In my opinion, very.
23/24/25 hours a week of lectures, labs, tutorials. 9am start every day, expect to be working past 5/6/7 in the computer labs on assignments (especially close to deadlines). On top of this you'll have log books, lab reports, tutorial questions, formal reports etc to complete in your own time.
You can of course do less work/miss lectures/go out clubbing but your grades will suffer.
23/24/25 hours a week of lectures, labs, tutorials. 9am start every day, expect to be working past 5/6/7 in the computer labs on assignments (especially close to deadlines). On top of this you'll have log books, lab reports, tutorial questions, formal reports etc to complete in your own time.
You can of course do less work/miss lectures/go out clubbing but your grades will suffer.
Original post by Popppppy
In my opinion, very.
23/24/25 hours a week of lectures, labs, tutorials. 9am start every day, expect to be working past 5/6/7 in the computer labs on assignments (especially close to deadlines). On top of this you'll have log books, lab reports, tutorial questions, formal reports etc to complete in your own time.
You can of course do less work/miss lectures/go out clubbing but your grades will suffer.
23/24/25 hours a week of lectures, labs, tutorials. 9am start every day, expect to be working past 5/6/7 in the computer labs on assignments (especially close to deadlines). On top of this you'll have log books, lab reports, tutorial questions, formal reports etc to complete in your own time.
You can of course do less work/miss lectures/go out clubbing but your grades will suffer.
hmmm, from what i've heard it's about 40 hours a week if you include homework,coursework,revision...etc, is that about right? if so then it's about 7 hours a day, I can cope with that.
I think I had around 29 hours contact time with lecturers at it's busiest (probably 2nd year), and I put in my share of 18 hour days getting the final year group project completed (4th Year MEng) - 36,000 words between 4 of us in 3 days - (that was fun... hahaha)
Studying comes on top of that too. How you do it depends on how you learn best. I tended to relax during term time, go out, complete coursework assignments with hours (sometimes seconds) to spare, and then 2 weeks before exams I'd be a complete recluse whilst learning everything I needed to know for the 6 module exams I was taking - but that is how I learn best. Infrequently, in intense sessions. Often my most productive hours were 10pm to 3am.
Plenty of my friends didn't do it that way - they tended to put in a few hours a day, 4-5 days a week, and spread the majority of the learning out over the term - it just depends on how you like doing things. There is no right or wrong way. Some people will seem to be studying for an eternity, every day, to get their grades, and others can pick things up very quickly and barely seem to put any extra time in at all. People are different - that's life.
And sure, you can pick your work/life balance. I got a comfortable 2:1 (I think actually I was 0.75% away from a 1st in the end) but I was perfectly fine with that - it got me the job I wanted, and as far as I was concerned that was all the degree was for. I managed plenty of other stuff at university, got involved with lots of societies from flying, sailing and skiing through to ballroom dancing, martial arts and financial trading, did loads of overseas travel, and made great friends who are now all over the globe. University is what you make it - so make the most of it.
Easiest year was my 3rd year (individual project). Hardest was 2nd year.
1st year didn't count towards the degree, and was spent finding the limits of how little study I could get away with whilst still getting a 2:1+, 2nd year: lots and lots of contact time, modules, coursework, labs, reports... you name it. Learnt loads, not all of it was interesting though. 3rd year - options time, you get to choose the stuff you're more interested in. I got a great individual project too, and everything was more relaxed in terms of studying. 4th year was probably the most interesting of my time, and also had a pretty high workload - much more coursework than exams, but that meant that the year ended faster - I had just one exam in the final semester, compared to 6 in every single semester previously.
Engineering, as you'll find out, has long hours compared to other degrees. There is a lot of studying, and it is sustained over the entire degree, but you can still have a life, absolutely. Getting a good grade (i.e. a 2:1 or above) will require you to say "no, can't go out tonight" on several occasions, but thankfully they're fairly rare. That phrase often makes no sense to someone who only has 4 hours contact time a week, though, so it must be countered with the usual "i'm doing a proper degree" under interrogation from that guy in halls doing watersports science with underwater basket weaving, and they'll often wonder why you spend so much time on campus/in the library/working. You'll be thankful once you've graduated, or are in careers fairs in the final year hearing "But they're ALL engineering companies..."
Stu Haynes MEng
Studying comes on top of that too. How you do it depends on how you learn best. I tended to relax during term time, go out, complete coursework assignments with hours (sometimes seconds) to spare, and then 2 weeks before exams I'd be a complete recluse whilst learning everything I needed to know for the 6 module exams I was taking - but that is how I learn best. Infrequently, in intense sessions. Often my most productive hours were 10pm to 3am.
Plenty of my friends didn't do it that way - they tended to put in a few hours a day, 4-5 days a week, and spread the majority of the learning out over the term - it just depends on how you like doing things. There is no right or wrong way. Some people will seem to be studying for an eternity, every day, to get their grades, and others can pick things up very quickly and barely seem to put any extra time in at all. People are different - that's life.
And sure, you can pick your work/life balance. I got a comfortable 2:1 (I think actually I was 0.75% away from a 1st in the end) but I was perfectly fine with that - it got me the job I wanted, and as far as I was concerned that was all the degree was for. I managed plenty of other stuff at university, got involved with lots of societies from flying, sailing and skiing through to ballroom dancing, martial arts and financial trading, did loads of overseas travel, and made great friends who are now all over the globe. University is what you make it - so make the most of it.
Easiest year was my 3rd year (individual project). Hardest was 2nd year.
1st year didn't count towards the degree, and was spent finding the limits of how little study I could get away with whilst still getting a 2:1+, 2nd year: lots and lots of contact time, modules, coursework, labs, reports... you name it. Learnt loads, not all of it was interesting though. 3rd year - options time, you get to choose the stuff you're more interested in. I got a great individual project too, and everything was more relaxed in terms of studying. 4th year was probably the most interesting of my time, and also had a pretty high workload - much more coursework than exams, but that meant that the year ended faster - I had just one exam in the final semester, compared to 6 in every single semester previously.
Engineering, as you'll find out, has long hours compared to other degrees. There is a lot of studying, and it is sustained over the entire degree, but you can still have a life, absolutely. Getting a good grade (i.e. a 2:1 or above) will require you to say "no, can't go out tonight" on several occasions, but thankfully they're fairly rare. That phrase often makes no sense to someone who only has 4 hours contact time a week, though, so it must be countered with the usual "i'm doing a proper degree" under interrogation from that guy in halls doing watersports science with underwater basket weaving, and they'll often wonder why you spend so much time on campus/in the library/working. You'll be thankful once you've graduated, or are in careers fairs in the final year hearing "But they're ALL engineering companies..."
Stu Haynes MEng
Original post by pheonix254
and then 2 weeks before exams I'd be a complete recluse whilst learning everything I needed to know for the 6 module exams I was taking - but that is how I learn best. Infrequently, in intense sessions. Often my most productive hours were 10pm to 3am.
I'm doing that right now 
But ~5am definitely isn't productive for me.
There you have it then - proof that I wasn't the only one.
My excuse now for posting at 4 in the morning is that is I'm in a different time zone. It's mid-day here
My excuse now for posting at 4 in the morning is that is I'm in a different time zone. It's mid-day here
basically what phoenix254 said above describes my time at uni doing aerospace engineering perfectly, I am a real hardcore last minute kind of person, I need the stress and pressure to function at my best. I scraped a 2.1 with the skin of my teeth though....
2.1 is the minimum you need by the way. really. don't get less then a 2.1. learn to fear it.
the guys over at electronic were in basically the same boat as us, you can pretty much have as much of a social life as you want (be it going out drinking or becoming hench at the gym or just smoking up and watching wildlife documentaries) but come a week or two before exam time or the day before a coursework deadline:
- you will disappear in the library with the other engineers
-you will eat out or get a pizza delivery a LOT
-you will go whole nights without sleep, sometimes two nights in a row
-you will contemplate whether you even want to be doing this
-you will lose weight due to the high operating stress in third year (though you will feel second year was harder if you have done it right)
no matter how much you feel like quitting DON'T BE A F*GGOT, this is what sorts engineers out from the rest. you will be rewarded with a cool 30k start salary and usually benefits like private healthcare, company car, pension scheme etc.
this is really bias but after experiencing it, if I ever start up a company, i would want to employ engineers for every important role. the problem is we're so damn expensive haha
2.1 is the minimum you need by the way. really. don't get less then a 2.1. learn to fear it.
the guys over at electronic were in basically the same boat as us, you can pretty much have as much of a social life as you want (be it going out drinking or becoming hench at the gym or just smoking up and watching wildlife documentaries) but come a week or two before exam time or the day before a coursework deadline:
- you will disappear in the library with the other engineers
-you will eat out or get a pizza delivery a LOT
-you will go whole nights without sleep, sometimes two nights in a row
-you will contemplate whether you even want to be doing this
-you will lose weight due to the high operating stress in third year (though you will feel second year was harder if you have done it right)
no matter how much you feel like quitting DON'T BE A F*GGOT, this is what sorts engineers out from the rest. you will be rewarded with a cool 30k start salary and usually benefits like private healthcare, company car, pension scheme etc.
this is really bias but after experiencing it, if I ever start up a company, i would want to employ engineers for every important role. the problem is we're so damn expensive haha
at least its not as time consuming as architecture, where smarts dont matter and i heard it takes up to 60-80 hours some weeks
but youve got to realise, ee is basically applied math degree
but youve got to realise, ee is basically applied math degree
Original post by Table
So you start real revision only a week or two before bexams?? How doesn that compare with a levels because most people start revision a month or two for a levels.
Bear in mind that terms are shorter at uni and exams are earlier, two months before the exam there's a good chance you still have a good chunk of stuff to cover.
Also this year for me, two weeks before the exams started I still had an 8 week programming project to finish, class tests, project labs and formal reports to be written.
Original post by Popppppy
Bear in mind that terms are shorter at uni and exams are earlier, two months before the exam there's a good chance you still have a good chunk of stuff to cover.
Also this year for me, two weeks before the exams started I still had an 8 week programming project to finish, class tests, project labs and formal reports to be written.
Also this year for me, two weeks before the exams started I still had an 8 week programming project to finish, class tests, project labs and formal reports to be written.
Aahh ok.
Would you mind sending me one of you formal report or any sort of project so i can see what sort of standard is expected. It would really hlep. Thanks
(edited 11 years ago)
Original post by osake
For those studying electronic engineering how time consuming is it? Which year is the easiest/hardest? How many hours per week including studies and lectures?
10 minutes later...
Original post by osake
hmmm, from what i've heard it's about 40 hours a week if you include homework,coursework,revision...etc, is that about right? if so then it's about 7 hours a day, I can cope with that.
You answered your own question
Original post by Table
Aahh ok.
Would you mind sending me one of you formal report or any sort of project so i can see what sort of standard is expected. It would really hlep. Thanks
Would you mind sending me one of you formal report or any sort of project so i can see what sort of standard is expected. It would really hlep. Thanks
If you wish I can send you on a personal basis my final year project report...
Original post by OllieGCSEs
10 minutes later...
You answered your own question
You answered your own question
The terms tend to vary between 15-25 hours, and your supervisor will tell you, you should be doing 40 hours a week. But it's more like weeks 1-8 are the lecture hours, then final 2 weeks are 100 hour weeks :P Enjoy it!
Original post by Popppppy
Bear in mind that terms are shorter at uni and exams are earlier, two months before the exam there's a good chance you still have a good chunk of stuff to cover.
Also this year for me, two weeks before the exams started I still had an 8 week programming project to finish, class tests, project labs and formal reports to be written.
Also this year for me, two weeks before the exams started I still had an 8 week programming project to finish, class tests, project labs and formal reports to be written.
Ahh I miss that feeling of, work work OH! Exam time
Original post by osake
For those studying electronic engineering how time consuming is it? Which year is the easiest/hardest? How many hours per week including studies and lectures?
I found my first year to be the hardest, but this is probably because I did a foundation year, and my maths sucked and also the fact they used that year as a filter year (50% got through) but they system has changed at my Uni. As the years go on you do less maths and more concentrated work on the module.
Original post by imhiya
If you wish I can send you on a personal basis my final year project report...
Oh yes please! That would be very helpful. Would you like mey email or are you going to PM me on here?
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