University Grads - A quick question
- Thread starter KaHn
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So you've personally interviewed every student at those universities?
Nearly half of full time students are mature and almost all part time students.
The Chem Eng courses change quite a bit from university to university. Obviously core modules are the same, but the optional modules are quite far-reaching. I think I'll agree slightly in that there's not much choice; I remember from my MEng (at Sheffield Uni) that we had all compulsory modules in the first two years, 20 credits optional in the third and 40 credits optional in the fourth years. Here at Cambridge it's about the same in terms of choice, but the compulsory modules are a little different - this is mainly due to the way that Cambridge does Chem Eng (first year is Engineering or Natural Sciences, and then you change to Chem Eng as a choice for second year onwards). An example is that my research area is Computational Fluid Dynamics; at Sheffield this is a compulsory module whereas in Cambridge it's optional (and very few people do it).
I chose Chem Eng because it was what I was interested in (Physics, Maths, Chemistry) and I knew that any form of Engineering would lead to a good career. I wasn't expecting to stay on for a PhD and (most likely) academia though - just how things have turned out!
Apparently Chem Eng is worst than most with regard to module choice as the IChemE have so many compulsory modules there isn't normally much free space in the timetable to have optional modules. Well that's what our lecturers used to say anyway.
Obviously there will always some options but compared to something like Mech Eng it's tiny.
i picked a subject i loved at school and i'm happy i did, i'm not on a placement year with a well known design company in london, loving it, so laid back and cool, very pleased with my choice, but i did work my ass off this year to ensure i was one of the best in my class and i have achieved the best placement out of my coursemates by far.
I think so - but the fact is that Chem Eng is such a wide-reaching discipline that you've got to do many compulsory subjects in order to get a basic grounding to go into any process engineering field. All courses will involve fluid dynamics, heat/mass transfer, equipment design, safety, mathematics, computer simulation, combustion/fuel/oil&gas tech, biotech and renewables stuff in some form. From my time as an undergrad (120 credits/year) I had no optional modules in the first or second years, two courses (20 credits) in the third year and four courses (40 credits) in my MEng year. The trick is selecting good optional choices - by the third/fourth year stage most people just choose what is going to be easy. I took on the tougher ones (nuclear reactor engineering, particle-capturing equipment design etc) and found them very rewarding.
I didn't realise Mech Eng was quite so free - it's difficult to judge in Cambridge because they do general engineering as opposed to specific disciplines, with the exception of Chem Eng which is 1st year Engineering/Natural Sciences and then 2/3 "specialised" years.
My undergrad at Sheffield was:
Year 1: compulsory - 120 credits
Year 2: compulsory - 120 credits
Year 3: compulsory - 100 credits, optional - 20 credits
MEng year: compulsory - 80 credits, optional - 40 credits
Chem Eng is so broad that you have to cover a lot of bases. It also means you have to do stuff like microbial biology, production of monoclonal antibodies etc which is more tricky when you gave up biology at 16 like most others
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The only optional module I had was one 6 credit one in my final year (4th year of MEng).
You could also choose to do Biochemical engineering, where you did a few more bio related modules in the final year instead of some of the Chem Eng ones.
Obviously we did a lot of project work as well where you had choice, but ultimately the report/project structure was fairly similar, just on a different area/topic.
I have always been the techie/engineering type ever since I was a young n'. Playing with things, taking things apart, putting them back together modified, creating new things etc.
But I wanted to be a fighter pilot! But but but but butbtubtutbt my eyesight went. I cried!
I knew I wanted to go into an engineering field around GCSE time, but by the time it came to A-levels I had the sensible part of me saying to do the Engineering side I liked but get into something with more money, be it banking or finance. I kept up withthe Engineering side of things and then got on a Grad Scheme 6 months after graduating.
3 years down the line I left there to take a break from Railway as it really wasn't what I wanted to stay in as it was terribly boring and not in any way secure. Spent 6 months having holidays and relaxing doing things I wanted to do and was eventually contacted by my now Manager at my current company and there was my route into the O&G sector. I'm happy now as the work is varied, exciting, problematic, mental and the pay is excellent compared to any other Engineering sector. The possibilities and earnings potential are also limitless and have removed the need to worry about finance/banking.
Next, I want to become a racing driver and retire
But I wanted to be a fighter pilot! But but but but butbtubtutbt my eyesight went. I cried!
I knew I wanted to go into an engineering field around GCSE time, but by the time it came to A-levels I had the sensible part of me saying to do the Engineering side I liked but get into something with more money, be it banking or finance. I kept up withthe Engineering side of things and then got on a Grad Scheme 6 months after graduating.
3 years down the line I left there to take a break from Railway as it really wasn't what I wanted to stay in as it was terribly boring and not in any way secure. Spent 6 months having holidays and relaxing doing things I wanted to do and was eventually contacted by my now Manager at my current company and there was my route into the O&G sector. I'm happy now as the work is varied, exciting, problematic, mental and the pay is excellent compared to any other Engineering sector. The possibilities and earnings potential are also limitless and have removed the need to worry about finance/banking.
Next, I want to become a racing driver and retire
Sounds like you got it a little rough, but then again I had to do biochemical engineering modules (one each year) so I suppose that balances it out
Bath.
Im doing something similar to this. When I first went to uni I couldnt ever imagine myself being a structural engineer for the oil and gas industry, but here I am! Although outside of Aberdeen there isnt much jobs for structural engineers.
I use a fair bit in my day to day job, not so much finite element analysis though.
Originally applied to be an ABM (aerospace battle manager) in the RAF after finishing college, got through majority of the interviews etc but as OASC (the big selection weekend) I got caught up on my medical because I was prescribed an inhaler to see if it would make any difference to my hayfever... obviously the RAF saw this as a big no no and I was told to come back in 4 years time.
So took a nice old gap year and now at Nottingham Trent (yeah i know ex poly blah blah) studying information and communication science, passed my first year with a 1st and can't wait for my second year now
So took a nice old gap year and now at Nottingham Trent (yeah i know ex poly blah blah) studying information and communication science, passed my first year with a 1st and can't wait for my second year now
I picked CS and knew I'd like to do CS/Networky stuff despite the fact that I'd consistantly been really bad at IT (worst GCSE) and Computing (did poorly at A2 in comparison to other subjects). My teachers speculated that I loved the field but hated the work which is fairly true - I could do basic VB stuff around GCSE when I was being told like many to circle the mouse etc... I always loved problem solving, math, logic puzzles etc... I knew the field I wanted to be in.
While my previous grades where pretty appauling I got a first at a fairly decent uni - no Russell group but top 20 in CS at the time and went into telecoms through a grad scheme. I use a lot of the stuff I was taught every day from RISC processing to network design, I'm happy with the path I chose.
While my previous grades where pretty appauling I got a first at a fairly decent uni - no Russell group but top 20 in CS at the time and went into telecoms through a grad scheme. I use a lot of the stuff I was taught every day from RISC processing to network design, I'm happy with the path I chose.
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Yeah when I was at high school I wanted to help people with computer support. My grandad was into IT so that was my push. And from that, 2 years of college, 4 years of uni and now I am doing what I wanted to do. Front line desktop support. And I love it!
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I chose History as it was something I enjoyed/gave me a good skillset.
Something I enjoyed. Hasn't given me any career advantage tbh, not yet anyway, depending if I decide to go in to an area of that industry. I don't regret it and still really enjoyed the course/experience.
Looking back I'd change my choices of GCSE's/A-levels/Degree if I could, hindsight eh?
Looking back I'd change my choices of GCSE's/A-levels/Degree if I could, hindsight eh?
I chose what and where to study with the following thought process:
- No definite idea on what I wanted to do after university, but I knew I enjoyed all of my A-Levels (Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, Physics)
- I was fortunate that I was a straight A candidate so most universities/courses were an option for me
- I picked Imperial because it had a great reputation and I liked the idea of studying in London and it had good employment rates for its graduates
- I picked chemistry for no definite reason really.
I think with hindsight now I would still pick Imperial, but would chose a different course such as computer science or an engineering subject as I think my skills are better suited to that than Chemistry.
To top it all, I don't work in anything related to my degree, but that is true of almost everyone I know from university.
- No definite idea on what I wanted to do after university, but I knew I enjoyed all of my A-Levels (Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry, Physics)
- I was fortunate that I was a straight A candidate so most universities/courses were an option for me
- I picked Imperial because it had a great reputation and I liked the idea of studying in London and it had good employment rates for its graduates
- I picked chemistry for no definite reason really.
I think with hindsight now I would still pick Imperial, but would chose a different course such as computer science or an engineering subject as I think my skills are better suited to that than Chemistry.
To top it all, I don't work in anything related to my degree, but that is true of almost everyone I know from university.
I went for something I liked doing. Then just before starting realised it was a waste of time. Reapplied and did something I hadn't done before, knew nothing about but knew there was money in it. Now it seems that I should have done something more generic since I've been asked a few times 'Is that a real degree?', in job interviews.
I was in a very similar position to you when I applied for Universities (although I did the IB, so I did maths, physics, chemistry, geography, English lit. & French lit.) which is why I went for Chem Eng, as it lets you keep learning about all of the maths/physics/chemistry. Backfired when I had to do bio stuff
Chemistry from Imperial I'm sure will get you into many places - what do you work in if it's not related to your degree? Management/auditing stuff? (I say this as I know a few chemists who went to the likes of PwC, Fujitsu etc.)It's mglover, he's a know it all, that is why he believes a Law degree is harder than Computer Games Design course.
There was quite a few older students at my Uni, but thought it rude to inquire why they were there.
I picked an electrical and electronic engineering, as I was looking for an engineering degree, and had a thing for electronics so the decision was easy.
Also i thought engineering had good prospects, as i was told there were a lack of engineers, so finding a job should be easier. I guess it all worked out, as i now have a job in telecoms, as a systems engineer.
Looking back maybe is should have done a Computer Science degree, as i do enjoy programming, but over all i did enjoy my engineering degree.
Also i thought engineering had good prospects, as i was told there were a lack of engineers, so finding a job should be easier. I guess it all worked out, as i now have a job in telecoms, as a systems engineer.
Looking back maybe is should have done a Computer Science degree, as i do enjoy programming, but over all i did enjoy my engineering degree.