For those of you that may have done this, what's the best way to approach this? I want to do an Electrical Engineering program, but it will be while I am working full time, my job will be 1+ hours each way from home, and I'm in the Air National Guard.

The only schools around me that have BSEE programs are Berkeley, which is about 80 miles away, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which is about 250 miles away. I'd prefer Cal Poly, because they have a blended BS+MS program, where you can work toward your BS and MS at the same time.

However, the distance is going to be the biggest problem, as the vast majority of the courses are in-residence only.

I will be able to test out of a bunch of the lower-level electronics/electrical courses, as I have been an electronics tech for eleven years, so that should somewhat shorten my total time required.

So, what am I looking at here to do this?

Second question on this subject, is what am I looking at in terms of all the math calsses I will need to take? I know that I will need statistics and calc, but what will I need to take to get there, i.e., algebra, geometry, trig, etc.?

I found out that Cal Poly San Luis Obispo's continuing Ed has online math, from basic to Algebra 2, so I'm going to do those to get my textbook math skills up to where I can test into higher-level math courses.

Thanks again guys.

John

That's how I did it. It took a while, but I survived. Luckily my commute was shorter, but I was working a LOT of overtime.

You definitely need a strong background in algebra, geometry, and trig. Statistics will come in handy later too, but it won't really help you prepare for calculus.

Speaking of calculus, you'll probably have 4 or more semesters of it, and a lot of other courses will depend on it. Allow plenty of study time (don't overload your schedule) and learn it WELL.

In other words, focus on building a strong foundation.

Like Sean hinted some of those early classes can come back to haunt you. I've still got a couple more semesters until my bachelors. Although-I'm not working except for co-op. Good luck.

Berkely is a great school. BS/MS programs are a lot of work and you have to have an excellent GPA (3.5 at Maryland) to get into it. I would not get in a BS/MS program this early. Best way is to work part time and go to school full-time; it just takes too long going part time (10 years).

FWIW

I'd be making more money working on the shop floor than I do now as an engineer. Oh and I enjoyed it more. Yeah I'm really good with computers, in fact I keep the department running, but I enjoyed working with my hands more. Not only do the guys in the shop get paid better, but then figure in overtime and they pay less for the same health insurance that we get. Getting a college degree is like bending over and getting the shaft. High school guidance counselors push everyone into college, but you can make a damned good living without a degree. Nevermind the fact of the large loan burden you take on unless your current employer is wiling to pay the tuition for you.

What it works out to be is i'm a blue-collar guy with a white-collar job. Only reason I own a vette is b/c i saw one race. two years ago i woulda said i'd never own one.

This is not likely, the school will not allow it, you know practice and they will teach theory not the same thing.



In that situation don't even try it. If you mess up your grades then you will have a really hard time finding a job. Engineering takes alot of time.



Passing the classes is the big problem, what techs see engineers do in the shop is much different than what an engineer has to do in class. You see a tiny fraction of what an engineer is trained to do. You may have a false sense of confidence. Only about half of the people in the engineering school I went to ever finished. This is an actual stat not a guess.



This makes the most sense of anything that you have said so far. If you can tear up those online courses, that will mean that you have a good shot at the engineering course work.

I don't want to be a total downer here, but I have had a rocky history with engineering. I might be dumb, but I finally got an ME degree. It was hard without a job and a 2 hour drive. The math is harder in EE. If you start, you don't want to fail, so stack the odds in your favor.
If you get the degree, you want a new job and you will have to move anyway, so perhaps you should consider a move.

Entrance scores will give you an idea of your chances also, they can predict your chance at your chosen degree. Admissions offices keep these kind of stats.

This is a lousy time to be an engineer in the USA. GM is opening engineering offices in China, Mfg has moved overseas. I have been out of a job for over a year with a ME degree from Mizzou. I am considering going back to school and with a degree, I wonder if I can keep up with a masters program. I am not even sure that it is a good idea, but I am running out of options.

Best of luck with what ever you decide.

Z28

There are alot of hands on engineering jobs, but there are a lot more that are not. I'm working on my PHD in mechanical engineering and half the time I'm working in the machine shop making some special part for my experiments. In fact the last couple months I've been welding and cutting steel to build a custom frame for a 12 foot tall, 30 foot long oscillating water tunnel that uses a 2.5 foot diameter piston to mimic oscillating wave motions. 10% of my time is designing stuff, 50% of the time I'm building or doing experiments, the other 40% is data crunching or writing technical papers. You don't need a PHD to get into all this, but all engineering jobs are not just sitting behind a desk drawing "Widget A" for 30+ years.

Here's an eqaution for you

Drawing slight variations of "Widget A" for 30+ years =

well... consider studying in Canada... even being on a student Visa and fees being 4x the local amount, it'll still be way cheaper than studying in the Sates.
Heck, my whole engineering degree (all the years added together) cost me around 11k$ CAN$.
I graduated in 1998 and @ the time the US-CAN exchange was around 1.5
Anyways... you can get a whole degree for 15k$US/year if you do it here, including rent + food.

I can't recommend trying to complete a four year degree while working full time. I was barely able to work my way through 2 classes last semester. At that rate it would take damn near forever to finally finish... and that was with a fairly short commute and no social life at all. My grades weren't too bad, but not what I was fully capable of. Once you get to some of the upper level classes where you have projects to design and build.... we'll you might be looking forward to retirement!!

I would say try taking a few of those math classes and make sure you have time to concentrate on them while working. This should give you a feel for what it is going to be like, maybe you could try taking them at a local college assuming they will transfer.

Ideally I would say you should save up a truckload of money and go to school full time while working part time if you want. That’s probably not possible, but just my $.02

Thanks for the input guys.......good things to think about....

I will continue to look into options for going to school, possibly working part time, etc.

However, I am wondering, is there a way that I could study, etc., on my own, i.e., take separate classes, etc., in such a way that, it wouldn't be an "Electrical Engineering" degree, but would show an employer that, combined with my experience, I have an equivalent level of knowledge?

Thanks again guys.

John

Unfortunately, you're going to need the degree to hold many positions-you may be qualified and have tons of experience, but you have to have the degree. My father, recently retired after 35 years, worked at GE for a number of years and eventually went from the position of maintenance apprentice to the job with the title and pay of an engineer. He had no degree, today that's not really going to work. At the powerplant I've been co-oping at any position in maintence (be it mechanical or electrical) requires an engineering degree. You won't get beyond maint. leader without one.

It's frustrating for me too. I've already done the same projects and jobs as the engineers at our powerplant, I just haven't finished my education yet.

I've seen things like that happen today. The problem comes if you leave the company, then your back to sqaure one without the degree.

Exactly. That was a constant fear of ours a few years ago before he retired. GE was laying off people left and right locally not that long ago.

BTW, an Electrical Engineer who spoke passable Mandarin (Taiwan/official mainland) Chinese would be VERY marketable. I would seriously consider working it in

Ok, I didnt read everythign above (and that is because I don't have the time, since i work 40hrs a week, and am trying to get an engineering degree myself).

As i sit here, putting off studying and listening to music, trying to "clear my conscience" before I attack Calc II studying for an exam I know i'll screw up on monday......

ok, now i'm starting to ramble..hehe

its gonna be rough, hopefully the physical sciences and math come naturally to you, and then i'll say you'll have it alot easier than I do. Alot of my problem is motivation, and i'll mention one thing i've thought about today that i noticed:

motivation depends on the teacher, and if the teacher/prof cant motivate you through generating a genuine interest, then the rest is up to you for motivation (and in my case i'm scewed), and let me tell you, you better want it! As a procrastinator I keep putting things off, and you just cant do that. I have a genuine interest in the topics, but not so much in losing sleep to learn them.

Now, your about to embark on a hectic schedule, mine isnt as bad as yours, and let me just say that your will be greatly disadvantaged compared to you average student that lives on campus and has nothing but time on his/her hands. currently, i'm taking 12 cr hours (calc II, physics I, and C programming) and working 40 hours a week. I normally work 2nd shift, and go to school in the morning, but i've been able to adjust my work schedule this semester to give me more time during the week, so i'm doing the following..... tues, thurs 8 hours on 2nd shift..... then 12 hours saturday and 12 hours sunday. days that i have to drive to school and work, i'm driving a combined hour and 45 minutes+ total.

in your position, if i had to give you some advice, i would say the following:
stay focused
learn to love coffee
keep a positive attitude (don't let yourself get stressed out, you'll be under pressure for a long period of time)
get a freind that you can take classes with, or a study group if possible, thats gotta be a huge help that will keep you motivated.

currently that last one is somethign i really don't have, and if i had someone i can "talk school" with, that would (at least i think) greatly improve my motivation to study this.

Now, about engineering, i've previously heard the following qoute: "there are engineers, and then there are people with engineering degrees". personally, i would probably fall under the people with engineering degrees part (given I make it), since i would probably end up in a support type position, I really don't see myself on a design team, at least there isnt much opportunity at with my current company to do that (plus the experience requirements are pretty high).

I know i'm only in 2nd semester, and i'm already stooping down to the "c's equal degrees" ideology, which means i'm not doing too good!

I think i'm gonna catch some seinfeld before i work on this stuff (volumes of rotation, polar coordinates, arc length and such).

btw, to answer your question of the math heirarchy, it goes something like this:

algebra-algebra 2-trigonometry-calculus I (differential calculus)-calculus 2(integral calculus)- calculus 3 (multivariable calculus - i hear some schools combine this with either calc 2 or something else?)- Differential equations (I think this is applying calc I and beyond?)

and since i'm a Mech E major, I also have to take Linear algebra, and matrices for engineers, then Engineering statistics.

EDIT: ok, just found the curriculum sheet for EE at my school, so this will give you an idea of the classes you have to take (they don't have the bullshit general requirements listed, thats gonna differ by school anyway). Upon looking at semester 1, you should notice right away that you need to get through trigonometry before you start taking those courses (chemistry I did not require any calculus for me, and obviously none of the english courses)
Good luck man, its gonna be alot of work

another EDIT: I agree with z28barnett, with your work experience, it should be really easy for you to learn the EE material, but the theory they teach will be quite a different approach to Electronics compared to how you know it. I do not have much experience as a technician, but I did get my associates 6 years ago from ITT in EET, and engineering college already has a different way of teaching compared to when i was "spoon-fed" theory at ITT (I think we had more practical experience and preparation for use of it at ITT as well). in case your wondering, i've been in manufacturing for the past 7 years, and my fascination and interest for Surface Mount Machinery led me to become a machine operator instead of my want to be a technician at my current position (where i would be running an automated test machine and repairing what the machine believes is wrong with the pcb - in other words I wouldnt be doing too much REAL troubleshooting anyways).

On a side note, this gives me an idea of posting a thread that I'm about to do,

Miki