Undenominated engineering

TheFullDuck

Hi guys, 6th year here thinking of doing undenom eng. in Galway.
I dropped down to pass maths earlier this year but I find it easy and I'm aiming for an A1, I know I'll have to sit the entrance exam to get in.
So my question is what is the maths like in the course?

Thanks in advance

JerryHispano

Without honours maths you will struggle with the maths in engineering. In mechanical and biomedical eng anyway, the fail rate is incredible each year. Civil Eng is slightly less hard maths-wise, but the job prospects aren't good right now.

TBH, i dont know why you would want to do Engineering if you found it necessarry to drop to pass maths. I saw my brothers pass maths past papers last year, and they were a joke.

Maths will be your main concern for 4 years, 2 years of maths first and second yr, 2 years of maths physics, 2 years of fluid mechanics/dynamics, one year of chemistry, one year of physics. When you have them basics down, u can start using the maths to engineer things.

How were you doing in maths before you dropped down?

Edit: you do know that with undenominated you have to choose a discipline after the first year?

Fisher Calhoun

I'm with Jerry on this. I studied Mechanical Engineering a few years ago and there is a lot of maths involved. Essentially, the first year maths course is the Leaving Cert honours maths programme with a little extra stuff. You'd need to be comfortable with differentiation, integration and all that fun stuff, really.

In later years (3rd and 4th), a solid maths foundation is essential. When you start dealing with second differentials to express the breaking point of a pressurised container, you're going to want to be able to keep up. Formulae get thrown around a bit! Same with fluid dynamics, thermodynamics and the like.

I'm not 100% with how "maths heavy" electronic engineering is, but it 's a different kind of maths. It's more like Leaving Cert Physics iirc. Lots of formulas to do with power, voltages and the like. A little computer cross-over too (in all first year engineering at least) with regards to programming and the like.

As Jerry says, make sure you go in knowing what's ahead of you with regard to Maths. Attend the open days and talk to lecturers and students of the courses you're thinking about. After the first year, you have to choose a specific engineering discipline (Mech, Biomed, Civil, Electronic, etc) and go into the second year of that course.

TheFullDuck

JerryHispano wrote: »

Without honours maths you will struggle with the maths in engineering. In mechanical and biomedical eng anyway, the fail rate is incredible each year. Civil Eng is slightly less hard maths-wise, but the job prospects aren't good right now.

TBH, i dont know why you would want to do Engineering if you found it necessarry to drop to pass maths. I saw my brothers pass maths past papers last year, and they were a joke.

Maths will be your main concern for 4 years, 2 years of maths first and second yr, 2 years of maths physics, 2 years of fluid mechanics/dynamics, one year of chemistry, one year of physics. When you have them basics down, u can start using the maths to engineer things.

How were you doing in maths before you dropped down?

Edit: you do know that with undenominated you have to choose a discipline after the first year?

Thanks for the reply, this helps a lot. I dropped to pass maths to focus on my other subjects and regret it now, I feel I could have gotten a decent grade but at the time I had neither the interest nor commitment for it.

I am aware of choosing a discipline, I was thinking of biomedical or computer but with this info i may head back to the 'ol prospectus!

JerryHispano

I wasn't trying to totally discourage you, just to give a dose of reality. PM me if you want to know anything else, I can tell you about the course in more detail.

f1dan

Imo, if you don't have a good grasp of higher level calculus and algebra, you will struggle with 1st and 2nd year maths

Rob!

It's true that the maths is very intense but being honest, if you're genuinely dedicated and interested in the subject matter AND are good at grasping maths concepts then i'd definitely say go for it.

I'm a second year eng student myself at the moment and although i had honours maths, i still found first yr quite a challenge. And yet a lot of my friends here did pass maths in the leaving and find it ridiculously simple. So it all depends upon the person really. So my advice is if it interests you - do it!

Note: if you do decide to do eng - take first yr seriously! - It's no arts course with regard to hours. (and thats not disrespecting arts students - been there myself) - i'm just referring to the sheer quantity of hours you'll have. I had 40 hours a week in first yr if you include tutorials. So if you fall behind, it's rather difficult to catch up.

But whatever you choose - best of luck with it!

TheFullDuck

Thanks for all the replies, they really help, I'm gonna get my hands on some sample papers from the entrance exam and see what I make of them.

I would be willing to work for it, so I'll try these papers and go from there!

Thanks again

aperture_nuig

just a tip on the electronic & comp eng course (as everything else seems to have been covered)...
much the same as mechanical/biomedical, you will need a strong understanding of the fundamentals of maths and maths physics for 3rd and 4th yr ( I'm in 3rd now of elec & comp). However, as Rob! has stated, if you have enough of an interest, the maths should not be much of a problem so long as you don't fall behind!