Just another crazy engineer?

Design Discussions students and schools
1

As my junior/senior year as a Cornell mechanical engineering major draws to a close I am looking toward the future and realizing that i am clueless. In high school my teachers said i would never last as an engineer and to a certain extent they are right; i have a 3.2 gpa which is not so hot. However i can’t seem to stop sketching and shooting photos. My design work is, I think, pretty solid considering my lack of classes…ever. I am in a painting class now and i absolutely love it.

The question quickly becomes…what next? When on co-op i realized that mechanical engineering can be engaging, but also has a very real potential to be … bad. I am starting to look more at industrial design but also architecture.

-Do i have a chance of being accepted into a good school like RISD, and what are factors I can control to better situate myself?

-Also, am i just another whacko engineer who has been pounding away at his calculator too long or do people do this a lot?

Thanks

-pete

2

Pete, your first mistake was listening to anything your high school teachers had to say. “You wouldn’t make it as an engineer?” How the hell would they know! You should have said “I’ll do somethiong easy like teach high school!”

3

You’ll never know if you don’t try! It’s pretty common to find ME’s in ID school… Those added skills will only make you more marketable (and it sounds like happier as well.)

Titles are less relevant in today’s economy–it’s all about what you can bring to the table.

Also take a look at a masters of design from Carnegie Mellon or IIT ID. They’re looking for people just like you.

Best of luck!

4

Stevens Institute of Technology in NJ has a masters program in Product Architecture…may be something you want to look into…

-Nick