Bettis Labs, out by county airport, they do a lot of classified testing and research for the government.
Hey man, good thread! I successfully transfered from CCAC to Pitt last fall, and I hope you will find some of this useful…
If you plan on transfering from CCAC into any engineering program (Pitt / PSU / CMU) I would take Calc 1-4, Gen. Chem 1 & 2, and Calc-Physics 1 & 2 before you transfer. Taking some of these courses at CCAC will be more advantageous to you in the smaller classroom setting, and save you time / money in the long run.
If transfering to Pitt, I would apply / look into the College of General Studies (CGS). It is a neutral college which allows you to take courses from any field before declaring a major. Pitt’s School of Engineering is separate from CGS, and the College of Art’s and Sciences, so a lot of students transfer in from CGS (Plus the entrance requirements are a little more forgiving).
I don’t have much first hand experience with Penn State, but with the above courses under your belt, you should pass go and head straight to University Park. I have a friend who goes there for Mechanical, she loves it at PSU, and works very hard. I hear they have an elective in turbos…
CMU is outstanding, especially in engineering. I don’t think they limit the number of credits you are allowed to transfer in, and offer several scholarships covering half of tuition cost.
An engineering degree would be a good way to go if you are interested in graduating, and going straight to work. They are always in high demand, with a nice starting salary. And, if you ever think about grad school, (i know someone said it before), you are ready for any program.
For more specifics about Pitt, and it’s program, I would PM Atreyu or rmrider897, both are seniors of the Mechanical persuasion.
-All the best
very interesting topic!
I would check with whatever school you’re interested in about transferring credits. Don’t want to spend extra money on a course that won’t transfer. Some places are picky about the math/science credits transferring.
So I am probably going to take ENGR 0011, 0081, or 0082 this fall at Pitt. Has anyone taken these classes? They’re listed as Freshman Seminars. I am kind of nervious since im sure theres going to be a big difference compared to CCAC classes.
i forgot those classes. they are your basic engineering classes. every engr major have to take the same core classes till you decide which feild of enginerring you want to study.
you will be fine. pitt is just like any other school. congrats on choosing pitt 
Congrats on taking the leap. My wife went to Pitt for the same thing - it’s all what you make out of it. There’s a lot of work ahead of you, but if you put the time into it you’ll do fine.
Yup. What they said.
Edit: And Congrats!
Booo for Pitt But congrats. if you are looking for the future areas of engineering, M.S.E. Material Science Engineering is a growing field. I was looking at hiring 2 interns this summer but I didn’t get the ok from my Boss till it was too late, all the good material science kids were gone. pitt is actually #2 in the country with their material science program based around Nano-Technology. all stuff I am starting to get into. I graduated from PSU with 2 Engineering Degrees. Mechanical and Manufacturing. Another huge Engineering field is Electrical. Huge demand for Electrical engineers out there. I kind of wish I had an electrical engineering degree as well.
Hope it helps.
my sister graduated from pitt as a material science engineer
I dated a girl who is going to RMU for that. Seems like a lot of BS work haha.
I hire engineers from multiple disciplines on a day to day basis. Engineering is hot right now
Let’s keep this on topic asshat. He asked about an engineering degree.
On topic:
Like everyone else said engineering is a HUGE field. My father went to trade school for drafting from 1980- 1982. When he graduated he was drawing and designing bridges for cities across the world. He also went to school for civil engineering. (or maybe at the time the programs were together?) However, as technology changed he was being hired by kids who new how to use Auto CAD and other software. Being that my father was a great worker but couldnt use a computer to do drawings he was promoted. To this day he still helps with the design of bridge parts. (Expansion joints and bearings to be exact) However, he is the big man on the totem pole nowadays.
Thats one success story with engineering.
Another story would be a friend of mine who graduated from Pitt in the top of the class for mechanical engineering and has to relocate across country to find a job. He claims its harder to find jobs in his area lately. (I’m not sure exactly what he wants to do wit hthe degree but thats what he claims)
It all depends on what you choose and what you choose to do with it.
also- this website looks to be helpful.
http://www.nativeaccess.com/types/index.html
Pitt and CCAC have a program that allows a HUGE amount of credits to transfer.
When I transfer like 80% of my credits will too.
I’d be pretty upset if only 80% of my credits transferred…when I transferred from CCAC to Pitt way back in 2001, ALL of my credits transferred (which was my goal going in).
I spent 2 semesters taking classes I didn’t need because I changed majors. THEREFORE, for my degree… only 80% of the credits I have earned will transfer and help me with my degree. I’m sorry I had to spell it out for you. Stay in school.
I didn’t mean to upset you; just wanted to point out that an 80% transfer rate is actually pretty poor.
As far as staying in school, I graduated 3 years ago…but thanks.
Do you only bitch at people 18 months after they post something?
I think you need to simmer down just a tad.
Also, an 80% transfer rate sucks. Point blank. The excuse of “changing majors” still doesn’t mask the fact that only 4 out of 5 credits are transferring.
Anyways, Engineering is an excellent field. I personally wish I would have investigated it more prior to my decision to go after my business degree. The nice thing is that Pitt sets you up nicely with the intro classes to give you a taste of what you are going to be looking forward to and allowing you to make a decision that will fit you best.
A good buddy of mine started out in Engineering at Pitt, took the core classes you are taking, and just didn’t like it. Wasn’t a good fit for him. He transferred out and is happy in his new line of study. Hopefully the Engineering thing works out for you.
I was in the same boat…thought I was going to love it and end up hating the intro classes…switched to Finance and like it better.