An Engineering Student’s Survival Guide

The life of any college student comes with a lot of ups and downs. Add on a course of study as diverse and complex like engineering and you’re in for a ride!

Though some may breeze through their engineering degrees, the remaining majority may not be coping as well as the lucky ones. When it comes to exams, projects and basic survival as an engineering student, eeGeneration has you covered! Here we’ll provide you with key highlights and some well-structured engineering study tips to help get you through the semester.

Get yourself mentally prepared by eradicating wrong mindsets.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s point out one important aspect that many overlook when it comes to education. This is the art of developing a proper mindset. Yes…a proper mindset. “Why,” you ask? It’s simple! With a properly tuned mindset, you can begin to experience things differently than you would have before. For example, your professor may not necessarily be singling you out and hating your answers, you could just have been over thinking it.

Overcoming the obstacle of the mind allows for more opportunities that would be missed. You may have shied away from approaching a serious question you had trouble with simply because you lacked self-confidence or thought the professor didn’t like you, but changing the way you look at things, can boost your confidence and allow you to remember that even a wrong answer is a learning opportunity.

What makes engineering hard?

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand that the lingering difficulty when it comes to engineering is its complex problem-solving nature, difficult terminologies and high-level math. Which brings us to our first tip…

Tip #1: Determine which particular topic you experience the most difficulty in.  Practice makes perfect. By analyzing and appointing appropriate study time to the particular subjects you struggle with most, you will gradually get better at it.
Subjects such as math require constant practice. The trick is to always refer to past examples and try to work them out again. Memorize the math techniques involved and study the formulas.  For subjects like physics, understand the derivation process of the formulas given. Analyze the question at hand and break it into bits and pieces. It can be hard to understand the question when you don’t see the underlying layers. Become well-acquainted with the basic terminologies involved as it will help you to understand what the question is asking for and what formulas need to be applied.

Tip # 2: Figure out what will help improve your learning experience and make course content clearer to you.  Ever been in a situation where no matter how many times you ask the same question, you still don’t understand? If you have, pay attention to yourself and realize what’s causing you to miss out. It could be that you prefer a more practical example. If that’s the case, your next step is to take action.  If your campus has access to practical examples that might help you understand then don’t shy away. Take full advantage of what you have at your fingertips. For example, an aeronautics engineering student may not fully understand what a turbine is through theoretical classes but will understand better at a practical level.  If such facilities are not available to you then other alternatives such as YouTube videos can be of great help. Jot down the few things you didn’t understand and look up some practical solutions online. Also, seek help from your instructor to clarify whatever you didn’t understand in a more practical method. Such techniques are quite powerful and help build long-lasting memories that will be beneficial when exams come.

Tip # 3: Read, read and read some more. Devour the contents of your textbook as you would with a captivating 500-page novel. Even though textbook words are boring and dull, our minds capture those very same words and store them subconsciously as useful information. Go through some of the practice questions provided and learn from the solutions.  Build more reference points with textbooks, compare notes with classmates and sessions from lectures. Compile all this information into one big pile and devour it slowly. Extracting information from various sources is a great technique used to source useful information while weeding out the irrelevant. This makes your revision work less hectic when exams approach as well as new information easy to digest.

Tip #4: Teach others what you know. The best way to teach yourself something is to teach someone else what you know. Strange as it may sound, this is a very useful technique used to reassure our minds of the knowledge we know on a particular subject. You may be a rookie in wind kayaking teaching what little you know about it to someone else, but doing so helps confirm the knowledge you already possess on kayaking while pointing out the gray areas in your own mind. When you take this technique seriously, you will process what you know while sharing information and teaching others. It helps you grow stronger.

Tip #5: Enroll in clubs and activities similar to your field of study. Find some time after class to enroll in an activity that is related to your course of study. Not only does this improve your skills in that course, but it also helps develop your passion for it. It will be a fun and exciting way to learn since you’ll be doing the thing you love while experiencing useful and relevant knowledge that can be applied practically.

Tip #6: Keep up with homework. Homework is your professors’ way of building your skills. If it wasn’t important to your curriculum, then it wouldn’t exist in the first place. Take homework seriously as it is an excellent way to learn and be rewarded. Many engineering students (and all students, really) go wrong when they don’t value the importance of homework. By simply completing your homework, you can easily spot the areas you suffer in and with corrections from your professors, you will be able to learn from the mistakes and improve.

Tip #7: Hand assignments on time. Another useful engineering study tip is simple to complete your assignments on time. Why? By doing so you will have created time to reflect and rectify any errors in your assignment before handing them over for grading. This will, of course, elevate your grades and give you ample time to pause while other students will be working in chaos trying to submit before the deadline. This simple trick gives you an edge over the rest, as well as favor in the eyes of your professor, as you have taken his or her work seriously.

Tip #8: Participate in group discussions and study groups. “No man is an island.” When you are alone and you come across a difficult question you can be tempted to give up, throw in the towel and bury the question.  It is important to work with others. They may show you better ways of dealing with the particular question or provide much more refined engineering study tips that you couldn’t come up with. By partnering with others, you grow together as a whole. You will be there to help one another and learn together through the experiences faced together. Social forums online provide a great alternative and a conducive platform for study-related inquiries.

Tip #9: Exercise. As much as studying is good, exercise is even better. The life of an engineering student can be quite stressful, which is why it is important to at least exercise twice a week. It is a good way to survive the hustle and bustle and a means to blow off steam, as well as boost your confidence. With confidence, you will be able to push through the barriers and go for what you want. It is a great productivity enhancer and will generally boost your well-being altogether.

Tip #10: Attend optional and non-optional lectures.  Maintaining stellar attendance is key to preserving your overall grades and status. Missing class will bring negative consequences to your academic record. The amount of work needed to catch up to a lecture missed while studying the previous ones you attending will simply overwhelm you.  Avoid this by showing up to class on time and positioning yourself in a place that is favorable to you. Sitting in the front row provides a great opportunity to listen and grasp knowledge with ease than it would be by sitting at the very end. And don’t forget to attend related lectures in your field that aren’t required. Soaking up all of the knowledge you can will arm you with the insight needed to excel in the long run.

With the right amount of time and effort, you can improve your grades and witness results. Above all else, believe that you have what it takes to be the greatest and you will set out to be what you are on your path to becoming.