Engineering College Admissions Essays?

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No0bert

Member
I have started looking at colleges, and I have googled my ass off searching for samples in engineering-major college essays, my college of choice asks the question:

...write about why you are interested in your choice of major or you may write on any subject you choose...

And I wish to apply for the Electrical Engineering field in my university. Your essay may be of any engineering branch, because as I will not be copying it, I just wish to point out flaws/points so I can conjure an accepted essay.


So I ask here because this is a suitable/popular forum for Technology-Based Q&A, and so I ask if anyone is willing to share their successful/unsuccessful (both are useful for pointing out flaws/points) college admissions to me or anyone else interested in the field and struggling to achieve a state of university acceptance in their desired field (engineering).

Before you flame about other people doing my school work (dirty work) for me, please take note of the fact that I am not asking for something to copy...
 
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profmason

Member
Engineering Essays and Picaxe

Having sat on admissions committees and currently teaching physics and engineering at a technical college, I can briefly share what I look for in these essays.
In the states and in CA, freshman engineering majors have a 75% drop out rate. This is a massive waste of time, money and talent(both for the droppees and for me as an instructor) I am looking for specific information in the essay that shows a life long commitment to the desired major. For instance.
-Specifically cite engineering projects that you built, either as part of your school course or even better on your own. Give details that show that you understand what you built and why. Your picaxe projects are exactly what I am talking about.
-Tell personal anecdotes that give me a sense that you will stick with a difficult course of study for the 4-5 years required.
-I should be able to see that you view engineering as what you would rather be doing for fun, and are thrilled that someone might actually pay you to do it someday.
-Give me a sense that you have some idea what you are getting into! Most engineers spend most of their time in front of a computer.
Stay away from broad generalizations like the above. I have to read MANY of these essays and the more personal and specific your story the better, and if you give me an idea about an interesting project that you worked on, I will remember it.

have fun in engineering school!


(BTW I have been going through this from the other side. I finished my graduate work 12 years ago, and after getting tenure have finally qualified for a sabbatical. So I am going back to school to do an MSC in robotics in the UK next year. I will be at either Reading, BIT or Plymouth. I am flying out in Feb to visit places and see how the UK in February compares to Los Angeles.)
 
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manuka

Senior Member
ProfMason: Yikes- are you crazy!? The UK in Feb is about as far from LA weather one can get. Get all your sunbeams NOW! Aside from the sunnier UK west country (putting a plug in here for Bristol & Bath), how about considering NZ, which has California weather overall? PM me for insights perhaps- there are post grad schemes in NZ that may be financially worthwhile for you. Just teasing of course about Feb., but at least in the UK you'll be hitting the books rather than the beaches.

No0bert: Even being motivated to post here shows you are probably in the right field, but WHICH ENGINEERING BRANCH?! I could give endless advice & insights as a result of my own academic career, but best you PM me directly if really keen. Can you contact anyone already doing the courses you are considering? Initial 4 year engineering degrees are heavy duty maths by the way= one reason for the terrible drop out rate. For the first year you'll be lucky to even see a screwdriver, let alone get to - gasp- actually use one!

EXTRA: How about slanting your essay to reflect your posting here!? Another approach is to take some historical top engineer (Michael Faraday is my favourite) & read up about his entry into the field. Lots of thoughts at => http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=110100&page=3 Faraday of course was self taught, & apparently never progressed as far as calculus (one wit saying this was because he'd not got this text to rebind!), but had legendary engineering insights & tool making skills. Now there's a good essay line to take for the likes of ProfMason ...

Stan in Wellington,New Zealand
 
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BeanieBots

Moderator
The key thing is that the essay is a reflection of YOU. It should concentrate on YOUR understanding and YOUR interest in the subject. Simply writing up on a project won't convey that. Personalise it.
 
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No0bert

Member
Prof: Those points are very useful, I appreciate it, but I didn't know about the 75% drop-out rate, I will be sure to include that I do this for fun, and have overcome many lengthy impediments to do so, so engineering as a college major will just be another thing to check off.
Manuka: I was planning on citing Nicola Tesla, for the fact that nobody believed in him, and he isnt as widely known as Edison for creating almost an identical invention, AC current

I was planning on quoting Tesla, "To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be." -which shows that sometimes all we need is a new perspective on an old problem

BeanieBots: Although that is the most common thing any admissions essay reader will want to see, it is often overlooked, thank you for the emphasis!
 
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boriz

Senior Member
"To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be."

Never heard that before. Cool.
 
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manuka

Senior Member
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be."
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I've heard that applied in fact to administrators, who proceed to chop resources accordingly!

A better view could be " -an engineer may say "Why use a glass- let's freeze the liquid!"
 
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papaof2

Senior Member
And if we freeze-dry the liquid, the storage needed is even smaller.
However, that doesn't work for all products ;-)

John
 
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westaust55

Moderator
Could it be said that Tesla had a magnetic personality.

Getting agreeance on who invented the electric light bulb (J Swann vs Edison) can become a heated topic with those unaware of Joseph Swann.

The beer glass analogy has been around for aeons with some variations.

The Prof is definitely right about the drop-out rate for engineering students. It has been that way for decades. When I did my degree, first year had 200, second year dropped to 100, third year saw numbers down to 10 in Power and about 40 spread over Electronics and Communications.
 
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manuka

Senior Member
The trains in Australia are often miles long, and the types that run on rails are even longer!

-who invented the electric light bulb (J Swann vs Edison) can become a heated topic with those unaware of Joseph Swann
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It's just a single n (Yes-I'm apparently related !) -Sir Joseph Wilson Swan(October 31, 1828 – May 27, 1914) was an English physicist and chemist, most famous for the invention of the incandescent light bulb.

I ran a straw poll with some budding engineers recently, & predictably most were "Mythbusters" fans. It's tempting to credit that TV program with having done more to enthuse & promote gutsy hands on engineering science than any number of university courses. I consider it essential viewing for "nuts & volts" types-of all ages. "Seconds from Disaster" is not far behind. Stan. SWAN

EXTRA: Have just done a quick "Mythbusters" Google & been delighted to see the Uni. of Alberta is actually planning 4th year mythbusters style papers! See => http://www.engineering.ualberta.ca/news.cfm?story=84816
 
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westaust55

Moderator
manuka said:
The trains in Australia are often miles long, and the types that run on rails are even longer!
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As Manuka (Stan) says, we do have some very long trains.

The road trains can have a prime mover and typically 3 trailers in the north west but there have been up to 5 trailers = 65 metres long. In the Northern Territory the trucks can be travelling at around 100kph so it can take quite a while to overtaken one with only a single lane in each direction. :eek:

The rail based trains in the north of WA are generally 2.5 kilometres long and they have run some up to 5km long with trips of 400km which may be non-stop. Think how long you can sit at a level crossing if you arrive at the wrong time with a train travelling at only moderate speeds. :rolleyes:
 
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moxhamj

New Member
Westaust55: "third year saw numbers down to 10 in Power"

Interesting to keep in touch my engineering colleagues who stuck through "boring old power" while most drifted over to the much sexier computers. Now in midlife, it is the power guys making the big money. A million dollars to install some fans in a mine shaft etc.
 
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Ralpht

New Member
The road trains can have a prime mover and typically 3 trailers in the north west but there have been up to 5 trailers = 65 metres long. In the Northern Territory the trucks can be travelling at around 100kph so it can take quite a while to overtaken one with only a single lane in each direction.
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During the mid 90's, I was posted to RAAF Tindal near Katherine in the Northern Territory. (RAAF = Royal Australian Air Force - for the non Aussies )

I remember driving up and down the Stuart Highway many times, back in the days when there were no speed limits on the NT highways. The Stuart Highway is the only main highway linking Darwin in the north to Port Augusta in South Australia, and is about 3000 kms long. I'd be doing 130Kph and it was quite embarrasing, not to mention scary, to be overtaken by one of those Road-Trains going like I was standing still.

Wonder how long it will take one of them to stop in an emergency?
 
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