Engineering

Q: I'm a 16 year old sophmore in highschool, and i want to be an engineer when i get older, so i was wondering if anyone can tell me how smart i have to be, what kind of grades i have to get and stuff like that..... And if anyone knows of any good colleges i could go to that have a good Engineering department I'd appreciate it.

A: -I am a Architectual Engineering student at the University of Colorado, Boulder. As for the academic side of engineering... It has more to do with being stubborn than being smart. As for schools ...CU has a good engineering school. I have also heard good things about MIT, Georgia Tech, Colorado School of Mines, and Penn State. I think good grades in high school will only help you get a degree faster. I made average grades in high school (3.0 ish???). Also my math and science grades, the important ones, were more 2.5 ish. My current GPA at CU is 2.8 and rising every semester. The hard part about being an engineering major is the long hours of study and the discipline to work hard ALL semester in ALL your classes. -I have to give my two cents since I too am an Architectural Engineering student, although I go to University of Texas at Austin. I think to be an engineer or an engineering student you have to have the 'engineering mentality', a desire to fix or improve, to make life easier, better, to engineering things. Do you find yourself taking apart telephones and old radios to see how they work? Do you look at buildings or highways and wonder how they stay up, or why they fall down? Do you find technology amazing, for example the fact that I can send this message to you in just a few seconds, no matter where you are in the word (where are you)? If so, then engineering would be good for you. As far as education, good math and science skills are a big plus in engineering. The math only gets harder, so if you are struggling with math now, then you will just have to work harder than other students. Anyone can do engineering if they put in the effort. It just takes a lot of effort. Words of advice, things I wish I would

have done. One, meet lots of kids in your freshmen classes, because they will be in your classes later down the road, when working together is more important. Two, form study groups. I can't stress that enough, it makes studying much more fun, and easier since it 'distributes the load' over several minds. Three, get involved in some orginazations, engineering and otherwise. Balance your studying with social and recreation time. UT has a good engineering school, and it is very well priced if you are in state, or even out of state. I know that the Architectural Engineering program is one of the top five in the US, along with Penn State and three I can't remember.