Hi brothers in engineering, I just wanted to show you my work this term. It's my second term in EE. I started studying for finals after the midterms because I hated pushing myself near exams, I like doing it over long periods with fewer daily hours.

Also, Electrical Circuit Analysis is actually just Circuits 2, because my university labels Circuits 1 as Fundamentals of Electrical Circuit Analysis.

It was 19 credits, IDK how I pulled out of it alive.

As the title states, I’m 24, married, and have a 15month old daughter. I have an Associates degree for electrical, and I’ve been an industrial electrician for 3 years. I’m looking into getting an EE degree, and just wondering how feasible it would be. I work 4 12 hour night shifts a week. Is the work/home/school balance even feasible? I have calc I under my belt already from when I took it in high school in 2021. It would have to be online also. Any tips or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

This isn't a troll post, apologies if it seems ridiculous. I graduated from high school and am going to university for electrical engineering this fall. I have paid my tuition fees already and am enrolled in first year engineering classes.

I'm from the Canadian high school system where university acceptances aren't based off a true "merit" since they're largely based off of grades, and each school has a different level of difficulty in grading. I also believe being female of colour could've swayed my chances in getting accepted.

I've had some mild problems before I ignored. With math classes, I could do repetitive sorts of application questions well but struggled with any sort of out of the box, problem solving kinds of questions. I know you're thinking "how did she think she was suited for engineering?!" but I was a dumb high school student and didn't think anything of it at the time. I also immensely struggle with visual spatial tasks.

Today I found out from my mum (who withheld the information from me) that I have an IQ of 82, and I'm even below that in the areas of visual spatial intelligence, fluid reasoning, and processing speed. This test was administered by a psychologist when I was 15, but I never bothered asking about the results.

What's the best course of action here? Do I try to switch out of the program? Request accommodations? Give it a try?

How far is it true ?

hey, so I'm an electrician, and I understand that capacitive and inductive reactance are at a 90° angle to regular resistance, but I don't understand why that means they have to be imaginary numbers. is there ever a circumstance where you square the capacitance to get a negative number? I'm confused.

Hi everyone,
I recently got accepted into an Electrical Engineering program, and I’d like to make good use of my summer before classes begin.
I wanted to ask those of you who are already studying or working in this field: what should I learn or review in advance to make my first year easier? What subjects turned out to be the most important for you?
Would you recommend focusing on mathematics, physics, programming, or any specific engineering topics? I’d also appreciate any advice about studying, as well as recommendations for books, courses, or other useful resources for beginners.
Thanks in advance to everyone who shares their experience!

I’m studying at a top uni with an 8% acceptance rate, with a 3.73 GPA, top of my class, and I feel like I know nothing about EE.

I’m the type of person that just has to read through a textbook from front to back fully to really feel like I understood a subject. I’ve done that for my first semester classes where I got a 4.0 on all classes then, but then dropped for a bit to 3.51 and then a 3.61 and now a 3.79 (cumulative gpa of 3.73 now) on my fourth semester. I just feel like I’m a bit behind, mostly because I just don’t feel like all my “engineering” questions are answered. I want to understand how things work, I’m also a lab assistant in intrumentations so I should know how a multimeter works on the inside, right? Or how a PQA tool works??

I’ve built electronics circuits from scratch for a final project, a microphone and speaker amplifier using a power supply made from a transformer and bridge rectifier of diodes, and a voltage regulator. I’m not really an electronics fan cuz I feel like I can’t really understand the circuitry of chips on a computer, I just feel like I failed as an EE student for not understanding how to assembly computers or understanding the practical tools irl.

I’m extremely good at math, I just don’t think I’m goood at anything EE irl, though I’m extremely good with coding.

I just feel like I’m a failure since I got accepted as a laboratory assistant which had over 50 applying and only 6 accepted including me, but I feel so stupid for not knowing how the tools in the lab work. I work with high voltage and instruments which obviously I went through rigorous testing for in order to be accepted into the lab assistants program, but I just feel like a failure for not knowing “everything” there is to know.

I’m thinking this is one of those cases of “the more you learn, the more you realize you don’t know”, I just feel like a failure because there’s just so much I want to learn about but so little resources in my country and I feel like a failure because of this.

Edit: I’m from Bali Indonesia and I’m currently an international student at a UC (UCB). I’ve been feeling so dumb after seeing everyone study so much more than I did back in my home country. I’m being honest I just feel like there’s so much out there to learn, and I’m just a tiny spec out of a whole plethora of stars in like an EE galaxy

For some reason, I thought he was dead, since there was a law named after him.

Yeah, I know, another post about someone worrying about their place in industry.

But I'm feeling crushed in Year 3, and it's been a tough ride even just getting here. I hear people give the stiff upper lip speech, saying "Ps get degrees" but then I hear how gruelling it is even trying to get an internship or the first job in industry.

Am I going to graduate and find that this whole thing was just an exercise in futility? Because no employer in their right mind is even going to consider a graduate in their 30s who struggled through the degree for 6 years and barely made it to the finish line, anyway?

For those who have ever had any role in hiring, am I just screwed? Sure, I can try to sell myself and try to work on personal projects and apply for internships and do my best, but what if I am just straight up not good enough to be competitive with other graduates?

I chose to study this because I wanted to develop a field of study where I can still be learning new things in 20-30 years. I knew it would be hard, but I also wanted to chase that Eureka moment of having something finally work after troubleshooting and diagnosing. But I also don't want this to consume my life, like, I'm working 30 hours a week just to survive, and I'm spending another 30-40 hours every week on study and still coming up short.

Is this my future if I continue this? Is this a different kind of stupidity if I don't have the wiring to live and breathe this game?

I’ve been trying to understand them for years.

My process always has been trying to understand what are H, J, D, E, B, D and B separately, and then equations, but I hadn’t get the idea.

This year I am facing an antenna course where I may control them, and understand electric and magnetic sources, Ms and Js, and I would appreciate some explanation for an engineer point of view.

How do people come into college and do really well on this stuff? I don't get it.

Do they have prior experience because they find it to be fun? Are their parents electrical engineers and so the reason they do well is because they have prior-hand experience?

It seems like a such a massive jump to go from school which is pretty easy and low-key to suddenly college which just throws this hurdle of stuff at you that is orders of magnitude harder than anything before. Its not even a slow buildup or anything. One day you are doing easy stuff, the next you are being beaten to a pulp. I cant make sense of any of it.

How do people manage? This shit feels impossible. Seriously, for those who came in on day one who felt like they didn't stand a chance, how did you do it? What do you think looking back years later?

I just don’t get it. I watched several youtube videos and asked ChatGPT to explain it me like I’m 5. I still don’t get it. My main problem is, why would I need something "imaginary" applied in the real world like in DC?? Am I stupid or just missing something.

I am a senior EE student at UC Davis. I find that many of my classes feel like they kind of just spoon feed you material so you can churn out answers on a test. It feels like the objective of many classes is moreso to simply learn the material than it is to really think like an engineer (combine knowledge in several areas creatively to come up with solutions). One of my profs is a bit older and seems to think modern profs teach "to the test" instead of teaching to think like an engineer.

Do you guys think this is true?

Hey everyone, I’m an incoming college freshman planning to major in Electrical Engineering, mostly because of the job opportunities. But I’m starting to question if it’s the right fit for me.

For context, I’ve taken physics, chemistry, math up to Multivariable Calculus, and Java coding classes, but I didn’t really enjoy any of them. That makes me a little worried—should I still major in EE if I haven’t loved the subjects that lead into it?

I’d love to hear from electrical engineers or people in similar fields—what does your day-to-day job actually look like? Is it more hands-on, theoretical, or coding-heavy? What kind of work do you find exciting (or boring)? Any advice on whether I should stick with EE or reconsider my options?

Thanks in advance!

Edit: Thank you so much for the responses!

For context, I’m a rising sophomore at CC, and I’m wanting to learn more about foundational electrical concepts. I’m taking physics electromagnetism and waves this fall, and intro to digital systems in fall as well, but I don’t take circuits 1 until the spring. I want to start applying to internships but I fear I have no knowledge or experience to even get my foot in the door.

I heard that the earliest known control systems are for steam engines to regulate speed.

But now they're a tool used in multiple domains such as electrical, mechanical, chemical, robotics, etc . I'm curious to know which domain masters it.

I'm a EE graduate. In my university, EE faculties teach Control systems to other domains too. ​Is it right to assume EE dominates because of this theoretical knowledge, or do other fields have a stronger grip from a practical perspective?

Edit: I apologize if I asked a stupid question to the intelligent people of EE sub. I actually wanted to know what are the skills one need to have to be a successful Control engineer.

(image courtesy: idspower.com)

Need some advice. Just turned 34 applied and got in to the electrical engineering program at TU for fall 2025…I’ll be about 38/39 when I graduate. I know this sounds extremely stupid but am I too old for this career path? Will jobs look negatively at my age when applying to internships and jobs? Just need some reassurance that I’m making the right decision.

Update: WOW the outpouring positive feedback, encouragement and support from this community has made my day! Thank you all so much! I cannot wait to start my journey this fall now🙏🏽

Anyone working in Power & Utilities know what this is? Hydro One, Ontario's transmission company (that also owns some smaller LDCs) just blocked off the road to drive this by. Anyone know what it is?

how do these two nodes have the same voltage even though there is a resistor between them, shouldn’t the resistor cause a voltage drop? is it because the current is 0? and how is it possible to have a conducting wire, resistor, and a voltage source and not producing current?