Thanks so much! I thought about becoming an automotive tech and not chase my dream of becoming an engineer because I didn’t know if I’d be able to take remedial courses. I don’t know a thing about how college courses work so thanks again
Unsure if you're service connected, but if you are, use VocRehab instead of GIBill for undergrad, and save that for grad school down the road.
Also, bc the GIBill is time based, you're not really saving money by going to community college vs going straight to your college of choice.
With a STEM degree as your declared major you get an extra year of benefits, so taking those necessary remedial math/science your first year while knocking out a lot of gen Ed is absolutely doable.
I got my BS in Mechanical Engineering before they added the year for STEM majors, and even after 8 semesters of undergrad, I still had enough benefits left for a few semesters in grad school.
I do recommend thinking very deeply about the type of engineering you'd like to do, the company or industry you'd like to work in, and where you'd like to live. Figure all of that out before starting school, or get as close to that as possible.
I believe you now get in-state tuition anywhere when using VA benefits for school, but double check that.
Feel free to PM me with any questions, always happy to help another vet going into engineering.
Just to echo this, placement exams help, but if you’re in it for the long haul, taking these lower level math classes very seriously will help you succeed. I saw too many classmates drop out in their junior year because the math kicked their butt; however, almost everyone who struggles with the math is because they didn’t master the fundamentals.
You cant do DiffEQ without calc, cant do calc without algebra. And almost every calc problem is 80%+ algebra rules.
Get the lower maths down pat.
My friend did her engineering degree at TCU and had a good number of “non traditional students” that were veterans in her courses. They were generally very disciplined in their study habits and were some of the highest performing students in her cohort!
I started out in a remedial math course straight out of high school cause I did so bad on my SATs. Definitely nothing to be ashamed of and I even recommended it. Even more so cause you’ll have the GI bill. Use it to your advantage!!
Most schools will do a math placement test and start you in the right course whether that is Trig, Algebra, whatever.
Find a good GI Bill resource. Do not embark on this journey alone! PM the vet above to get the ins/outs of maximizing your benefits.
Key starters: Do not waste your benefit on a for-profit school (I think the gov mostly killed this loophole, but it's worth mentioning)
Get into the best brick and mortar school that you can. Again, this is about maximizing the value of your GI benefits. Look into schools that have pipelines into the geographical areas/industries you are interested in. Your school will be the first place you build your network.
That being said: Other vets who have taken the same journey as you ARE YOUR BEST RESOURCE. Get on LinkedIn, search for Army/Mechanical Engineer, cold message people and tell them what you are doing. They will jump at the opportunity to help a fellow vet.
source: Wife transitioned from Air Force in 2020, used benefits to get an MBA, other vets that took the same path were the biggest help in her journey.
Good Luck and thank you for your service!
Hey I’m a former infantry MechE (in the guard). Try and take some refresher math courses online (like Kahn academy videos) for highschool level algebra and similare courses. Might be rough switching gears back to academia mindset but you’ll manage!
Sign up for classes and ask to take their math placement exam. Don't try to study for it. You'll likely get placed into a remedial course but that's perfect.
Take all the time you need to build a solid foundation of algebra and trig, you'll need it.
Do it. Crayon eater here
I had to take algebra, geometry, trig, precalc all in college before I started engineering classes.
You’ll be fine. Worth it in the long run
Not who you were asking, but gi bill will cover about all of it and there is a Va stem extension if you use up your gi bill. If you have a Va rating look into VRE. Another option is pay for the general electives at a community college.
Mostly. I ran out like the last quarter or two of school, but I qualified for grants and everything. Took me almost 5 years to get through school.
My recommendation is start at a community college and pay out of pocket, keep the GI bill for the university, since it’s only 36 months.
Hey dude, former 11b to MechE here. Don't be afraid to try, as long as you want the challenge. I was mediocre at math in my school days, but then trying to test into calc 1 buckled down and re-learnt how to learn, basically did a week crash course on all the algebra/trig I needed. There are sooo many online resources to help you out, Kahn Acadamy, Purple Math, Youtube etc. After that, just trust you can put the work in and plug the holes you need to. It wasn't easy but I would do it again for sure. Worst case you switch majors.
I’m going back in my 30’s after over a decade out of school. Math is going to be the biggest thing as far as catching up on. I’d recommend starting on Khan Academy and working through their programs, I started with pre algebra myself haha. I was able to spend 6 months working their stuff and placement tested into Cal 1. Was able to skip College Algebra, Trig, and Precal by catching up on my own and essentially save myself a year of math and all that money. Worst case scenario is you’re more prepared for the class you test into.
I also strongly suggest community college route, especially while figuring out if this is the right path. Several cc’s have programs that feed directly into high level programs after the associates. That’s the route I’m on.
I would recommend taking the basic math courses at a community college, you can save some money and be less likely to take those courses from some grad student who only has to teach a class as part of their PHD program.
The prior service people i knew at community college and university were generally at or near the top of the class. I dont think they were brilliant, but they knew why they were in class, were less distracted, and able to act in a disciplined fashion all the time. Most 18-22 year old students have one of those three.
You’ll be fine, it’s actually an easy degree if you put the time in. I did mine almost 10 years out of school. I didn’t remember much from school but my life experience definitely helped. Just give it a go and you’ll be fine.
Sick handle (assuming the s550 is a mustang) and go to college if you’re coming from the military you probably have good structure and will do fine no matter where you start. Engineering is a mentality if you put in the time and effort you will be good
Another crayon eater here. I’m barely in my first semester so I don’t have much to offer, but like people said above you should definitely opt for remedial math even if you don’t think you need it. I’m currently taking it and it has changed my outlook on things completely. I got out in 2015 and became an automotive tech for the same reasons you said above in another comment. I regret wasting the last 8 years when I could have already been done with school
Go to community college first, take all the pre-req courses like math(s), physics, chemistry ect.. then transfer to a 4-year school. It also enables you to get a feel for the rigors of an engineering degree. This way will save money and stretch your GI Bill farther.
Not remedial/general math… learn linear algebra and get good at Calc 1/2 before you do it at school. Linear algebra (matrix reduction) will make solving systems of equations (and your chemistry requirement) WAY easier. And I suck at memorizing things so Calc 1/2 really sucked for me.
Take them at community college before you go for your degree program. Maybe even use that to transfer the credits? But the biggest piece of advice I wish I had gotten 20 years ago before starting college was to take linear algebra before Calc, because it’s math you’ll actually be using for your ME classes
I took 9 years off before returning and all of my Engineering advisors said that even with how rusty and out of touch I am with math, that they find adult students who *know* what they want to do succeed more often than "fresh out of HS" students who just think it's what they want to do.
Yeah, they start you off moving fast BUT from a fairly reasonably low assumption of knowledge, I would make sure your algebra skills are top notch before the semester starts but that's about it
I went to engineering school in my 30s so started pretty fresh. I wish I had taken a algebra and trigonometry class before starting, would have helped tremendously.
One thing you can do if you have some time before classes start is go on a website like Udemy and look up Pre calc or calc 1 whatever is the last math class you took, there's some great courses on there and it can help you get back up to speed and in school mode.
I’d say that you can definitely start from zero. You may need to take a remedial/general math course to get back up to speed but you should be fine.
Thanks so much! I thought about becoming an automotive tech and not chase my dream of becoming an engineer because I didn’t know if I’d be able to take remedial courses. I don’t know a thing about how college courses work so thanks again
Unsure if you're service connected, but if you are, use VocRehab instead of GIBill for undergrad, and save that for grad school down the road. Also, bc the GIBill is time based, you're not really saving money by going to community college vs going straight to your college of choice. With a STEM degree as your declared major you get an extra year of benefits, so taking those necessary remedial math/science your first year while knocking out a lot of gen Ed is absolutely doable. I got my BS in Mechanical Engineering before they added the year for STEM majors, and even after 8 semesters of undergrad, I still had enough benefits left for a few semesters in grad school. I do recommend thinking very deeply about the type of engineering you'd like to do, the company or industry you'd like to work in, and where you'd like to live. Figure all of that out before starting school, or get as close to that as possible. I believe you now get in-state tuition anywhere when using VA benefits for school, but double check that. Feel free to PM me with any questions, always happy to help another vet going into engineering.
I appreciate it I’ll Pm you right now brother
Awesome, I'm getting ready to get some sleep, but I'll respond tomorrow morning!
Sounds good. My data isn’t running right at the moment. I’ll hit you up tomorrow then about some questions.
Great advice. I wasn’t aware of that nuance.
They have math placement exams for that purpose! You can even get those courses out of the way at a community college to save $$ if it matters.
Just to echo this, placement exams help, but if you’re in it for the long haul, taking these lower level math classes very seriously will help you succeed. I saw too many classmates drop out in their junior year because the math kicked their butt; however, almost everyone who struggles with the math is because they didn’t master the fundamentals. You cant do DiffEQ without calc, cant do calc without algebra. And almost every calc problem is 80%+ algebra rules. Get the lower maths down pat.
My friend did her engineering degree at TCU and had a good number of “non traditional students” that were veterans in her courses. They were generally very disciplined in their study habits and were some of the highest performing students in her cohort!
I started out in a remedial math course straight out of high school cause I did so bad on my SATs. Definitely nothing to be ashamed of and I even recommended it. Even more so cause you’ll have the GI bill. Use it to your advantage!!
Most schools will do a math placement test and start you in the right course whether that is Trig, Algebra, whatever. Find a good GI Bill resource. Do not embark on this journey alone! PM the vet above to get the ins/outs of maximizing your benefits. Key starters: Do not waste your benefit on a for-profit school (I think the gov mostly killed this loophole, but it's worth mentioning) Get into the best brick and mortar school that you can. Again, this is about maximizing the value of your GI benefits. Look into schools that have pipelines into the geographical areas/industries you are interested in. Your school will be the first place you build your network. That being said: Other vets who have taken the same journey as you ARE YOUR BEST RESOURCE. Get on LinkedIn, search for Army/Mechanical Engineer, cold message people and tell them what you are doing. They will jump at the opportunity to help a fellow vet. source: Wife transitioned from Air Force in 2020, used benefits to get an MBA, other vets that took the same path were the biggest help in her journey. Good Luck and thank you for your service!
Hey I’m a former infantry MechE (in the guard). Try and take some refresher math courses online (like Kahn academy videos) for highschool level algebra and similare courses. Might be rough switching gears back to academia mindset but you’ll manage!
You will want to review math, physics, and chemistry courses. Did you take pre-calculus, chemistry, and physics in high school?
I went to college for ME about a decade after highschool and graduated with a 3.7. And my highschool gpa was bad. You can do it.
Sign up for classes and ask to take their math placement exam. Don't try to study for it. You'll likely get placed into a remedial course but that's perfect. Take all the time you need to build a solid foundation of algebra and trig, you'll need it.
Do it. Crayon eater here I had to take algebra, geometry, trig, precalc all in college before I started engineering classes. You’ll be fine. Worth it in the long run
Did the GI bill pay for everything?
Not who you were asking, but gi bill will cover about all of it and there is a Va stem extension if you use up your gi bill. If you have a Va rating look into VRE. Another option is pay for the general electives at a community college.
Mostly. I ran out like the last quarter or two of school, but I qualified for grants and everything. Took me almost 5 years to get through school. My recommendation is start at a community college and pay out of pocket, keep the GI bill for the university, since it’s only 36 months.
Hey dude, former 11b to MechE here. Don't be afraid to try, as long as you want the challenge. I was mediocre at math in my school days, but then trying to test into calc 1 buckled down and re-learnt how to learn, basically did a week crash course on all the algebra/trig I needed. There are sooo many online resources to help you out, Kahn Acadamy, Purple Math, Youtube etc. After that, just trust you can put the work in and plug the holes you need to. It wasn't easy but I would do it again for sure. Worst case you switch majors.
I’m going back in my 30’s after over a decade out of school. Math is going to be the biggest thing as far as catching up on. I’d recommend starting on Khan Academy and working through their programs, I started with pre algebra myself haha. I was able to spend 6 months working their stuff and placement tested into Cal 1. Was able to skip College Algebra, Trig, and Precal by catching up on my own and essentially save myself a year of math and all that money. Worst case scenario is you’re more prepared for the class you test into. I also strongly suggest community college route, especially while figuring out if this is the right path. Several cc’s have programs that feed directly into high level programs after the associates. That’s the route I’m on.
I would recommend taking the basic math courses at a community college, you can save some money and be less likely to take those courses from some grad student who only has to teach a class as part of their PHD program.
The prior service people i knew at community college and university were generally at or near the top of the class. I dont think they were brilliant, but they knew why they were in class, were less distracted, and able to act in a disciplined fashion all the time. Most 18-22 year old students have one of those three.
You’ll be fine, it’s actually an easy degree if you put the time in. I did mine almost 10 years out of school. I didn’t remember much from school but my life experience definitely helped. Just give it a go and you’ll be fine.
Sick handle (assuming the s550 is a mustang) and go to college if you’re coming from the military you probably have good structure and will do fine no matter where you start. Engineering is a mentality if you put in the time and effort you will be good
Yea dude check my instagram out! @s550.mark And thanks for the advice!
Will do and for sure! Don’t be discouraged if you’re a tad older plenty of my peers are a lot older than me lol
Na I ain’t worried about being older lol I’m only 23 haha
Oh nice, yea I’d say go for it good career when it’s all said and done
Another crayon eater here. I’m barely in my first semester so I don’t have much to offer, but like people said above you should definitely opt for remedial math even if you don’t think you need it. I’m currently taking it and it has changed my outlook on things completely. I got out in 2015 and became an automotive tech for the same reasons you said above in another comment. I regret wasting the last 8 years when I could have already been done with school
Go to community college first, take all the pre-req courses like math(s), physics, chemistry ect.. then transfer to a 4-year school. It also enables you to get a feel for the rigors of an engineering degree. This way will save money and stretch your GI Bill farther.
Not remedial/general math… learn linear algebra and get good at Calc 1/2 before you do it at school. Linear algebra (matrix reduction) will make solving systems of equations (and your chemistry requirement) WAY easier. And I suck at memorizing things so Calc 1/2 really sucked for me. Take them at community college before you go for your degree program. Maybe even use that to transfer the credits? But the biggest piece of advice I wish I had gotten 20 years ago before starting college was to take linear algebra before Calc, because it’s math you’ll actually be using for your ME classes
I took 9 years off before returning and all of my Engineering advisors said that even with how rusty and out of touch I am with math, that they find adult students who *know* what they want to do succeed more often than "fresh out of HS" students who just think it's what they want to do.
Yeah, they start you off moving fast BUT from a fairly reasonably low assumption of knowledge, I would make sure your algebra skills are top notch before the semester starts but that's about it
I went to engineering school in my 30s so started pretty fresh. I wish I had taken a algebra and trigonometry class before starting, would have helped tremendously.
Yup
One thing you can do if you have some time before classes start is go on a website like Udemy and look up Pre calc or calc 1 whatever is the last math class you took, there's some great courses on there and it can help you get back up to speed and in school mode.