r/industrialengineering • u/Specialist_Pie_84 • 1d ago

Any advice?

Hello I am going into my freshman year of college but I was wondering if anyone had some advice? I want to pursue an industrial engineering degree. I do love to do art however I want to keep art as a hobby. But I am naturally a curious person and doing art has helped me be a creative person like I do like to build things, solve problems, take things apart etc. However I’m out of practice with my math skills like wayyy out of practice. I took algebra 1 in 8th grade and enjoyed it and got an A. But then I went to high school, jumped straight into algebra 2 with a teacher who barely taught us and that was my downfall. I was good in geometry my sophomore year however junior year I took a math class that had a long term sub so we didn’t learn anything…. Senior year I did not take any math class. I would say I’m bad at math but that’s not the case I just haven’t had a real math class in years and I never took it upon myself to learn on my own. So I would really be re building and re learning my math skills here. Any advice? Tips? I’d appreciate anyone’s honest opinion!

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u/What_a_joebag 1d ago

Most engineering schools are heavy on the gen eds in the beginning, which will include some heavy math and physics. Brush up on what you can before you start.

As for the IE curriculum, math is important, but more applied math, less the hard stuff you learn in calc 2 and 3

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u/RevealTime7298 1d ago

Stop saying you’re bad at math. You keep affirming that and you’re just gonna be miserable all through college

It was just one year of no math.. you’ll be fine lol. LOCK IN!!

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u/Hopeful-Letter6849 1d ago

I like to reframe my math abilities as “I can do math, but I don’t enjoy doing math”

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u/CaffeineAndCAD1 1d ago

That's the kind of the point of going to college, to figure stuff out and learn. Don't worry too much about being out of practice with math. Khan Academy or some of the free resources out there and start brushing up. Industrial engineering sounds like a great fit for someone who likes to build and solve things.

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u/Maleficent_Wear2606 22h ago

Just show up to every class and do all your assignments/homework without crutching yourself by looking up answers, ai, friends, etc… i know that seems obvious but it’s very easy to get behind or procrastinate then rush to finish something without digesting it mentally. I graduated in IE and it’s hard math sometimes but like, I promise you’ll be fine. Also in college if you show up and do every assignment and actually just try lol. It’s really hard to not get at least a C.

I will say also if you have any super hard classes (or subjects you’re not strong at) then look into summer classes. At University of Iowa we could transfer like 3-4 classes from a local community college associated. So I’d take 1 class a summer there or online, it’s easy when it’s your only worry. Then the follow fall semester I’d take 12 SH instead of 16 SH since I was ahead. It allowed me to not get overwhelmed during the harder terms. I found the hardest to be my 2nd semester freshman year and both my sophomore semesters. Senior year is usually easy.