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What Pat said about Grad school being tougher is right, sort of. I didn't do quite as well as you, but then I never thought I "struggled." I just tried to put up with the mental torture that is engineering school.
As for grad school being toughter, that all depends on what classes you take and how many a semester. The first semester I took 4 classes, it just about killed me. The next semester I took 3, but I spent 80% of my time doing the homework for one class. Part of my problem was that after 4 years of UG and playing football, I was sick of putting in the academmic "work." I don't know about you, but when I started grad school I didn;t have the interest in putting in 16 hour days anymore. To me grad school was kind of like a half way house, you get paid by the university to do a job, although the job is very similar to what you paid the university to do just a year before; except I went home around 5 pm every day. After the first year, I was so sick of "school" that even the thought of stepping into the engineering building just pissed me off. Fortunately, I was only one class and a Thesis away from getting the heck out of there; so I sucked it up and finished.
Now I had a buddy there that also played football as an UG, but he was a slick character. Most of the classes he took were review of classes he had as an UG. Plus, he managed to get the Army Corp of Engineers to hire him (rather difficult to do) and send hime to Cambrdige,England to do his thesis! The S.O.B. managed to graduate with a 4.0, even though our advisor sadi he wasn't as "smart" as the rest of us (not saying he wasn't smart, he is VERY smart). Then the same buddy gets sent back to Cambridge by the corp to get his PhD. The great thing about that deal is the government pays for it and in England you don't take classes you just do research, boy that's what I needed. The grad school classes sucked!!!
My wife on the other hand worked very hard in grad school, but seemed to have an easier time with it. Maybe it was her perspective, maybe it was the department was a little easier (not likely).
As for the professors, be carefull. Pick one that is doing something you are interested in but, make sure you get along with him (like Pat said). Gread school WILL really suck if you professor is a real A$%hole! One thing I learned REAL quick in grad school is the PhD's (professors, post-docs and students finishing up their disertation) tand to be one-trick ponies. For instnace they might be wizards at theoretical fluid dynamics with upteen papers, books, etc. But they might not be able to tie their own shoes. That's not quite true, everyone at school could tie their schoes, but you get the point. I'm sure you have seen it as an UG.
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Would I do grad school again? Hell yes! It sure beats the "REAL" world, and most comapnies that will hire you give you more money, even though the specific things you learned in grad school you probably will NEVER use again. The good thing about grad school is it does teach you even more about thinking like an engineer as well as thinking about problems on your own, since that is basically what your thesis work will be.
posted by 192.132....
, Tue, 26 Feb 2002 08:49:28
, Tue, 26 Feb 2002 06:36:41
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