Electronic and Electrical engineering questions

[Guiri]

Sorry, this is a bit long, but looking for any recent experiences from people with DC studying electronic engineering.

DD has had a couple of years out post A levels (for non-Covid reasons she had a very difficult period over her final GCSE & A level years) but is now thinking to potentially apply for university for Sept 2022. She'd previously been considering a general engineering degree then specialising later but is thinking that she might actually be more interested in going directly towards Electronic engineering.

However, she's anxious that the majority of students in the subject are, in her words likely to be 'geeky types who have spent their entire teenage years building electronic kit in their bedrooms' and that she'll feel out of her depth & always be running to catch up. She says half the students being like that would be fine, but not if it's likely to be nearly all of them!
She has done some messing around with Arduinos / bits and pieces, but had a very bad time with an extracurricular project in college which left her feeling demoralised & really knocked her confidence, which isn't great at the best of times.

She's also really keen to make sure what ever route she goes down has plenty of hands on practical time, & I think she's right. She's been working on the family farm full time since leaving college and her mental health has been massively better for having that kind of structured practical work to do. As a side note she has a (diagnosed) ASD so should be eligible for DSA.

Her grades are solid but not spectacular, ABB with the A in maths, but looks to be fine for a decent selection of unis, her major weakness is always in putting things down on paper. (However she also has an A in English lit taken as a 1 year p/t student during lockdown really to prove to herself that she can do essay work if needed, so although it does involve a lot of blood sweat and tears she can get there!)

Bumping for you, @Guiri. You might find this thread interesting: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/4329042-Engineering-degree-BEng-or-MEng-Mech-Eng-if-not-sure-of-focus

There will be a huge range of students on every course so I wouldn’t be worrying about her stereotypical view of other students to be honest. She can look at the websites of the universities she’s interested in to see student profiles and even live chat functions to get a better feel for the students she might be working with. And reassure her that once she’s made her application she’ll be able to join Facebook/WhatsApp/Snapchat groups to get to know other students more.

She should be able to contact departments in advance for an idea of the structure of the course, some will even provide an example timetable. It’s worth bearing in mind the last two years will have influenced this massively. But by the time she starts in 2023 the impact of Covid should be as reduced as can be.

My main concern would be the years she’s had out and whether universities would have any issues with this (especially for something maths heavy) so would suggest contacting them all in advance of applications to make sure she doesn’t waste any slots on her UCAS.

I wouldn't say it was a stereotypical view of what the students would be like in themselves, more a concern that they will tend to have lots of extracurricular experience that she doesn't. Unfortunately none of the 'chat to a student' online options offered by the unis she's looking at are doing electronic engineering specifically.

Thanks for the link @SparklingLime DD was previously looking at mech. eng as well but looking at the course content online is feeling more drawn to electronic engineering.

I thought the issue with years out applied to maths degrees specifically? I've not heard it as an issue with engineering?

If she wants practical hands-on, would she consider a degree apprenticeship? My company employ electronic electrical engineering apprentices and they're a wide range of characters.

Definitely worth exploring, though she's pretty keen to go to university & have the broader experience

If she’s worried about not having comparable experience she needs to speak to admissions tutors to discuss this. But she does have a full year to gain experience which makes her feel more confident.

The way you’ve phrased it ‘geeky types who’ve spent their entire teenage years in their bedrooms’ - that very much is a stereotype and that’s something which is in her head and she needs to find a way to get over. Slightly trickier to deal with than the first.

As well as chat to a student function look for drop in zoom sessions, video content, pdf student profiles…all different ways she could see more about the sorts of students she’d be with. She could also look at the engineering student society to see what they’re up to, probably a broad range of things which might make her feel more comfortable.

I don’t think it’s necessarily maths specifically but most universities require evidence of recent study for adult learners - I recently supported a 24 year old student who wasn’t made an offer for his first choice STEM course because his last study experience wasn’t recent enough so it’s definitely something to double check.

I also would suggest a apprenticeship which gives you your qualification and experience together. E&I people not coming up to retirement age are like hens teeth and hold all the cards

I should say, dd is 200% your classic geek who spends her time in her bedroom, plays d&d, etc etc & would be hugely happy to hang out with other geeks it is ONLY about the electronics experience. Really, she was just hoping to hear from some MNers with dc doing electronic engineering because she's tried the online chat, student profiles & video content at the unis shes' considering plus the Student Room forum & not getting very far!

Her most recent academic experience is this year just gone, though that was the English lit A level, so she'll have had 2 years out of maths.

With the electronics experience, obviously she could be spending spare time this year doing arduino stuff etc, but equally she's working full time & has a lot of other stuff on that she can't do at uni. So if realistically only a minority of students will be coming in with that sort of experience, she probably wouldn't prioritise that over other things (for example, she's getting her chainsaw ticket & looking to do some tree work, having driving lessons, various things).

@Guiri

With the electronics experience, obviously she could be spending spare time this year doing arduino stuff etc, but equally she's working full time & has a lot of other stuff on that she can't do at uni. So if realistically only a minority of students will be coming in with that sort of experience, she probably wouldn't prioritise that over other things (for example, she's getting her chainsaw ticket & looking to do some tree work, having driving lessons, various things).

If this is the main concern then you’re correct. It will only be a minority of students who will be going in with a shedload of extracurriculars, especially at universities around the ABB tariff, so she doesn’t need to worry particularly on that score. Equally she hasn’t sat around doing nothing since finishing school so she might even find that she’s the student with extra experience that others are slightly intimidated by! Although she’s not done directly linked things the experiences she’s had working full time and studying independently will stand her in good stead- especially a few weeks in when you usually get students starting to panic about the very different student experience and expectations from school!

Re the maths, my 2 DS studied Aerospace and Mechanical, they were both very maths heavy degrees. And each year spent at least as much time on theory as practicals, probably more!

I would suggest it’s worth checking with some of the unis she’s interested in re the quantity of maths on the electronics degree. Perhaps it’s also worth investigating if your DD could perhaps do either AS FM or some other standalone maths qualification just to brush up her skills.

It’s many many many years ago but I very much recognize the situation your DD is worried about - I signed up for an electronics degree, not knowing that much about the subject, and then found myself surrounded by a cohort who, whilst not geeks, certainly pretty much universally carried the scars of soldering irons……

I was fortunate in that the structure of courses/university was such that due to the first year being fairly broad based (mainly maths/physics/electronics/computing) I was able to switch another degree course at the end of year one without penalty.

If your DD has doubts it might be worth her choosing such an establishment, if they still exist, that provides such flexibility just in case..

Good luck

Could I possibly PM you about degree electronics apprenticeships, @VikingNorthUtsire?

That's exactly the scenario dd's worried about notimagain - she's not quite in the same place (can solder for example), but doesn't want to be the one always running to catch up.
With maths, she actually already has AS FM, but I'm sure could brush up on things over the next year more generally.

"And each year spent at least as much time on theory as practicals, probably more!"
I think that's definitely what dd's expecting & wanting - lots of theory (one reason amongst others to go to uni), but just a reasonably substantive amount of practical work too.

If she's messed around with arduinos and knows how to solder she may be more practically experienced than some!

Fwiw my DD has just finished her MEng and started work doing electronics design - she did gen eng but specialised in electronics& electrical, her other 4 ucas choices were straight EEE. In the 2nd year they did a group robotics project and she was suprised she was the only competent solderer in her team.

I guess if your DD has done arduino stuff she's familiar with some of the coding ...that's another thing it helps but isn't essential to be familiar with. (I think my Dd mostly did Python and maybe C). Brushing up her maths is a good ideal but realistically she'll be going for one of the many good solid engineering courses available but not the most ultra mathsy ones.

And definitely a good idea for her to contact some admissions tutors. Mine did before she made her A level choices, and they were most helpful - they're very keen to attract more young women.

@SparklingLime of course

As a graduate and lecturer in engineering I would say don't underestimate the maths. Even on apprenticeship type programmes there's lots of it. We offer a pre entry brush up course but I don't know about other places.

I think realistically the maths is unlikely to be an issue for dd - it's pretty typical that despite all the stuff that happened over her A level years resulting in missing a lot of college time (and despite no teacher for the 2nd two terms of AS year) maths is the subject she still got an A in. Really written work is her downfall always, but she has worked very hard on improving that over the last year.

She's looking to apply to unis like Swansea / Cardiff / Leicester (though I think maybe not the latter now as no Electronic engineering) - any other suggestions would be good to know. Needs to be at least relatively accessible from rural Wales and not a big city centre uni.

Loughborough maybe? Their BEng entry is ABB but afaik many unis allow moving to the MEng if the first year results are good enough. That's the sort of detail to check with admissions tutors.

Good thought, I'll suggest it. Sussex was another suggestion (a long way, but works well by train & a green campus uni), though I don't know anything about their engineering dept.

She does actually have the grades for the BEng at Birmingham (AAB), but was concerned that her 2nd A being in English would discount her - going to an open day though & considering it as one of the 5.

Well, a quick look at their website indicates the only subject requirement for Birmingham is maths so definitely worth a look. Iirc (though my knowledge may be out of date) they do a common engineering first year so it may suit her well if she'd been thinking about doing gen eng, and it wouldn't all be electronics geeks. Similar may apply elsewhere.