50 Engineering Student Tips | The #1%Engineer Show 029

are you looking for ways to be a better student this semester well in this video we go over 50 tips for engineering students so you can crush it and succeed a 1% nation on Jake Voorhees and you are watching episode 29 of the 1% engineer show where we empower young engineers to rise to the top 1% of their career 30 a new semester is always exciting yet challenging at the same time for students whether you're an upcoming freshman sophomore junior senior everyone is always looking to get a clean start get rolling the best way possible get good grades start their habits strong from the end of August all the way to holiday break set themselves up for job opportunities Network everything like that so I made this video which is 50 fast short sweet simple tips for engineering students so that you can win so let's jump right into it 1 always go to class no matter what anyone says regardless of the blogs and other YouTube channels out there you never know when that next exam tip is coming you never know when that pop quiz or that participation moment is coming you have to go guys especially your engineers you have to go to review the material before class if you don't you're going to be lost and you're just going to be scrambling down notes instead of learning instead of having opportunities to ask questions review the lecture material before class 3 take active notes and if you didn't review the material before class you won't be able to do that you won't actually be able to retain the knowledge while you're taking notes and learning actively again instead of just scrambling and trying to write down on your chicken scratch and keep up you're actually going to be able to figure out what the professor is talking about actively so take good notes learn how to take good notes actively or ask questions in class this does so many things for you it puts you on the map for the professor and it allows you to get more experienced public speaking it will help you stand out when you approach other students to do homework with them so always ask at least one question in class 5 sit in the front a lot of you guys are going to afraid to the middle like the average pack or sit in the back with your friends but the reality is if you sit in the front it's going to encourage you to pay attention it's going to encourage you to engage with professor it's going to encourage you to take active notes sit in the front six never use your phone in class talk about disrespect to the professor talk about shooting yourself in the foot when it comes to final grade when it comes to asking for a letter of recommendation or our reference they're not going to like you is so disrespectful don't do it plus it's a good way to miss whatever is going on to miss that little tidbit that might be on an exam put your phone on airplane mode and leave it in your bag seven review the syllabus so you know when the exams are you know when the projects are so you know what's going on to the roadmap of that course and you're not lost about what's coming up next week it gives you an opportunity to ask questions it gives you an opportunity to stay ahead of the game eight and if projects aren't on the syllabus and you need to ask the professor so you can start brainstorming a project so you can start developing a team go ahead ask the professor put in that extra time and figure out what is going on in your classes so you are aware so you actually have the ability to win nine stay after class and develop a relationship with the professor again this is going to give you a lot of benefit for that final grade it's going to show the professor that you want to win it's going to allow you to stand out they're going to know your name is going to show ambition it's going to develop the best possible relationship is possible with that professor then and follow up to nine staying after class you should also go to the office hours of these professors do this in the first week so you can build that relationship with them they know your name and it will give you a little bit of jumpstart if you want to go to them sophomore year and talk about research opportunities or get more involvement in whatever team that they're associated with but go to office hours guys ask your professors for help get a little bit of extra guidance and helps so much when it comes to giving you a little grade boosts for a project or a test so make sure you go say hi go say what's up to your professors they're nice they want you to succeed they want to say hi they want to get to know you 11 develop good relationships with students in class this is also done by being present and having your phone in your bag instead of looking at it when you're walking out of class and if you stay after class and ask a couple questions to the professor or the chalkboard these are the types of students that you want to be studying with so make sure you bond with them this give you the ability to do homework in groups projects and groups and study for exams and groups well start your homework early Austin is going to be at least one homework problem that snags you so if you wait to the last second you don't start until 10:00 p.m. the night before you're probably going to be screwed you're not going to finish you're not going to get a good grade so start early 13 always do homeworks in groups now if you have actually developed relationships with your classmates you have an easy opportunity to get together two three days before that homework is due and crush it together it makes it so much easier it helps if one person is teaching the other because in order for you to teach someone or help someone else out you really have to know it and likewise if you're struggling you can get aid from your group 14 and be really careful who you are doing homework with you are spending time with don't spend it with people who are going to bring you down spend time with people who are going to bring you up who want to study who want to take their classes serious with surround yourself with winners I have a video talking about how friends affect you so much so be careful who you're spending your time with guys make sure you surround yourself with winners 15 do not hesitate to seek out a tutor whether that is an on-campus resource or a remote online resource but there's plenty of support out there for your engineering classes so please don't hesitate don't be embarrassed it's way better that you seek out a tutor then fail a class succeed buy your textbooks online many university bookstores are very expensive they make a ton of money from selling books and you can save a bunch of cash by going Amazon or Ebay and buying your books online 17 get the right laptop check out episode 28 for that because you want to make sure you have the right balance between portability processing power battery life whatever is important to you you need the right engineering laptop for success 18 always backup your files whether that means having an external hard drive or putting stuff on Dropbox there's really no excuse guys laptops die all the time so backup your stuff your academic files are way too important for you to be jeopardizing them so back them up 19 get a good antivirus on your laptop you or your family spend all this money for another slap top and your friends are going to be using it you can be passing around USB sticks you're going to be passing around files from other students and and you're a little bit at risk for viruses or malware or spyware if you don't have free software I recommend AVG it's free it's really good I've been using it for years I've never had a virus weird so download it 20 make sure that you know what classes are coming down the pipe next semester sophomore year junior year whatever is in your future so that you can best plan you can ensure that you're not taking the hardest professor or the worst type of computer science like what I did I had to switch it and change classes make sure you know the curriculum that's ahead of you 21 take advantage of elective opportunities even though you may have fewer of them as an engineer make sure that you're taking tech electives and humanitarian electives that are somewhat in the realm of applicable to whatever your career focus is for example for me I took transportation courses as my tech electives and philosophy courses that helped me gain a better perspective on the world and I felt that it helped my career 20 to see what research opportunities and volunteer opportunities are available on campus again that helps so much if you have a good relationship with your professor you can drop by an office hours and say hey I'm interested in doing this I'm interested in getting more involved in your research or some sort of student groups or engineering groups so make sure that you volunteer as much as possible gain that free experience 23 start your engineering blog if such an easy ask to network with prospective employers if you have an engineering blog you can email them and say hey I would love to interview you about what your company does about what you do as a CEO about what you do as a researcher or whatever it is that you're focused on but start that blog and leverage the blog to have informational interviews I made a video about this before guys start an engineering blog it also helps for you to document your journey you can look back at your goals 24 go to the Career Center and see what resources are there they can connect students with internships they can provide you with materials about how to make good resumes and how to make a good cover letter so make sure you take advantage of that it's generally free it's there for your support so go use it 25 start your resume now there's so many students who get to junior senior year or maybe even graduation and they still haven't made their engineering ma you need to do it now you need to be grooming and crafting it along your Road so start it now do it make a resume 26 go to every career fair guys these are free it's a great opportunity for you to network and build up your contacts and practice talking with people put on that suit and have a little bit of fun while you're doing it don't take it too seriously but the more contacts you have through road to graduation the higher your chances are for having a job 27 join that Engineering Society if you don't you're going to look bad next to all the other engineering students who join a SCE or robotic Society or Society for Women Engineers or whatever but it gives you an opportunity to meet other engineers gives you an opportunity for leadership positions down the road so make sure you join at least one a lot of students join 228 join that engineering team this gives you an opportunity to gain some real-world experience you can design something you can meet other students you can build a good relationship with whatever professor is connected to that engineering team because there generally is one it gives you a good thing to talk about in the room when you're interviewing so go out and join the team guys you're not going to regret it you're going to learn way more than the kids who don't so make sure you do it it also gives you a chance to win some awards with that team maybe you guys will travel and compete and you can also have some sort of leadership role with the team working on network with engineering fraternities or sororities but it's my opinion that you should not join one you don't need them you don't need to pay those dues to those relationships but it's definitely a good opportunity to meet some students who are ahead of you in the game and if you make friends with some of these people they're probably going to pass you notes are probably going to tell you what exams and projects were like for certain classes so at least over they are trying to make a couple friends with the engineering fraternity you probably won't regret it but I don't think you should join 30 put everything in your calendar if you don't chances are you're going to miss something you're going to miss a group meeting you're going to forget about a homework assignment or project so make sure you put in a Google Calendar that's what I use that's what I recommend free it's easy it syncs with your phone Google Calendar 31 be a good group member again if you put everything in your calendar if you actually commit to the stuff that you said you were going to do you're not going to let anyone down so it's a really good way to lose homework groups really good way to lose project groups so when you have group assignments don't drop the ball on your friends guys 32-gigabyte just do it you won't regret it it's faster to get everywhere even if something happens to the bike they're not that expensive to get a nice bike lock like a u-lock get a blank 33 register for classes the minute they come available for you so many students complain that they did not get into the class that they want and typically that's because they're complacent they procrastinate in signing up for classes so don't let that be you sign up the minute that it becomes open have it all planned out and know what you want to take next semester and hit it as soon as it opens 35 and to make absolute sure that you're taking the right classes for next semester before things even become available have a meeting with your academic advisor generally University provides one to each engineering student and seek their advice seek their counsel maybe they have some words of wisdom about the classes that you should take in the right order so the resources there for you utilize it 36 explore your campus environment there's plenty of little nice coffee shops sandwich places and other things like that secret picnic places or spots to hang out so make sure you know about these don't just stay in your room don't just go to the same spot in the library every time campuses generally have really cool stuff all around them so get out there and explore 37 make sure that you're fusing relationships with kids outside of engineering it helps with balance plus they may be able to facilitate other ideas in your head that are outside of the typical engineering thinking maybe they will expose you to some stuff that you never even fathom before so don't confine yourself to just friendships within engineering you're not going to regret this 38 make sure that you guys have a balanced social life go to those parties go to those fun things don't get too wasted not worth it have fun but keep it under control you guys have a serious engineering curriculum in front of you every day so that's your priority 39 while we're talking about socializing and partying making sure that you have a good time in college the one thing I would say is stay away from the hard drugs guys there's kids who are going to be popping molly and blowing lines trust me you're going to see it in college at one point but stay away from that you just going to end up regretting it you're going to end up missing class the next day so just don't do it engineers do not have time to waste so stay away from that stuff plus the kids who are involved with that are not going to be long-term friends they're not going to take the classes here so they're not going to take their life seriously so don't do that stuff forty try to exercise three times a week whether that's running or taking a swim or going to hitting a weight shoot a hoop whatever riding your bike let the endorphin release for your brain and what it does for your heart and your blood flow and the stabilization for your sleep cycle just helps so much so get out there take a little break and make sure that you stay in fit get some exercise guys 41 truly get plenty of sleep seven eight hours is recommended a lot of engineering students think that they can just be Superman they don't have to sleep but it's just not true you're going to feel so much better you're going to be able to perform so much better the next day when you study when you take exam so you do homework so make sure you get in that sleep guys 40 to wake up early a lot of kids end up creeping it into the 3 a.m. maybe the 4 a.m. or think that they can pull on ideas and crazy stuff like this but if you get into the routine of waking up early it's easier and easier over time and it allows you to have a super productive morning and just get in a better cycle because you guys know you're going to have 8 a.m. class so getting a habit of being an early riser there's a reason why early bird gets the worm is a phrase because you win if you wake up early every day 43 coffee is fine I love coffee I drink an okay amount of coffee but a lot of kids who drink nas and monster and a bunch of Red Bull in college they end up having bad stomach problems when they get out of college so stay away from that crap just read the ingredients list the paragraphs look like that so stick the regular coffee guys when you need the caffeine boost 44 don't wear sweatpants to class guys not impressing anyone you're definitely not impressing that professor you're not impressing that person that you might be attracted to in your classes and it's just a bad vibe plus it makes you take your life more seriously you're an adult now you're a professional so act like one 45 learn about meditation along with getting adequate sleep and exercising your mental space is very very important for your overall health so do a little bit of reading about meditation how it can help you maybe download a free app like headspace or calm I personally like calm and make sure you're getting in at least 7 10 minutes of meditation per day it's really going to help you stay balanced you're going to feel so much better after you meditate 46 make sure that you're eating healthy as well lots of college students you crap and hot pockets and they treat their body like there's some sort of radioactive waste zone and the truth is that you are what you eat if you're putting crap into your body you're just going to feel like crap you're just going to look like crap you're not going to have energy you're not gonna be able to perform you're not going to be able to have that balance and have the energy to finish up that homework and go hang out with your friends or cross people in video games whatever you do outside of it so whatever you're putting in your body make sure it's quality stuff guys no junk forty-seven don't go out to eat that much it's not so good for your body you know it's a lot less healthy to eat out they usually have higher calorie portions they usually have higher amounts of sugar and fat because it tastes good plus it's much easier on your wallet you'll save a little bit more money if you eat in you cook your meals and Cydonia out too much forty eight keep a journal by your engineering student journey it gives you the ability to write down your goals it gives you the ability to look back in your life and see what you're thinking plus whatever struggles or pain points that you're having it feels a lot better to write them down and look at them and so you can focus on it actually figure out how you can solve it and said Wehling on it internally forty nine be confident be bold go out and try new things put yourself outside of your comfort zone College is going to be the best four years of your life guys so if you just do things that are regular and normal and not exciting you're not going to be maximizing your time there you're not going to enjoy your entire college journey so make sure you're doing stuff that is challenging you and make sure you're going out for Improv Club or whatever you think is going to make you tick whatever is going to get you excited but don't be afraid of stuff you have nothing to lose nobody's truly judging you everybody's trying to find themselves in college so put yourself outside of your comfort zone and fifty guys last but not least don't be a follower guys be a lion figure out who you are find your inner spirit find your passion follow your dreams don't worry too much about what everyone else is doing figure out what you want to do figure out what you want to be in your engineering student journey and shoot for the moon and at the very worst you land among the stars those are my top 50 tips for engineering students guys if you like this video please consider subscribing because I release episodes on Wednesdays or Saturday about how you can brush it in your career and become 1% engineer Cheers [Music] [Music]

Channel: Jake Voorhees

Views: 9,982

Keywords: 50 engineering student tips, engineering student tips, tips, new, engineering students, engineering student life, engineering career advice, career, advice, engineering career fair, engineering student vlog, engineering tips, engineering internships, how to get an engineering job, engineering jobs, engineering job interview, engineering projects, engineering career videos, engineering student motivation, options, guidance, engineer, engineering, engineering college, engineering salary

Id: rtUHgHlcBPQ

Length: 17min 56sec (1076 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 29 2017