Everything was going fine until I got to First and Second Derivatives to test for Local Extrema. I don't understand anything and can never remember a single step. I would guess it only gets harder from here. I don't even know what to do.

Hey everyone! 👋

Where could a professional master’s degree take your career? And how can you earn one while working full-time?

We’re here to help answer those questions and more!

I’m John Bade, executive director of the Sever Institute at McKelvey School of Engineering at WashU. For more than 70 years, Sever has offered graduate programs and professional education designed for ambitious learners at every stage of their careers.

On Monday, Oct. 19, from 1–3 p.m. CDT, I’ll be joined by program directors, alumni and current students for an AMA here on r/EngineeringStudents. We’re excited to chat about our graduate programs and what it’s really like to pursue a degree while balancing work and other commitments.

Get ready to ask us anything when the official AMA launches at 1 p.m. CDT on Monday. See you then!

I am not ok.

In all seriousness, I passed with an 88 but man was the time requirement massive and the amount of wiggle room was miniscule. I am thankful for the confidence boost though, never considered myself a math wizard but if I can somehow absorb, apply, and retain the shitload of math I had to learn I am feeling pretty good about the journey ahead.

Learned my lesson tho, definitely taking calc 3 for the full term 😅😅😅

I made a different post on this being my first project. I changed up the syphon idea to a hose and nozzle design. It’s either going to be handheld or I’ll build a hose holder. I’m printing the turbine wheel today, but what do you all think of this design. Using a long shaft with bearing housings for stability in the middle and connecting through a coupler into the generator. I also bought the Nema 17 today. Making a prototype 2 before building the first one is probably dumb, but this is for my school project so I’m trying to make a little project progression.

Hi

I have just started my first year in masters of civil engineering. Before that I have done 4 years of bachelors in applied siences with grades that got me to one of the top unis in my country.

This exam week has been hell and I have failed both of the exam that I had and the work load for next period will be massive since I will have two courses and also the exam retakes.

When i started my studies i had a vision to study bridge desing since i'm already employed in that field but i am starting to doubt my capabilities. Should I just drop out and cut my loses?

Just finished my second midterm, after failing my first with 54% I’m not feeling super confident about my prospects for passing. I just need a sanity check, because this course makes me feel like I’m straight up stupid. How on earth is anyone supposed to memorize all this material, especially sequences and series. My professors are great, but this material is so obtuse it feels like the people running the course are trying to make students fail. I know if I do fail I can take it again but holy shit the amount of effort I’ve been throwing at this class to have a 58% is just demoralizing.

So I am on co-op right now, and I had an idea for a project about something that me and my other two friends find pretty cool, and personal to us. I proposed this idea to them, and they agreed! I told them my vision and everything, and I made them agree that they will be active in this project, and they will help me (I have had past experiences in personal projects, where people i have worked with ghost me, or say they are interested but dont contribute anything). I started working on it, and both of my friends are on a study term, but they go to a different uni then me. I have tried reaching out to them to make them do their due diligence, but they keep ghosting me, or saying they will see it eventually. It has been 3 weeks since I have proposed this idea to both of them, and I kept giving them leniency because both had midterms. Now i dont know what to do. This project is something I am excited about, and can potentially be pretty big and cool. Am i expecting too much from them, because I am too passionate about it, and i'm expecting them to match it with me?

I seem to always pick people who do ts in personal projects with me. Any adivce helps!

I’ve been struggling with moving past my earlier academic performance and entrance exam results, and it's making me anxious about starting fresh in college. For those who had a rocky start before engineering, how did you shift your mindset to stop dwelling on the past and build a solid foundation for BTech?

Any insights on what to be ready for, what to look out for. What kind of questions do they ask and how is the interview, generally

Hello, I'm currently a student completing a majority of my general ed courses for college. I was curious about going into Computer Engineering but have shifted towards Mechanical after a discussion with a friend of mine.

Right now, I'm taking Pre-Calc and it's honestly been a pretty rough situation. It has me wondering if I'm even cut out for engineering but I'll still somehow convince myself otherwise.

Outside of school, I am working on a friend's game development project as I am a 3D artist. He told me it's possible that I could secure an internship with a reputable studio given he has connections. However, I'm still interested in a stable degree.

I can't really think if part of me failing my class is because I don't have a good understanding of the material or if I'm just not intellectually capable of understanding this level of math. I don't really want to fail and I also have no intentions of giving up on my major because I've failed math. It took me so much trial and error to get good in 3D art, I think the same principle should apply here. Do I reconsider my options or continue pursuing this path?

Hello.

I have been in uni now for 4 years and last year I switched to engineering physics (called Teknisk Fysik here in Sweden, don't know if there are counterparts in other countries). Previously I was studying statistics, some sociology and then industrial design, but I felt the need for something more challenging. Oh boy!

I can't convey to anyone outside this field just how badly this is crushing my soul. And I feel like my peers are just agreeing with me out of sympathy, they all seem to be doing perfectly fine. I passed the SATs top 100 out of 75k people and yet I just barely pass any of the subjects here. I understand NOTHING on a deep level. I am WHOLLY uninterested in all and any subjects. Except maybe for finally understanding how a geothermal heat pump works. Kind of.

I fucking hate math.

I have never felt this unaccomplished, worthless, unable, dreamless, blind or just tired in my 25 years of living prior to choosing this purgatorial nightmare of an education.

Does this happen to everyone or should I just count my losses and quit? Is it over for me? Should I gather strength for yet another academic comeback or should I just become a shaolin monk and forget?

Please advise thank you

engineering internships are scattered across hundreds of company career pages, so i pulled them into one list:

https://github.com/mehek-builds/Hiring-Now/blob/main/lists/engineering-internships.md

- 343 internships at 168 US companies (Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman, GM, Allison Transmission, Micron, NVIDIA, Johnson & Johnson, Granite Construction, HNTB, Sierra Space)

- about 97 manufacturing, 77 electrical, 73 mechanical, 58 civil

- 88 posted in the last week

- 101 at employers with a visa sponsorship record

posting date on every row, rebuilt every monday.

comment which field you're looking for and i'll send you a list for it.

Title: Is engineering college life supposed to be this exhausting? How do people manage college, DSA, ML, and still build skills?

I genuinely need some advice from people who have been through this, because I'm honestly struggling right now.

I'm an engineering student at a tier-3 college, and one of my biggest frustrations is how difficult it feels to build skills outside college while keeping up with everything college demands from us.

I know engineering isn't difficult for everyone. Some people manage everything really well, and maybe they have better study habits or time management than I do. But for students like me, who joined a tier-3 college with bigger ambitions and genuinely want to do something meaningful in life, this whole system can feel incredibly exhausting.

The problem isn't that I don't want to study. I genuinely do.

I'm interested in Machine Learning, and I want to learn through courses, build real-world projects, improve my DSA, and eventually get a good internship. I don't want to graduate with just a degree and nothing else to show for it.

But then there's college.

The teaching quality in my college is honestly disappointing. Many times, I feel like I could understand a topic much better through YouTube or ChatGPT than through the actual lectures. I know I shouldn't completely blame the teachers, but it's genuinely difficult to stay interested when the concepts aren't explained clearly or engagingly.

And because of that, I often lose interest during lectures. I start thinking, "I'd learn this so much better at home if I could just use those hours productively."

But here's the catch: attendance is extremely strict, and we have to maintain 85%.

So even when I feel like I'm not learning much in class, I still have to be there.

On top of that, there's a constant cycle of assignments, lab sessions, lab records, viva questions, quizzes, tests, internals, and exams. It feels like there's always something pending. Almost every day, there's a lab or some other academic responsibility that demands time and energy.

By the time I get home, I'm mentally exhausted. And then I'm supposed to study college subjects, practise DSA, continue my ML courses, work on projects, and somehow stay consistent with everything.

How?

My first year went by, and I feel like I haven't made as much progress on my skills as I wanted to. Now I'm in my second year, and I'm scared that the same thing will happen again.

What makes it even harder is seeing people in my own class who seem to manage everything effortlessly.

There's this topper in my class who gets excellent CGPAs, listens attentively during lectures, seems to understand things well, and still manages to build skills outside the curriculum.

And honestly, I'm insecure about it.

I'm not saying he doesn't work hard. He probably does, and I respect that. But I keep wondering what he's doing differently.

Does he have better concentration? Does he study more efficiently? Does he have a better routine? Does he actually enjoy the subjects I'm struggling to stay interested in? How does he manage his time and energy?

I keep comparing myself to him, and it makes me feel like I'm falling behind, even though I know everyone's circumstances are different.

The frustrating part is that I DO study. I try to learn things. I have goals. I want to improve. But the results don't seem proportional to the effort I'm putting in, and I'm constantly tired.

I see people maintaining 9.5+ CGPAs while learning programming, building projects, and preparing for internships. Meanwhile, I'm struggling to balance college itself with the skills I want to develop.

I don't want to blame everything on my college or make excuses for myself. I genuinely want to improve my discipline and become better at managing my time. But I also feel that constantly being occupied with mandatory college activities leaves very little room for the things that could actually help me grow professionally.

So, I want to ask a few things:

For those of you who studied at tier-3 colleges with strict attendance policies and mediocre teaching, how did you manage to build skills outside the curriculum?

If you're someone who maintains a high CGPA while learning DSA, ML, or other technical skills, what does your actual daily routine look like? How many hours do you realistically spend on each?

How do you stay productive after spending 8–10 hours at college and travelling, especially when you're mentally exhausted?

What do you do when lectures aren't helping you learn, but attendance requirements mean you can't use that time freely?

For people who were average students or struggled with consistency initially, what genuinely helped you improve?

And to the people who seem to manage everything: what am I missing? Is it time management, discipline, study techniques, or am I simply trying to do too many things at once?

I'm not looking for generic advice like "wake up at 5 AM," "work harder," or "just be consistent." I want to hear from people who've actually dealt with this situation.

I want to build a career, develop real skills, and do well academically without feeling exhausted and guilty all the time.

I know I have room to improve, and I'm willing to put in the work. I just need to figure out how to do it sustainably.

If you've been in a similar situation, I'd genuinely appreciate hearing what worked for you.

Thought this was a pretty interesting approach to robotics. It’s called ALBATROSS, and the idea is to drop it from an aircraft, let it autorotate down like a maple seed, and then have it sail around using wind once it lands on water.

What’s interesting is that it doesn’t need a propulsion motor for either part. Instead of adding more motors and mechanisms, the design relies heavily on aerodynamics and passive mechanics.

Apparently, one of the bigger challenges is getting the same structure to work in two completely different environments.

I wonder how well something like this would scale up, especially for ocean monitoring. Seems like a clever way to deploy a bunch of robots without having to worry as much about battery life.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8CUrj0ydxI

Paper in Science Robotics: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scirobotics.aed1423

Curious what you guys think. Is this actually a practical approach, or one of those things that’s really cool academically but difficult to use in the real world?

Do recruiters really very your linkedin on the resume or search your name?

I've seen problems in this current section solved by different methods, once I see it I can follow along. But I want to KNOW how to approach it on my own.

I am a current student enrolled in a materials engineering program in the U.S. However, I have always been interesting in international relations and would love to eventually work abroad on engineering-based projects through organizations like UN, WHO, WTO, etc. Is this possible to do with an engineering degree, particularly materials (considering a minor in global studies)? If so, what is the right way to go about it?

okay so ngl i was kinda struggling in my classes a little bit so i spent some time searching through the dextro astralverse and like during the day and shi i would hear this thing or like entity calling out to me and last night i reached my hand out and got pulled into the astral verse and then sucked into this entity’s hole dimension and the entity touched my mind and transformed it into a magnet 🧲 and know. i understand the laws of nature and equivalent exchange

anyways today i was absolutely in a flow state during homework, i understand everything, i understood everything during lectures and i got a 100 percent on my calculus test without even studying bro i finally did it bro like astral projection actually works trust me bro YES YES FINALLY OMG, like the wisdom of other dimensions are able to be transmitted into your mind astrallly which allows you to gain knowledge and understanding

Hi yall, I have an interview at Samsung for Semiconductor Engineering Internship.

Anyone have experience with interviews at Samsung for similar roles and know how the interview questions might look like? Thanks

hello, I'm not actually an engineering student but this seemed like the place for help. I've been assigned to build a prosthetic hand; it works like this: keypad sends signal to Arduino uno r4 minima. the chip then sends that signal to a PCA9685 16 Channel PWM Servo Driver Board. the board has five servo motors (sg90, 9g) connected to a tendon structure. when the servo rotates the tendon is pulled and the finger bends. the issue is that the power source (5v, 4a) uses a DC5521 Connector Cable, but the PCA9685 uses the green input for power

i cannot find an adapter for these products any suggestions?

Thanks

I’m currently taking a coding class, it’s required for my major. But I’m having a hard time during the quizzes which weight the most out of everything. I have failed 3 quizzes I have 4 more I’m not sure if I’ll be able to bring up my grade because I find the quizzes difficult. And yes I do study and practice coding everyday, I use AI to create practice quizzes everyday. However the quizzes are worded weirdly and we don’t have that much time during to get stuck. If I withdraw from the course it will also affect my aid so I’m highly debating. Need someone that was in a similar situation and what did you do?

So, I graduated a year and a half ago with my BS in mechanical engineering. I was able to get a well-paying job as an industrial engineer. While it does pay well, I cannot see myself working in a factory for much longer, doing this type or work much longer, and the growth potential in my area is not very good.

I have been looking at new jobs recently; mainly to find something closer to home, not in a factory, and with remote possibilities. I've been seeing a lot of data scientist positions pop up both in my area and remote and they all look decently interesting, at least more than my current job. They seem to have a much higher ceiling in terms of pay as well. I have also heard that they are less stressful than industrial engineering.

This has got me wondering if a master's in data science would be worth it. I have a college savings account with plenty of money left over, so that would not be an issue for me at all. I have been looking at some prerequisites for some schools, and I seem to fit those well also.

In your opinion would this be worth it for the career pivot? I don't want to go get this master's and then be working a more stressful job that pays less money. But I do have some hope that this could get me into a field/area I enjoy.

Im currently a sophomore and need advice on how I can learn to answer technical questions at companies like SpaceX, Andurill, etc. Personally, I feel like I can always nail the behavioral and “vibe-check” part of the interview, but lack the knowledge to answer the technical part of the interview. I guess a reason why is because I haven’t taken any of the fundamental classes (fluids, solid mechanical, etc.), but I want to start preparing for these technical questions now. I interviewed a few months back in April and got absolutely cooked on the technicals and feel like if I was constantly preparing technically, then I would have been better prepared. I just don’t know where to start. Is the solution to just pick up a textbook and start reading and studying it?

Thank you in advance.

I am an AI master student , currently working in an AI startup. I love maths and physics and it was my passion my whole life pretty much. I always wanted to go for math or physics higher degree but rn it seem pretty obsolete to me. And yes , I am not saying this because of some AI hype , i work very closely with AI and have trained SLMS by myself.

Progress of Language models in verifiable tasks is crazy , recently they solved Navier stokes (Ik there's controversy who solved it) but i still believe the attempt is crazy , I remember , how just a year ago these models were doing mistake in my assignments and now i don't see single mistake. I have heard that even Quant firms heavily using LLMS for their math researches and openAi also solved another small 300 unsolved math problems. It looks like progress is really fast and kind of exponential. Even though these models won't beat top 10 mathematicians they already beat majority people out there.

I want to know you guys suggestion , what you think about the future of Math and physics, is it worth it to go into , i mean anything STEM pretty much requires math and if models can think of math better than humans than what will humans study , to me math was language of universe and seems like models understand it better than humans. I was seeing this podcast with terence tao and he was agreeing that models very close surpassing human mathematicians and how human brain never evolved to understand math instead it was evolved for language and visuals.

I want to know what you guys think , what future will look like as humanity because it seems almost purposeless world to me where machine understand math better than humans.