Hi yall i was wondering if any of the engineers from here in Texas could give a young guy some advice. Currently im a sophomore in Lamar University in Beaumont TX and im seeking a BS degree in mechanical engineering.

I have a good gpa in the 3.3 range and also work at an autozone at the same time but will quit once I begin taking junior and senior classes. My question is would yall recomend that i stay here in this university or go to a more recognized one like say UT or Texas A&M for my junior and senior years and get a degree from them. Now the university im at right now seems to have a good rep with the refineries in the South East Texas region and is also ABET accredited.

So what do you guys think any info or suggested are greatly appreciated thanks.

 

Depends on what you are looking for. I graduated from TAMU in college station with an BS EE. When I was job shopping university counted for some but experience and attitude were also a big thing. Aggie network is strong loyal and does work when you are job hunting if you happen to bump into a fellow ag at a place you are seeking employment. My experiences.

 

A&M WHOOP! im also in the process of getting my ME degree, but im at a&m, my dad's an ag as well(owns a fairly good sized engineering firm in houston), and he much prefers students from UT/A&M of other big name schools, as compared to U-of-H/Lamar or something like that, because they just simply work harder, and know what they are doing/catch on SO much faster. not always, but that is the general consensus he's reached.

 

thanks for the info yall from the looks of it I might try to transfer to one of the more recognized universities to get my degree from and any other info is also appreciated

 

You cant stereotype a person's work ethic because of what school they go to. I just finished my 4th year as an ME student at UNT and we have a great program but not everyone has the same work ethic. The Peterbilt plant in Denton recruits most of their engineers from UNT and they visit our class' on ocassion. My junior year they came into one of my classes and they told us that they would rather hire someone that maybe struggled at first in college then pulled themselves out that is very personable with common sense rather than someone with a 4.0 that is only booksmart. I have a friend from high school that went to westpoint that busts his *** studying 24/7 but the kid has absolutely no common sense, if you dont have common sense and only booksmarts then your not going anywhere. Sure A&M and UT are probably the top 2 schools in the state but just because you go to those schools doesnt mean someone else isnt better for the job.

 

Initially, where you went to school may impact whether or not you land the badass first job you wanted. But in time, your experience and references will tell employers who's who.

 

Most sensible response.

 

Don’t get me wrong school is good but you will realize that your employer knows you know almost nothing about your job when you come out of school.

In time the degree is just a piece of paper and experience is what matters.

I think It helps going to a good school to get the better first job, but don’t go out and spend a *** load of cash to change schools because you are going to start out entry level like 99% of engineers and you WILL need to change jobs in 3 to 5 years so you can get your big pay bump.


My advice is to find a first job that you travel or work with other companies on a regular basis so you can meet other engineers and make connections so in a couple years when you are looking for that new job/pay bump you have a good chance of getting a cherry job that you can stick with.


Oh and If you can find a position that pays by the hour with OT take it!

 

Guys, I’ve been in aerospace for 25 years. I am a senior level Mechanical design engineer at Lockheed Martin Aero in Fort Worth. I guess I am one of those common sense Engineers. I would say we have a equal number of Aggies, Horns, UTA, Razorbacks etc. Believe me it takes both Book worms and common sense engineers to get the best products developed. As for getting a job that pays by the hour with ot that is called "Job Shopping" or contract engineering in my field. I have done Both direct and contract during my career. Most large companies are going to be salaried based and only pay ot at the base hourly rate. Not 1 1/2. Lockheed Martin is a great Company with great benefits. If any of you are interested in the Aerospace business shoot me a resume I'll see what I can do. They have college programs were they bring college people in for summer and intern positions with offers to hire once the person has graduated. This is a great program because it gives the young person a chance to see what it is really like before they choose to be hired or not. Lockheed is also big on hiring young engineers right now because they are top heavy with old farts like me and are recruiting for the future. If I have any advice for you young guys it is this, work for a smaller company if you really want to use that engineering knowledge that you are being trained for. Larger companies like the one I work at hire young folks like you and basically turn them into Draftsmen at least for the first part of their career. And they soon loose that knowledge they were trained for. Unless you get in the stress or loads group (the book worms) you want be using much of that degree knowledge. and no you want be designing airplanes you will be designing parts for airplanes. It is not all glory. I have seen that sparkle in the eyes of a new hire college grad fade quickly when the reality of this business hits them in the face. Don’t get me wrong I once had that sparkle too. I must say that I have had some really challenging and rewarding assignments and have no regrets but I’m just trying to say that ever day isn’t like that. It can be very repetitive work most of the time. As for what college you get your degree at I don’t think that is very important unless you are a MIT grad or something of that nature with a masters or doctorate and are being recruited for future management positions.
Good luck to all of you in what ever engineering field you choose.
Rocky

 

I'd say stay where you're at, but I'm not biased or anything.



I just picked that up last month. Word of warning, your sophomore/junior classes at Lamar will be the hardest time you spend there. I thought I was going to lose my mind, but I made it. You will learn that networking with your fellow ME students is the only way to get though with any kind of sanity/GPA.

I would get in as much co-op experience as you possibly can. I worked for 2 different companies at 4 different plants and that is more important than anything. I worked with people from A&M, UT, U of Illinois, etc. The only perceptible difference between the schools is the changing accents.

 

Here is my .02c

I would have to say that you might want to think about also getting some experience chalked up with that degree...
So with that being said, you might want to figure out where you can get a job, or get a helper type position assisting in eng. field you are going into, as the degree looks good, but employers now a days are also looking for the on hands on work you have done, with the addition of you degree......

I have seen it at my company I work at.. we have alot of engineers, but NONE of them are out of school..
We have had some just out of school guys in here, but they dont have the experience so they dont last long.

 

My dad hires engineers all the time and he tells me its not always about the school. If you have a good GPA and have a good interview it almost doesn't matter what school you went to. One thing though, you might think about getting your masters because you start with more money and get hired a lot quicker (especially in this economic time).

 

stick with it!

Lamar is fine when it comes to an ME degree... just try to land an internship

 

good thing you're still in school during these tough times.

in the EPC busniess it's hard to get engineering and procurment jobs right now.

projects should start picking up by the end of the year and be in full force by the middle of next year. expeditors, engineers, buyers and drafters are being laid off left and right.

in 2 years, when you graduate, i hope it will be super easy for you.

i've worked at CDI Engineering and at Jacobs Engineering. same ****, different pile.

 

very true to a point, the school on your diploma does NOT say anything about YOU specifically, and yes common sense is very important. first look though, and an employer is going to go with the applicant that has the credentials that are most similar to his best employees. my dad has hired from UT, A&M, UofH, san jac, lamar, M.I.T., and more i cant remember. and more often then not, those with degree's from the higher ranked/more recognized schools worked harder and smarter, and have become great employees. BUT, the guy from MIT, total slacker/no common sense like you said, and we have a couple of guys from U of H that are doing very well/work hard, so yes there are ALWAYS exceptions, i was just stating the trend we have found over the last 10 years at our engineering firm.

 

There's bad people from good schools and good people from bad schools (and everything in between). As someone pointed out earlier, the degree gets you in the door, but what you do after that is what determines your success. Quite honestly, over the years I've seen some people (although it doesn't happen often) that don't even have a degree that worked their way up through the company and can do the job better than any degreed engineer.

 

in my limited experience in the EPC business i can atest to this.

saw a guy go from making $18/hr in document control to $45/hr as a drafter. hadn't even graduated or anything.

another guy expedited for 4 or 5 years and now is an electrical designer.