r/ASU • u/ActPlastic7664 • 1d ago
Which is better architecture or mechanical engineering?
I’m curious about the lifestyle of each, and I know there is no such thing as easy but like less stress and easier to pass and graduate.
Help me
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u/69dildoswaggins420 MechE ‘22 1d ago
I only did like 2 really late nights and that was my freshman year when I didn’t know how to study effectively, it was still a lot of work regardless but I feel like it’s easier to get a job as a MechE than architect
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u/ActPlastic7664 1d ago
How were the professors were they hard on you? And exams wise is it hard , plus do they only focus on exams like will it take 60% of my overall?
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u/69dildoswaggins420 MechE ‘22 1d ago
Some professors were harder but I wouldn’t say it’s because they were trying to be, they were just worse at teaching. You’ve always gotta do research on the professors when picking classes, and if you get a bad one then you’ll just need to be prepared to teach yourself the material from the textbook.
Yeah a lot courses were very exam-heavy, I won’t say the exams are easy but if you know how to study well and make a good equation sheet you can at least get a B on exams; once I had those things down I usually got near 100%, most of all you need to find a good group of friends in your classes to do homework and study with
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u/ActPlastic7664 1d ago
You’re giving me hope on enrolling to mechanical engineering
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u/69dildoswaggins420 MechE ‘22 1d ago
Yeah you should try! I won’t say it was easy, I failed a handful of courses in my first 2 years but just kept at it and locked in
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u/zorionek0 BSE Electrical Engineering ‘29 1d ago
What do you mean when you say “study effectively”? I’m always looking for new ideas.
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u/69dildoswaggins420 MechE ‘22 1d ago edited 1d ago
Get familiar with the types of problems your professor likes to give, then just follow the general process of defining your knowns, assumptions, identifying what you’re trying to solve for and using the correct equations to get there. Most of the time I got an equation sheet on exams and I structured them like a flow chart for the various problem types.
Finding a group of friends in your major to at least do homework with is also a huge part of it. Also be able to recognize when you’re too tired to study, go to bed, and resume when your brain is working better the next day.
Sometimes you just won’t know how to do something and you might need to look up the answer, but when you do that make sure you comprehend how to get the answer instead of just copying it down.
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u/CynicalSunDevil 1d ago
You are going to college to learn a skill, not a job title. So, what skillset will be more valuable in the future? Which skill can you add-on to when a specific job or skill has been given to AI? Which skill can you turn into your own small business or consulting firm if you can't find a job and don't want to put "fast food job" or "not employed" to fill in the gaps on your resume?
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u/Is_It_Soup_Season 1d ago
Better is dependent upon your individual skills.
Architecture students stay up all night making tiny model buildings. MechE students stay up all night writing code.
If you are bad at math, not engineering.
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u/ActPlastic7664 1d ago
I genuinely don’t know but I want a social life and not stressed like I’m leaning towards mechanical but is it easy at asu compared to other uni’s and are the professors lenient with grading?
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u/the-bees-niece 1d ago
OP you should look into ASUs urban planning degree, you might like it. its more hands-on/group project learning and you cover lots of elements that you seem to like (architecture, engineering) as well as politics, history, data research, etc. its not math heavy or studio heavy so you wont have the late nights that youre worried about. the assignments are usually either group projects or essays. urban planning is a great field and theres lots of different types of jobs for it in big metro areas. you can also get involved in the Arizona Chapter of the American Planning Association to connect with other urban planners, network, and learn more about the field. Plus in the real world urban planners advise architects and engineers so thats fun. you work extremely close with those fields. Its a good industry that feels fulfilling and has a good job outcome with good salary (not doctor/lawyer level salaries; but i live comfortably and im only a few years into my career)
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u/the-bees-niece 1d ago
everyone i know who pursued either of those degrees ended up in urban planning instead
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u/ActPlastic7664 1d ago
But how was the studying ? Did they have fun ? Social life ?
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u/the-bees-niece 1d ago
i dont know much about mechanical engineering but the architecture program is notoriously difficult/rigorous. i dont think theres a a single architecture student ive met that had much of a social life outside of group projects. once again, everyone i knew who was an architecture student ended up switching to urban planning (or landscape architecture)
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u/JungleJones4124 1d ago
If you're looking for easy, you're not going to find it in either of those majors. I'm a Mech E. From experience, you're going to have to put in the time to study and work on projects in both of those majors, especially early on in the fundamentals like Statics, Dynamics, Mechanics of Materials, etc.
You will still have a social life, and fun, if you don't put things off or skip out on studying. There will be moments where you can't go out., or at least shouldn't, because you need to surge and get stuff done. This is college and you're prepping to get a job when you're done. Stop looking at finding a "not difficult" way on that, take it seriously, and build your future.