Why Most Engineering Students Fail

Around 50-60% of engineering students drop out before finishing the degree. This is the case for all engineering majors, especially electrical engineering where the coursework is more difficult.

In this video I explain the main reason many engineering students struggle and the cure to fix this problem.

[whymalek]

You shouldn't have roasted business students like that bro 😂

[pimpompoom]

After obtaining 3 electrical engineering degrees and having a 47 year career in a high tech industry, I have this advice to Engineering Students: NEVER, EVER, EVER GIVE UP! You will experience setbacks, failures, great disappointments-just about every Engineering student does. It is not easy, in fact it is very difficult. If I had a Dollar for every fellow Engineering student I watched drop out over my years in college because they let events discourage them! I wasn't the smartest one in my classes, but I vowed never to be outworked. I also vowed never to quit, to let the disappointments drive me to failure. I only had a 2.8 GPA for my Bachelor Degree, but had a 3.84 for my MSEE. Why? Because your study skills improve the longer you hang in there and keep fighting. Hang it there, don't quit-it WILL pay off in the long run!

[ATownMLH]

As a Mechanical Engineer, looking back at my first day of calc 1, my professor said half the class will not be here by the end up the semester and he was right lol

[thomasmorrison]

So true. I graduated with a 3.3 GPA in Mechanical Engineering. I was not the smartest student, but I was the hardest working. I studied at least 6 days a week and never took spring break or winter break for granted. It was the hardest thing I have done in my life and wanted to give up several times. I went on to get a law degree later in life and thought it was easier than engineering.

[max]

#1 - Do not waste time . Do your work and study .

[koshka]

Ali, the videos you put out have tremendous value to Electrical Engineering students.
Keep doing what you're doing.

[NickPlaysR]

failed phys 1 and had to take it over summer, then got a 98 in phys 3. only difference was freshman year vs junior year. Once you mature and develop time management skills engineering gets easier and harder. Its not just genius's that go engineering, most people just work hard.

[BobbaFett]

i was in class with smartest people, i was ok, average. after graduation, i always asked myself, why did I get my EE degree, and smart people in my class dropped out and i never saw them again. To this is day, i never figured it out. i went one to have a 20 year EE career and doing really go for myself. but i stoped asking myself questions like this many years ago. end of day, each man makes his own luck

[martymcfly]

I went to a talk one time by a guy that worked for a company that was selling an online physics homework system. They found that about one third of the students took a really long time, twenty minutes or more, to answer almost every question, and almost always got them wrong. These students didn't pass the course. About a third of the students took five to ten minutes to answer each question, and got most, but not all of them right. This was the normal expectation. These students did pass the course. The rest of the students answered every question immediately and the answer was invariably right. Somebody asked what happened with these students at the end of the semester. The presenter smiled, and said "Those guys all transferred into business."

[lindaandres]

Yes, this!! Thank you so much. Im a single mother, but I've always wanted to pursue STEM, and electrical engineering really fascinates me. I've had fears because of the lack of support I have, but I know I can do it ✊🏼

[jonathannoeverdin-gonzalez]

I flunked Elementary school, middle school and high school. Want to know the crazy part? I am currently pursuing a PhD in theoretical physics, particularly in the area of photonics. What changed?



Short answer: philosophy (reading, studying, learning, and doing philosophy without a guide, master, teacher or professor)

Long answer: I was strolling a bookstore leisurely until the small selection of philosophy relative to every other section available baffled me. I thus dove head-first into what books they had. A few books in, some annotating later, and a plethora of realizations landed me nowhere. But I got one thing in return, I discovered myself through reflection and pondering. I rationalized what I can and can not do, using the skills I picked up in philosophy not knowing that in doing so I would be propagated into pursuing science, the purest form of truth. Thus began my journey into becoming a physicist. I first became an autodidact, absorbing topics in beginning math such as algebra, trig and geometry. It took me about an year before mastery but I wanted to test my learning so I started school this past June. I signed up for intro to college algebra and a few english classes and suffice to say I aced all my classes.

This is a stark contrast towards my attitude approaching academics because I despised academics in the past. The message is know thyself first. Don't try impersonating a person you're trying to nurture because of status or social pressure, rather seek to perfect what is natural to yourself.

[robertleblanc]

I switched out of engineering and got a bachelors in business. Going back to school this fall because something in me knows it’s what I’m meant to do. Thank you for this video

[CiaranMakesMusic]

I'm about 3 months into my electronic engineering degree here in Ireland and am struggling quite a bit. Im 24 and have not done any math since I was 18.... which I failed. Really trying hard now because this is something I really want to succeed in!! But definitely feeling overwhelmed and out of my depth, especially coming up to exams! Anyway, I really needed this video, gave me the motivation to keep going. Thank you soo much man. Legend!!!

[ERSdeploy]

I'm in my senior year of mech eng, got academic warnings in both my freshman semesters. Welp, motivation changes how you approach learning I guess. At first when I got into college, I was already burnt out from CSAT and the coursework was very different from what I expected. I was expecting a more practical hands on learning but it was more theory and theory. As a freshman, I didn't know why I needed this but eventually, you realize why you love making and engineering in general, doing projects and research makes you realize why theory is important. You can have slumps but once you find something you truly love, studies will becom more enjoyable. My GPA in my freshman year was 1.6/4.3 and with a semester to go, managed to eventually work my way up to achieving straight A semesters. Never give up guys. Cheers

[pubmix]

You are god tier. I love your content. It is all mindset. Self-talk dictates your reality.

Electrical Engineering is hard, yet so is life in general… might as well get your ass-kicked doing something you want to do… rather than settling and living with regret.

I have to remind myself to not get pigeon-holed, and to look toward the bigger picture, the bigger plan, and remind myself of my goal.

Id love to talk more with you personally… where could I go about doing so?

[TheRiverNyle]

As an Applied Maths and CS student, I had a fixed mindset for a while, which caused a lot of struggle in (especially) theoretical math courses, but changing that into a growth mindset has helped me thrive. What I learned was that people who are successful in engineering, theoretical math/CS, etc, are successful because a growth mindset fostered that success :)

[KVergara]

It's pretty difficult explaining to people that "switching from ME to finance was the result of finding out that I genuinely care more about managing money than designing physical objects" isn't just a giant load of copium 😂

[mohammedair]

engineering program is not difficult it’s just boring I don't like too much theoretical stuff and extended equations I enjoy tinkering with tangible things and do basic calculations I’m more into being technician

[huyphanducnhat]

i graduated as a EE student majring in automation in frankfurt UAS .It's hard man, i have to study for the whole week, 10 hours week days, 8 hours weekends.graduating at 2.0 german gpa, i only have 1 advice is don't get distracted by social media

[daddoo]

Back a million years ago when I was pursuing a EE, I found that quite often the EEs in non-engineering specific technical classes would get segregated out in the grading so as to not throw off the curve for the rest of the students. More than once I had professors ask the 3 or 4 EEs if they could not lump us in with the other majors. For example, in my linear algebra class the EEs were scoring in the high 90s on all tests while the other students were around 30-40%. So we all had A's but then so did a few that were scoring 45%.