were people and opportunities dealing with production-type work. factory environment. i have worked in tons of factories (part of the 'research' i did that led to me returning to school in the first place) and i have no interest in being a millright, or being an engineer in charge of ensuring that X amount of parts are stamped in time for Y deadline. ideally i'd like to work with new ideas, innovate, develop concepts or even do field testing....whether its an automobile or a toaster. i hope that at the university level i will be able to find the opportunity to network with people who will be able to help me move more in that direction.
AWW, I'm so humbled that people wonder about me. Sorry that I've been out of touch from this forum. The last several months have been crazy, and as it is I spread myself very thin between school, my part time job and all the partying!! :shock: :lol:
sounds like a blast dave. you are following a path that is quite intreguing to me... whether or not i make it as far as you have come remains to be seen, but you certainly have helped to open my eyes to the opportunities that are out there. my step-father used to return from business trips to germany where he would attend hydraulics/pneumatics trade shows and tell me all about the crazy things the germans were doing. i've always wanted to get over there and see it all for myself. to actually attend school there would be unreal!
i'm really glad its all working out for you and you are happy with your decision. keep us posted on the happenings over there... feel free to dump in this thread like i do :lol:
and PS! it's Lanny, with an eh. :wink:
Topic: Post-Secondary Edumacation (Read 38543 times)
