WTF Should I do with all this shit college I have?

[Don Coyote]

So I've been taking college classes since I left high school. Nothing major, nothing full time. I figured that since I can get the Army to pay for my college while I am still in it would give me a leg up when I leave I can use the GI Bill.
Now I find myself with soon to be 77 credits of college, of which only 30 out of 90 will count towards this AS so I can have a good basis for a Engineering BS. But do I really want to have over half of my prior college count for nothing? I guess I could have a minor in ceramic art.

[Elder Iptuous]

sounds familiar.
while i was living in Austin being young and dumb with the wife after highschool i went to various community colleges and racked up credits in various prerequisites.
when i screwed my head on and decided to seriously persue a formal education (also in engineering), i had a shitfuckstack of hollow credits...
oh well.
what can you do?
i mean what are your options here?

[Don Coyote]

sounds familiar.
while i was living in Austin being young and dumb with the wife after highschool i went to various community colleges and racked up credits in various prerequisites.
when i screwed my head on and decided to seriously persue a formal education (also in engineering), i had a shitfuckstack of hollow credits...
oh well.
what can you do?
i mean what are your options here?

Curl up and die while crying in the dark cutting myself listen to emo
Or suck it up and shovel through the preqs. And hope that I don't end up sucking at being an engineer.
Or go back to fine arts/graphic design.  /wrists

[Elder Iptuous]

Curl up and die while crying in the dark cutting myself listen to emo
Or suck it up and shovel through the preqs. And hope that I don't end up sucking at being an engineer.
Or go back to fine arts/graphic design.  /wrists

did you suck at being a fine/arts graphic design person?
cause if so, i'd go with option two.
what kind of engineering are you looking at?

[Don Coyote]

Curl up and die while crying in the dark cutting myself listen to emo
Or suck it up and shovel through the preqs. And hope that I don't end up sucking at being an engineer.
Or go back to fine arts/graphic design.  /wrists

did you suck at being a fine/arts graphic design person?
cause if so, i'd go with option two.
what kind of engineering are you looking at?

I didn't suck, but I also didn't want to end up saddled with a BA that could get a job flipping burgers or...ya. I'm ok at design work, I just don't have that spark that seems to compel artists to create art. Some of my art classes and most of my graphics design classes were taken for the technical skills than the need to create art.
Examples of my work. http://lord-cudgel.deviantart.com/ Ignore all the photography. Never took a class on it in my life and I just mostly fucking around.

mechanical, industrial, manufacturing type engineering. I want to make STUFF.    I am at heart a frustrated blacksmith/metal-worker.

[Adios]

Curl up and die while crying in the dark cutting myself listen to emo
Or suck it up and shovel through the preqs. And hope that I don't end up sucking at being an engineer.
Or go back to fine arts/graphic design.  /wrists

did you suck at being a fine/arts graphic design person?
cause if so, i'd go with option two.
what kind of engineering are you looking at?

I didn't suck, but I also didn't want to end up saddled with a BA that could get a job flipping burgers or...ya. I'm ok at design work, I just don't have that spark that seems to compel artists to create art. Some of my art classes and most of my graphics design classes were taken for the technical skills than the need to create art.
Examples of my work. http://lord-cudgel.deviantart.com/ Ignore all the photography. Never took a class on it in my life and I just mostly fucking around.

mechanical, industrial, manufacturing type engineering. I want to make STUFF.    I am at heart a frustrated blacksmith/metal-worker.

Then do it for love.

[Elder Iptuous]

Metal sculpture...
sounds like a blast.
i'd do it too if i was sure i could support my family on it.
it seems you have to be willing to take decent risks and live on little in order to make it as a craftsman these days.
hell, even though i'm 'an engineer' i'm not doing shit for engineering at my job, really.  i've got to do that on my own time...

[Don Coyote]

Ya I have this powerful need to eat, and ya not really good money in the kind of 'sculpture' I want to do.

[Suu]

Do you want to know what I did with the shit college I had before?


...turned it into transfer credits, covered half of my electives/gen eds and started the fuck over.

[Shibboleet The Annihilator]

So I've been taking college classes since I left high school. Nothing major, nothing full time. I figured that since I can get the Army to pay for my college while I am still in it would give me a leg up when I leave I can use the GI Bill.
Now I find myself with soon to be 77 credits of college, of which only 30 out of 90 will count towards this AS so I can have a good basis for a Engineering BS. But do I really want to have over half of my prior college count for nothing? I guess I could have a minor in ceramic art.

Talk to advisers from different schools and see what you've already done can count for. I ended up with 2 degrees because I found out a bunch of my earlier coursework met the requirements for another major. As long as one of your degrees is practical, don't worry much about the other one. Do it for fun even. It will make you look like a well rounded person and multiple degrees can make you stand out when applying for a job.

[E.O.T.]

Curl up and die while crying in the dark cutting myself listen to emo
Or suck it up and shovel through the preqs. And hope that I don't end up sucking at being an engineer.
Or go back to fine arts/graphic design.  /wrists

did you suck at being a fine/arts graphic design person?
cause if so, i'd go with option two.
what kind of engineering are you looking at?

I didn't suck, but I also didn't want to end up saddled with a BA that could get a job flipping burgers or...ya. I'm ok at design work, I just don't have that spark that seems to compel artists to create art. Some of my art classes and most of my graphics design classes were taken for the technical skills than the need to create art.
Examples of my work. http://lord-cudgel.deviantart.com/ Ignore all the photography. Never took a class on it in my life and I just mostly fucking around.

mechanical, industrial, manufacturing type engineering. I want to make STUFF.    I am at heart a frustrated blacksmith/metal-worker.

Then do it for love.

THIS!!!

          the idea that education ought to be for a career distracts from the point (comparative religions/ poetry & philosophy major here:HA) - there's just always more to learn.

SHIT

          just start making stuff, after a few years you can start teaching other folks who want to know how it's done.

[Disco Pickle]

Curl up and die while crying in the dark cutting myself listen to emo
Or suck it up and shovel through the preqs. And hope that I don't end up sucking at being an engineer.
Or go back to fine arts/graphic design.  /wrists

did you suck at being a fine/arts graphic design person?
cause if so, i'd go with option two.
what kind of engineering are you looking at?

I didn't suck, but I also didn't want to end up saddled with a BA that could get a job flipping burgers or...ya. I'm ok at design work, I just don't have that spark that seems to compel artists to create art. Some of my art classes and most of my graphics design classes were taken for the technical skills than the need to create art.
Examples of my work. http://lord-cudgel.deviantart.com/ Ignore all the photography. Never took a class on it in my life and I just mostly fucking around.

mechanical, industrial, manufacturing type engineering. I want to make STUFF.    I am at heart a frustrated blacksmith/metal-worker.

What sort of background do you have in this area?  are you wanting to specialize?  Sheet metal is my forte, but the software being used in the field really allows you to do almost anything mechanical design wise.  It'll even do stress tests for you.

I am fortunate in that, without even an engineering degree, a friend of a friend took me on my word that I knew enough Autocad to learn the sheet metal trade within a month.  I proved him right, and have been working in it ever since.  Even when they had to lay me off due to the recession, they recommended me to a company that sends them a lot of money, so now I'm actually learning electrical engineering from a bunch of guys that never got there EE cert either.

I say, if you want to create stuff, then get your hands on some of the cheaper or freeware options out there (and while I would never publicly endorse pirating, it's not like any of the major players are going to make too much money off their outdated and no longer supported versions)

create, create, create..  build a library of your own parts and build a portfolio of things you're created that can be fed to a CAM system or waterjet table.  When you go apply for a job in this field, bring your thumb drive with your work examples converted to a common format.

Oh, and if you haven't yet learned, teach yourself common drafting standards. 

This has been the most valuable thing I've taught myself over the last 5 years I've been in the field.

[Don Coyote]

Curl up and die while crying in the dark cutting myself listen to emo
Or suck it up and shovel through the preqs. And hope that I don't end up sucking at being an engineer.
Or go back to fine arts/graphic design.  /wrists

did you suck at being a fine/arts graphic design person?
cause if so, i'd go with option two.
what kind of engineering are you looking at?

I didn't suck, but I also didn't want to end up saddled with a BA that could get a job flipping burgers or...ya. I'm ok at design work, I just don't have that spark that seems to compel artists to create art. Some of my art classes and most of my graphics design classes were taken for the technical skills than the need to create art.
Examples of my work. http://lord-cudgel.deviantart.com/ Ignore all the photography. Never took a class on it in my life and I just mostly fucking around.

mechanical, industrial, manufacturing type engineering. I want to make STUFF.    I am at heart a frustrated blacksmith/metal-worker.

What sort of background do you have in this area?  are you wanting to specialize?  Sheet metal is my forte, but the software being used in the field really allows you to do almost anything mechanical design wise.  It'll even do stress tests for you.

I am fortunate in that, without even an engineering degree, a friend of a friend took me on my word that I knew enough Autocad to learn the sheet metal trade within a month.  I proved him right, and have been working in it ever since.  Even when they had to lay me off due to the recession, they recommended me to a company that sends them a lot of money, so now I'm actually learning electrical engineering from a bunch of guys that never got there EE cert either.

I say, if you want to create stuff, then get your hands on some of the cheaper or freeware options out there (and while I would never publicly endorse pirating, it's not like any of the major players are going to make too much money off their outdated and no longer supported versions)

create, create, create..  build a library of your own parts and build a portfolio of things you're created that can be fed to a CAM system or waterjet table.  When you go apply for a job in this field, bring your thumb drive with your work examples converted to a common format.

Oh, and if you haven't yet learned, teach yourself common drafting standards. 

This has been the most valuable thing I've taught myself over the last 5 years I've been in the field.

as of 2007 I had a working knowledge of AutoCad and Rhino3D. I had a very basic knowledge of Solid Works. I used to know most of the FANUC style G-codes, and could do simple CNC programs by hand, and look at more complex CAD/CAM derived ones and know where to make changes by hand. I at one point used to know how to sheet metal layout by hand. I know how to allow for the thickness of materials when laying out sheet metal bu sheared and then bent. I can operate engine lathes/mills. Operate a press brake. Operate manual punch presses, and layout holes correctly. I wish I remembered the program my last boss used to turn autocad files into CNC programs, but I was optimizing the way he did it for his big CNC punch press. I can draft by hand. I know how to dimension said sketches correctly and clearly. I know when to fudge the drawings so that the correct dimensions are displayed even if the drawing itself has incorrect dimensions. I can also weld.

[Disco Pickle]

Curl up and die while crying in the dark cutting myself listen to emo
Or suck it up and shovel through the preqs. And hope that I don't end up sucking at being an engineer.
Or go back to fine arts/graphic design.  /wrists

did you suck at being a fine/arts graphic design person?
cause if so, i'd go with option two.
what kind of engineering are you looking at?

I didn't suck, but I also didn't want to end up saddled with a BA that could get a job flipping burgers or...ya. I'm ok at design work, I just don't have that spark that seems to compel artists to create art. Some of my art classes and most of my graphics design classes were taken for the technical skills than the need to create art.
Examples of my work. http://lord-cudgel.deviantart.com/ Ignore all the photography. Never took a class on it in my life and I just mostly fucking around.

mechanical, industrial, manufacturing type engineering. I want to make STUFF.    I am at heart a frustrated blacksmith/metal-worker.

What sort of background do you have in this area?  are you wanting to specialize?  Sheet metal is my forte, but the software being used in the field really allows you to do almost anything mechanical design wise.  It'll even do stress tests for you.

I am fortunate in that, without even an engineering degree, a friend of a friend took me on my word that I knew enough Autocad to learn the sheet metal trade within a month.  I proved him right, and have been working in it ever since.  Even when they had to lay me off due to the recession, they recommended me to a company that sends them a lot of money, so now I'm actually learning electrical engineering from a bunch of guys that never got there EE cert either.

I say, if you want to create stuff, then get your hands on some of the cheaper or freeware options out there (and while I would never publicly endorse pirating, it's not like any of the major players are going to make too much money off their outdated and no longer supported versions)

create, create, create..  build a library of your own parts and build a portfolio of things you're created that can be fed to a CAM system or waterjet table.  When you go apply for a job in this field, bring your thumb drive with your work examples converted to a common format.

Oh, and if you haven't yet learned, teach yourself common drafting standards. 

This has been the most valuable thing I've taught myself over the last 5 years I've been in the field.

as of 2007 I had a working knowledge of AutoCad and Rhino3D. I had a very basic knowledge of Solid Works. I used to know most of the FANUC style G-codes, and could do simple CNC programs by hand, and look at more complex CAD/CAM derived ones and know where to make changes by hand. I at one point used to know how to sheet metal layout by hand. I know how to allow for the thickness of materials when laying out sheet metal bu sheared and then bent. I can operate engine lathes/mills. Operate a press brake. Operate manual punch presses, and layout holes correctly. I wish I remembered the program my last boss used to turn autocad files into CNC programs, but I was optimizing the way he did it for his big CNC punch press. I can draft by hand. I know how to dimension said sketches correctly and clearly. I know when to fudge the drawings so that the correct dimensions are displayed even if the drawing itself has incorrect dimensions. I can also weld.

fuck man, if you know all of that and you're not currently in the industry, you must be in the wrong part of the country.   My shop is sending metal work to local and instate shops than we know what to do with and is only just now flirting with letting me do our own sheet metal patterns with Solid Edge to save on the design time it takes the metal shops to produce their own models.  I just finished a 10 section enclosure that will be sent to a shop that usually does all their own pattern creation based on 2D cad drawings.  The upside is we get a lower price..  the downside is any errors in design become my problem, as I'm the only Solid Edge guy they have ever had, even though they've had a seat for 4 years.

My attention to detail has become much more acute, being that my job is on the line if I fuck something up royally.

My advice:  Programming CAM is a decent pursuit for now, but the tech is moving toward removing the thinking from the floor.  The trend I am seeing is to have the guy sitting at the desk design it and feed the file to the machine.  The machine knows what to do based on what the file says, and the most any company might need is a monkey to flip the part or press a button.

We had a press break company come demo some of their newest equip last year and it was basically that.  The designer makes the part in his software of choice, exports it to DXF with break lines, and transmits it to the machine..  the visual display walks the monkey operating the machine through all of the steps needed to create the part.

+1 for removing errors in manufacturing..   -1 for teaching everyone on your production floor about how to actually operate a press break.

as far as machining of parts goes, I realize there will be a need for high tolerance subtractive machining in certain industries for decades to come, until additive machining becomes a viable reality, but this is also becoming so automated that you're better off focusing on the software used to create the models rather than the process the machines use, unless you want to be a CNC operator. 

Doesn't sound like your forte, but it might get you a toe in the door.

[Don Coyote]

I joined the Army in '07, that is why I am not currently working in Industry.

I've been the green button pressing monkey when I was going to college to learn to be CNC programmer(because blacksmithing is bit hard to go to college for unless you want to go to some really ridiculous art college which would have been way out my pocket-book's range) when I realized that the further away you are from the floor the more potential income you have. At that point I went over to Design and Manufacturing at my last college. Only reason I had to switch majors is my old college wasn't returning my emails and the Army won't pay for college unless you have a degree plan on record, and the education center wanted a course plan on college letter head from the college, not a printout. So I decided fuck it and shot for the moon to be an engineer.