The Decision To Return For BSME At 30

the welding certificate is only 6 months long. Heard el gaucho needs an apprentice.

Do you already have a degree in something else?

At 30 it’s too late to start over time to give up on your crazy dreams and get a real job

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online) for a BSME.

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I dated a guy in his late 20’s who did the ME program on campus and didn’t work as his dad paid all of his bills and that program was still very tough. He had to take Adderall just to pass the toughest classes, and he didn’t have a young family. I can’t imagine doing it online.

I did it at 25, married, and worked 20 hours a week to keep up with bills.

Your first 5 years out of college, expect to make around 75k, and with 5 years in you can make it up to 100k.

Mechanical is no joke at LSU. I’d also consider Lafayette as it might be easier and you will stand out with a higher GPA. Nobody gives a frick where your degree is from as long as it’s ABET and you have above a 3.0, preferably 3.2.

Being 30, get your PE afterwards ASAP. You’ll stand out later in your career.

Don’t believe the bullshite, LSU does not have any better ME program than other schools. The labs might be shinier and better marketing material, but you are just $$$ to LSU. You’re going to teach yourself the material wherever you go.

The best advice I can give you is expect nothing from the teachers and learn everything yourself. If you find one professor that might actually try to give a frick, that’s lagniappe. Do all the HW problems twice.

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I have been thinking, researching, praying, debating internally for a long time now about returning to school (online) for a BSME. As a 30 year old with a one year old child and supporting wife, I know I can do this, but the question is how much time per week will I sacrifice? I’m looking to take 3 classes a semester. Working 40 hours a week with 3 classes a semester, will I miss out on six-seven years of my son’s life? For those who have been there, am I looking at no life until this is done, or would I be able to have one day on the weekends for the family if I manage my time?

Thanks in advance, this board has been very helpful in many ways. I know there are some Mechanical Engineer graduates here that can share their experience.

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I did Civil starting at 27 while working full time and getting married the first semester. By the time i finished at 32, I had young boys. I built a house during second semester an I did a lot of the work. I would go to work at 6, would leave for classes I had during the day, go back until 6 or so at night. Worked on Saturdays when needed to get my work done. When building, I would go work at the house until 11 or so and then go sleep.

You can do it and its not that bad. You have to prioritize and you need to take summer courses. Dont make it take 6-7 years, take 12 hours a semester and 3 in each intersession.

It can be done, I did it. Pay attention in class and take good notes. review the notes after each class.

Its really not that hard if you treat it like a second full time job. If you go in and half arse it, its going to eat you alive and you will flunk out by the time you reach statics or dynamics. Fluids and thermo will destroy you. Treat it like a second job and you will smoke those class.

Choice is yours.

Honestly a lot of the sacrifice and time spent will depend on how book smart you are. Some people really have to work their arse off other people find engineering school pretty easy. If you are really smart 2 hours of extra work a day and you would be fine. If you struggle to grasp some of the concepts and apply them it could be a very hard and difficult road. So this answer truly depends from person to person.

Learn to code and make more money. Plant Engineers don’t make that much money unless it’s Exxon, Chevron, or Shell.

A few comments/questions/observations:

1. Are you currently working as a “company guy” or a contractor? Are you in management or do you have management experience?

I ask because I’ve seen a few people quote 75-100k starting salary. This is true for an entry level job, but depending on your situation you may not be limited to an entry level job. The real payoff with an engineering degree isn’t an engineer job title - it’s that the degree proves that you understand engineering concepts, which makes you much more competitive for management positions (especially with your existing experience). If you’re already in some kind of office-based role and you complete the degree, you might be better off staying put and looking for a management opportunity than trying to find an entry level ME job.

2. Engineering programs are hard. Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking otherwise. Have you taken any type of calculus yet? If not, know that this is the area where you will likely be at the biggest disadvantage. Calculus is difficult on its own, but it’s also the basis of most of your higher level engineering classes.

If you intend to work full time, you should expect to miss out on other aspects of your life while you’re in school. You will spend entire weekends studying for tests. Your work performance very well may suffer. I would plan on your total commitment being 2-3x the number of credit hours you are taking. So if you’re taking 9 credit hours (3 classes) you need to have 18-27 hours a week to devote to school, including classroom time.

3. Keep in mind that many full-time students take 5 years or longer to complete engineering degrees. I’m not really familiar with LSU’s online offering, but I can tell you that one of the major issues for part-time students is the fact that many engineering classes are only offered in the fall (or spring). You need to be very diligent planning out your courses to make sure you don’t waste a semester due to lack of prerequisites.

4. Your real-world experience will be a huge asset once you graduate. Unfortunately, though, it probably won’t help you in school as much as you would think.

5. If, after all of this, you are still determined to get a mechanical engineering degree.. go for it! You can always dip your toe in the water with a small course load and increase from there.