Civil and Electrical.........help!

breadmonkey · 02-12-2007 04:54AM

eoghan h wrote: »

I think I might study the Undenominated course in Galway so then I can decide in 2nd year which I want to pursue!

Just thought I'd give you a heads up here: I did the undenominated in UCD and didn't realise that people would be awarded a place in their chosen discipline based on their 1st year results. I honestly have no idea if this is the case in Galway but it's a definite possibility. This isn't really a problem if you're going for Chem or Elec but Mech and Civil might require you to outdo your classmates. To be honest, if you can handle exams then this won't be an issue but just be aware that there might be that little bit of added pressure.

johnathan woss · 05-12-2007 03:57PM

Asbad wrote: »

Civil eng = harder course

Are you joking ?

gubbie · 06-12-2007 01:44PM

Asbad wrote: »

Civil eng = harder course but generally results in more money then other engineering discipline.

Hahahahahaha
Good joke

If someone just gets 400 points chances are they're not gonna be able to do elec. That is unless you are one of those incredibly gifted at maths and Physics people and slept for the whole year

UCD are also creating another back road entry into something like Civil if there's a spare place for anyone who doesn't get the points for it but ends up doing another engineering in UCD

godtabh · 06-12-2007 01:52PM

gubbie wrote: »

Hahahahahaha
Good joke

If someone just gets 400 points chances are they're not gonna be able to do elec. That is unless you are one of those incredibly gifted at maths and Physics people and slept for the whole year

UCD are also creating another back road entry into something like Civil if there's a spare place for anyone who doesn't get the points for it but ends up doing another engineering in UCD

Points has nothign to do with whether you can do the course or not.

You could easily get 400 points doing arts, history, biology and your normal subjects. How does that help you with eletronic engeneering?

SparkyLarks · 13-12-2007 10:54PM

If you want to ear as an engineer, try petrolum engeneiring, big shortage of them at the moment and it;s getting worse as alot of the petrol enginers will be retiring in the next few years in america. it;s a big issue for the american engineering industry.

then go and work in the middle east/Norway and ther is good money. but it;s tough 12 hours days 7 days a week for 3 weeks then one week off and back on again.

Ther is a lot of oportunities out there if you want to work hard in a funny location.

Redjeep! · 13-12-2007 11:46PM

Hmmm engineering....

No other profession is probably less well respected, misunderstood and underpaid. You'll be patronised by newly qualified accountants who think that they're better at maths than you, assumed to be one step above the person who empties the bins by sales and generally thought of as a glorified electrician/ bricky/ plumber by the rest of the world. (Not that I want to be critical of any of these roles).

Personally I have told, no make that strongly advised, my sons not to even consider it and to go off and be something like a lawyer or a doctor.

If you're confident that playing with things will make up for this in your life then go ahead....

(before anybody calls me cynical I'd like to point out that I've worked as an engineer for 20 years and rose to a fairly senior engineering manager level in a large engineering based comapny, so I do know what I'm talking about).

Funny thing is, I still love the engineering side of my job.

godtabh · 14-12-2007 09:15AM

Redjeep! wrote: »

Hmmm engineering....

No other profession is probably less well respected, misunderstood and underpaid. You'll be patronised by newly qualified accountants who think that they're better at maths than you, assumed to be one step above the person who empties the bins by sales and generally thought of as a glorified electrician/ bricky/ plumber by the rest of the world. (Not that I want to be critical of any of these roles).

Personally I have told, no make that strongly advised, my sons not to even consider it and to go off and be something like a lawyer or a doctor.

If you're confident that playing with things will make up for this in your life then go ahead....

(before anybody calls me cynical I'd like to point out that I've worked as an engineer for 20 years and rose to a fairly senior engineering manager level in a large engineering based comapny, so I do know what I'm talking about).

Funny thing is, I still love the engineering side of my job.

How long ago was that?

I've never experienced that. To be fair architects (some but not all) dont value an engineers input as much as they should.

IN the jobs I work in I could safely say that the as a member of the design team my relevant experience and expertise is widely welcome.

Redjeep! · 14-12-2007 09:33AM

This was up to today.

In fairness this was in a specific branch of electrical/ electronic - it may be that in other disciplines you get more respect.

I think that if you work in a small practice it's probably different as well rather than a larger firm (i.e. thousands of employees).

tywy · 15-12-2007 11:25PM

Asbad wrote: »

Civil eng = harder course but generally results in more money then other engineering discipline.

Honestly though, pick what YOU would like to do.
I mean, there is no guarentee that you will be making a 6 figure income if you got a degree in civil eng or Electronic. By picking the course you want to do, theres more of a chance you will enjoy the course + More of an interest in getting the qualification + More of a chance you will enjoy future work in that area.
Going on the notion that your doing a course specifically because theres a slight chance you will earn more money is pretty reckless and I cant imagine anyone advising it

Civil = arts of engineering :P

Elec is way harder that Civil imo... Elec has way more hours and is way more theory based.

Also with the points thing, the points for Elec in UCD go up and down, they let any person with a B3 in honours maths in, as long as they have the other requirements for the uni. So in my year the points were 330 because someone got 330 including his B3 in honours maths. The median for Elec Eng is 460 or something like that. It's quite a difficult course, there's good money to be made in Electrical I think because there aren't many qualifying, only 2 in final year this year. Also what is the world talking about these days, what to do when the oil runs out, it's all about renewable energy. You work towards a breakthrough in that and you're minted!

N1njapirate · 19-12-2007 11:50PM

Because many people aren't interested about studying electronics. Sometimes it isn't about the money.. :S

godtabh · 20-12-2007 11:10AM

tywy wrote: »

Civil = arts of engineering :P

Elec is way harder that Civil imo... Elec has way more hours and is way more theory based.

Also with the points thing, the points for Elec in UCD go up and down, they let any person with a B3 in honours maths in, as long as they have the other requirements for the uni. So in my year the points were 330 because someone got 330 including his B3 in honours maths. The median for Elec Eng is 460 or something like that. It's quite a difficult course, there's good money to be made in Electrical I think because there aren't many qualifying, only 2 in final year this year. Also what is the world talking about these days, what to do when the oil runs out, it's all about renewable energy. You work towards a breakthrough in that and you're minted!

Points are to do with how many people want to do the course. If 10 people want to do the course it would be low points. If 150 wanted to do the coruse it would be high points.

But I do agree civil is the easiest out of the lot

Ishindar · 23-12-2007 09:28AM

i did electrical eng in kevin st and 15 years later its still giving me a very comfortable living. elec/electronic is a very tough course. i find that eng gives u big advantages in life in many ways outside work. u can do almost any diy job yourself. u can fix pretty much anything. your problem solving abailities are way above average.

steifanc · 08-03-2008 03:23PM

eoghan h wrote: »

Hey
Just wondering why Elec Eng is like 200 points less then Civil????
Are Civil Engineers paid more or is civil a better engineeribg degree??

....I'm confuzzled

My career guidance teacher told me that when the building industry in Ireland slows down, there are going to be far less jobs for Civil engineers....She have a clue what she's talking about???

there is a big difference in the points because the drop out rate is high for ele eng and the pass rate low

08-03-2008 04:46PM

steifanc wrote: »

there is a big difference in the points because the drop out rate is high for ele eng and the pass rate low

No, as was said in this thread that the points are a reflection of the people applying for the course, not the course itself.

-asdfgh- · 26-04-2008 06:47PM

Krieg wrote: »

Civil eng = harder course but generally results in more money then other engineering discipline.

Honestly though, pick what YOU would like to do.
I mean, there is no guarentee that you will be making a 6 figure income if you got a degree in civil eng or Electronic. By picking the course you want to do, theres more of a chance you will enjoy the course + More of an interest in getting the qualification + More of a chance you will enjoy future work in that area.
Going on the notion that your doing a course specifically because theres a slight chance you will earn more money is pretty reckless and I cant imagine anyone advising it

I heard that electronic is meant to be the hardest followed by process and chemical. I heard civil is meant to be the easiest

dan_d · 29-04-2008 08:01PM

Okay so I'm a bit late to this discussion, but I'm 2 years out of UCD and i did civil. The points difference is simple....there's about 30 people in the elec eng classes and about 75 in the civil.Obviously civil is way more popular. Hence points are higher. Also, usually the people who do engineering really want to do it, they don't just settle for it coz they couldn't think of anything else to do. Many people in my class had way over 560 points, but they were doing a course that only required about 420 points.The fact that you know you want to do engineering is most of the battle!
Elecs have way more hours, but at the end of the day, any engineering is not an easy degree to get. Also civils have (or had anyway) a work placement in 3rd year, which is a huge advantage. Also, be under no illusions...Ireland is one of the only countries in the world who simply does not recognise engineers for what they are.Anyone can call themselves an engineer...the real engineers in this country are never heard from.But you'll be respected in pretty much every other country.Money-wise...no better than most.Civils are beginning to slide a bit but we have some serious construction to do for infrastructure in this country so technically there should be engineering jobs for many years to come. You are not going walk into a job that pays a fortune, but you can do very well for yourself if you're prepared to work(same as anything).There does tend to be extras though...company cars/vans, travel allowance, living expenses, particularly if you're working on site. I will say that the few electrical engineers that I know have all had to go abroad to find jobs. Then, if you're a civil, you can go to places like Dubai, or Australia, where they are shouting for engineers, and make a fortune.
That's probably mainly totally unhelpful, but it's honest. UCD's degree is a very good one, as is UCGs. Good luck!!!

life_is_music · 01-05-2008 10:03PM

I have civil in UCC down as my first choice. Think im gonna change it to Energy Engineering (new course in UCC). I found out that civil in UCC doesnt have a work placement - major turnoff.

Civil and Electrical.........help!

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