He's in Community College and he just aced Calc I.
I've heard community college is just a continuation of high school i.e. you're surrounded by people who aren't really that motivated. Is this true? Does he feel he's missing out on things like clubs, campus life, and networking with potential companies?
I used to view Community College as 'kiddie college'. I don't do this any more. There are programs like 'rocks for jocks', sure, but for the engineering units to be transferable to the engineering curriculum at state colleges and universities, they have to cover the very same material to the very same depth. There are standards! These CC's are serious schools. That AS degree is earned in sweat and tears!
We (my grandson and I) have talked about clubs, campus life, Greek life and networking and it all comes down the same way. In E school, you don't have time for that stuff. There's a reason that engineers are characterized as a little weird and socially inept. There's just no time for getting drunk on Friday night and sleeping it off on Saturday. Unless you're a genius and then you will be socially inept anyway and nobody is going to invite you to the party.
Go back to the numbers I posted earlier: There will be 2 or 3 hours of homework per week for every unit in the course. For some classes, this might explode to 5 hours of homework. So, take a 4 unit Calculus class and expect to spend 5 hours in class and up to 25 hours on study. Now multiply by 3 because you simply must take 12 units (minimum) and you're looking at 90 hours a week. That's about 13 hours per day, every day of the week. There's simply no time for a hangover. A more realistic number is probably just around 60 hours per week or about 8 hours per day. This is a full time job! Some semesters you have to take 15 units - it just gets worse.
When I went to EE school, it took 141 units to graduate. I had thought it was 132 but when I looked at my transcript, it said 141. Either way... Take 132 units and divide by 4 years and you get 33 units per year. Divide by 3 semesters (trimester system) and you can just squeak by with 11 units per semester, call it 12. In a two semester system with a short summer session, you can't do this. There's no possible way to take a Calculus class in a short semester. So, maybe you can take a few units of General Education but that's about it. So, you have to average 12 to 15 units so that you wind up with 27 units during the two main semesters and perhaps 6 during the summer - if there are that many easy courses available in the summer.
It will be interesting to see what the other engineers have to say about their study habits but I'd be willing to bet that most of them didn't do a lot of partying. If you want to party, take Psychology or History.
By all means, talk to a counselor! Do NOT take my word for anything, I'm just writing what I recall and what my grandson is working through. There are other opinions.
Networking... Many E schools have internship requirements. You spend your summer vacation working in industry. Probably for free but at least for credit.
Here is the EE program for the University of the Pacific
http://www.pacific.edu/Documents/school-engineering/acrobat/ee%2017-18.pdfNotice the 32 units of CO-OP as a requirement. Bottom of the 2d page...
Another reason employers want to see a degree: They know what you went through to get it! They know you can work for weeks on end with no break in sight. They figure if they slide Pizza under the door from time to time, you'll be working on their project. They'll send in the janitor every once in a while to take out the empties.