How can I know I'll be a good engineer?

[SeasonalBeef]

I am really good at math and the sciences. I always get A's. I find it easy. But that's because I take the notes, study, and my way of thinking goes along side these subjects. I am able to ace the tests because I've practiced them.

The problem is suspect post graduation and actually working is I'll face problems I need to solve that you don't study for. You have to look at the problem, no notes no instructor showing you the formulas, just on the spot figure it out. I don't think I could do that now. Granted I'm just a freshman, but should I have at least some ability to problem solve other than just knowing how to do math and science tests? Most of the time to solve a problem in the real world, like every day issues, I don't look at it and just deduce the issue from memory. I typically look it up on Google. Which is fine but as an engineer I'll likely face problems nobody else knows how to solve and I'll have to solve them by myself. Or is that not true and do even engineers get stumped too and have to ask for help?

I just don't want to end up spending all that time and money going to get my degree to become an engineer, civil engineer,only to find out that yes I am great at taking tests abd getting good grades but applying them to the real world I got nothing and just wasted all that time.

 

[Office_Shredder]

You have it a bit backwards. In the real world you rarely have to solve a problem "on the spot", and you have plenty of time to look up which formula you need for a given situation. For example, programmers look up how to do stuff on the internet all the time.

That said, it sounds like you might want to join some sort of extra curricular activity to feel a bit more comfortable with real world problem solving. I don't know what kind of engineering you're doing but there's probably some team you can join to get a better sense of what real world problem solving actually looks like.

 

[SeasonalBeef]

You have it a bit backwards. In the real world you rarely have to solve a problem "on the spot", and you have plenty of time to look up which formula you need for a given situation. For example, programmers look up how to do stuff on the internet all the time.

That said, it sounds like you might want to join some sort of extra curricular activity to feel a bit more comfortable with real world problem solving. I don't know what kind of engineering you're doing but there's probably some team you can join to get a better sense of what real world problem solving actually looks like.

I'm in the engineering club at the community college. I tried to join the STEM club but there is none this year. The engineering club doesn't really do much. Are there extra curricular programs outside of college I can look for?

I'm going for civil engineering btw

 

[CalcNerd]

You don't have to worry too much. Always be open to learning new methods. Civil engineering graduates often take the FE/EIT exam in their senior year or just after graduation and then are required to work for a Civil engineering firm under professional engineers for a minimum of 4 years before they can then take the PE exam if the individual wants to become a licensed engineer. Once a Civil engineer becomes licensed, they still often work for Engineering firms. Some however, eventually become consulting engineers on their own. Civil engineers typically need the PE licensure more that most other engineering disciplines although nearly all disciplines can seek licensure.

 

[berkeman]

I am really good at math and the sciences. I always get A's. I find it easy. But that's because I take the notes, study, and my way of thinking goes along side these subjects. I am able to ace the tests because I've practiced them.

I'm in the engineering club at the community college. I tried to join the STEM club but there is none this year. The engineering club doesn't really do much.

Be a bit careful -- the level of course difficulty and the level of competition increase significantly when transferring from community college to a 4-year university. It does sound like you are studying well, but definitely be sure to develop/maintain good study habits.

One option for your engineering club would be for you to suggest some activities yourself. You can be a leader in that group, to be sure it is valuable for all of the members. When I was in Undergrad in my Senior Year, I was elected to lead our student chapter of the IEEE. I organized several activities per semester, including some "field trips" to engineering companies (like HP) to tour their facilities and listen to their recruiting pitches. I even got the companies to pay for the busses to get us to their campuses.

You might try something a little easier, like organizing some local trips to construction sites or similar to get more real-world exposure to CE projects...

 

[vela]

A couple of comments:

1. Your employer is not going to expect you, a new grad, to do work that should be done by someone with more experience. You'll be eased into learning how to be an engineer in the real world.
2. You'll initially be getting relatively simple tasks that you should be able to handle while learning the ropes. There's a lot of stuff you'll be learning on the job, so it's important to remain open to learning new things.
3. One of the worst tendencies many engineers have is suffering from the "not invented here" syndrome. They'll spend tons of time reinventing the wheel, when they should just learn about what was done before. Employers will prefer you look stuff up to get a job done quickly and efficiently than proving you can do it on your own. So knowing how to find relevant information and build on it is a good skill to have.
4. It's very unlikely you're going to be working on a problem that only you can solve. Most of the work you'll be doing is stuff most of your colleagues could handle as well. They can be a valuable source of insight and experience, so talk to them and learn from them.
5. Indeed, if you're stuck, you're expected to talk to your colleagues. It could be you're stuck because you simply lack the real world experience on how to attack that type of problem. You can learn from others how to do that. Or maybe the scope of the problem was underestimated when it was assigned to you and requires more brainpower assigned to it. Your project manager needs to know that, so you need to let him or her know what's going on. The last thing you want to do is be unproductive and cause delays because you're not willing to ask others for help.
6. An internship while in school can be great experience so you can see what the job entails and to build confidence that you can do it and have made the right choice. Plus you'll make some money along the way.
7. There are a lot of different facets to engineering. If one type of role doesn't fit you well, you'll likely be able to find another that will.

I understand your doubts as I often felt the same way in school, but I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you can think, that's the main thing. If you can getting through college and earn the degree, you'll be fine.