2011-04-08, 10:38 AM
Sup. EE senior here. No biomed experience though. Rambling response incoming.
Don't believe the hype. Pretty much every company I've ever seen looking for interns and entry level employees has a loose standard of wanting a 3.0 GPA or better. Some want a 2.8, some a 3.2. But if I had a 2.5, extracurricular experience in design or research, and could give a solid interview, I could still get hired. Just keep doing what you do, and you'll look great on paper. I got 2.5s in Calc 2 and 4 and a 3.0 in Calc 3. Not so much because I didn't grasp parts of it (although this is true), but because I never did nightly math homework.
Math and science are very important. I would call AP Physics the most valuable class I took in high school. At the same time, we have computers. At this point, I rarely need to do math more complicated than basic integrals, 3x3 matrices, and partial derivatives by hand. It's been a long time since I did an integral by hand that even needed a substitution. I do use a lot of more complicated math though. I need to know how to set up volume integrals and I use Laplace Transforms from Calc 4 in half my classes. But I haven't actually done a Laplace Transform integral since Calc 4. We have tables with common transformations, Matlab, and Wolfram to do that. Most (but not all) of my professors have an attitude of "If there's a big table with all the information you need to know on it, you'll get it on the test and you'd be wasting your time to memorize it".
I do not "love" electrical engineering. I think physics and math in their purer forms are just "okay". I think signal processing and the very hardcore E&M physics can have a stick shoved up their asses. But circuit design and stuff like digital logic and microprocessors? That's fun for me. You won't love every class you take. That would be stupid. What's to love about dry, non-applicable, introductory level math? You'll probably have some classes you despise and have to limp through (ECE 366 :< ) or awful professors that really ruin otherwise interesting material (ECE416 D
. You'll have some classes you do love and enjoy going to and doing work for. But I find most of my classes are just "okay". I have a mildly positive feeling for them and that's enough to keep me going. But when I graduate I can cut the stuff I don't like and aim for a career in the stuff from classes I did like.
This was my last Applied Analog Integrated Circuits homework
I could analyze that by hand and eventually get it right. It might take me hours, but I've learned everything I needed to know at some point. But that would be stupid. Instead, I had to plug it into a circuit simulation program and verify that it works as expected with an altered resistor value. That takes 20 minutes. What did I have to know? I had to predict the response similar to what you see in figure 4, and therefore had to understand how a 555 timer works. All that takes is a little multiplication of resistors and capacitors. The internal schematic of a 555 timer is on the bottom of page one. I know how to analyze transistor circuits, but I've never done one with more than two in it by hand. But if I got a job at Texas Instruments I'd be a kung-fu master of designing circuits like that within a few years.
The important stuff:
I don't think it's that difficult. Time-consuming and challenging, yes, but it's something I can succeed in. I may not be able to speak for you, but that's how I feel.
Always keep it in the back of your head that your intro classes are nothing like your what your upperclassman classes will be like.
Get good at approximating and using reasonable estimates. Get good at having a vague clue of how something works by looking at schematics and designs. Get good at finding and using resources like part data sheets similar to the 555 one I posted. Being an engineering student is about learning how to problem solve, think logically and getting exposed to the very basics in your field. You'll learn the specifics you need on the job and practice them. University is a tour de force of concepts across a broad stretch of subtopics within the overarching area of Electrical/Mechanical/Chemical/etc Engineering.
MSU doesn't have a biomedical major, but a concentration within EE.
http://www.egr.msu.edu/files_egr/MSU_Ele...eering.pdf
Those are our graduation requirements. The biomed info is on page two.
Do the homework, go to lecture, and do any other sort of practice given to you. This isn't hard to do, and is enough to do well in just about everything. "Well" may mean a 3.0 or a 3.5 in some instances. If what you're doing isn't enough, go to office hours and study like a machine, but it's not really necessary for every class you'll ever take.
Don't believe the hype. Pretty much every company I've ever seen looking for interns and entry level employees has a loose standard of wanting a 3.0 GPA or better. Some want a 2.8, some a 3.2. But if I had a 2.5, extracurricular experience in design or research, and could give a solid interview, I could still get hired. Just keep doing what you do, and you'll look great on paper. I got 2.5s in Calc 2 and 4 and a 3.0 in Calc 3. Not so much because I didn't grasp parts of it (although this is true), but because I never did nightly math homework.
Math and science are very important. I would call AP Physics the most valuable class I took in high school. At the same time, we have computers. At this point, I rarely need to do math more complicated than basic integrals, 3x3 matrices, and partial derivatives by hand. It's been a long time since I did an integral by hand that even needed a substitution. I do use a lot of more complicated math though. I need to know how to set up volume integrals and I use Laplace Transforms from Calc 4 in half my classes. But I haven't actually done a Laplace Transform integral since Calc 4. We have tables with common transformations, Matlab, and Wolfram to do that. Most (but not all) of my professors have an attitude of "If there's a big table with all the information you need to know on it, you'll get it on the test and you'd be wasting your time to memorize it".
Quote:Because, it's being a little hard to me to think on such possibility, with everyone saying things like "You must love these subjects, and be just purely excellent to handle the course until it's end, otherwise, you'll get crazy at some point and will quit".hahaohwow.jpg
I do not "love" electrical engineering. I think physics and math in their purer forms are just "okay". I think signal processing and the very hardcore E&M physics can have a stick shoved up their asses. But circuit design and stuff like digital logic and microprocessors? That's fun for me. You won't love every class you take. That would be stupid. What's to love about dry, non-applicable, introductory level math? You'll probably have some classes you despise and have to limp through (ECE 366 :< ) or awful professors that really ruin otherwise interesting material (ECE416 D
. You'll have some classes you do love and enjoy going to and doing work for. But I find most of my classes are just "okay". I have a mildly positive feeling for them and that's enough to keep me going. But when I graduate I can cut the stuff I don't like and aim for a career in the stuff from classes I did like.This was my last Applied Analog Integrated Circuits homework
I could analyze that by hand and eventually get it right. It might take me hours, but I've learned everything I needed to know at some point. But that would be stupid. Instead, I had to plug it into a circuit simulation program and verify that it works as expected with an altered resistor value. That takes 20 minutes. What did I have to know? I had to predict the response similar to what you see in figure 4, and therefore had to understand how a 555 timer works. All that takes is a little multiplication of resistors and capacitors. The internal schematic of a 555 timer is on the bottom of page one. I know how to analyze transistor circuits, but I've never done one with more than two in it by hand. But if I got a job at Texas Instruments I'd be a kung-fu master of designing circuits like that within a few years.
The important stuff:
I don't think it's that difficult. Time-consuming and challenging, yes, but it's something I can succeed in. I may not be able to speak for you, but that's how I feel.
Always keep it in the back of your head that your intro classes are nothing like your what your upperclassman classes will be like.
Get good at approximating and using reasonable estimates. Get good at having a vague clue of how something works by looking at schematics and designs. Get good at finding and using resources like part data sheets similar to the 555 one I posted. Being an engineering student is about learning how to problem solve, think logically and getting exposed to the very basics in your field. You'll learn the specifics you need on the job and practice them. University is a tour de force of concepts across a broad stretch of subtopics within the overarching area of Electrical/Mechanical/Chemical/etc Engineering.
MSU doesn't have a biomedical major, but a concentration within EE.
http://www.egr.msu.edu/files_egr/MSU_Ele...eering.pdf
Those are our graduation requirements. The biomed info is on page two.
Do the homework, go to lecture, and do any other sort of practice given to you. This isn't hard to do, and is enough to do well in just about everything. "Well" may mean a 3.0 or a 3.5 in some instances. If what you're doing isn't enough, go to office hours and study like a machine, but it's not really necessary for every class you'll ever take.