Hey! I was reading somewhere that engineering has one of the highest dropout rates of any major. At one school, just 36% of those who entered as engineering majors graduated with the major. However, Columbia U has something like a 96% graduation rate for eng majors. The dean thinks it's because Columbia's program puts a lot of focus on application of what the students are learning; it shows them the real world ties. Do you see USC doing the same? Thanks!
Interesting, bc i talk about theory vs. applications all of the time with people.
This is only my second semester at USC Columbia, and i’ve received more engineering experience in 1.5 semesters here than 3 years at my previous college (USC in Aiken).
In the engineering classes, yes there is a lot of applying your knowledge, but not all of it is hands on. For example, in my Thermodynamics courses, we learn a lot about how power plants operate and their components such as a compressor, turbines, condensers, etc. We do a lot of analyses on the individual parts to understand how they work as a whole. It’s theoretical stuff, but feels like actual experience.
i mean, we don’t go out to power plants and run analyses on actual turbines, etc. Most of that is done by computers i’m sure.
ALTHOUGH, we do have Engineering Lab courses that are required. These classes are what you’re looking for. So basically, you’re lectured on a specific engineering/physics theory in class for two classes, and the third class is where you actually have hands on experience in applying that knowledge. Learn about Bernoulli’s equation, then conduct a fluid mechanics experiment, and finally write a report about everything you did, calculated, and observed.
Such a long response, but i’ll end it here
