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I am looking to see what is out there. I am going to U-lowell and I am going to need some books in the future.
lis
no regrets!!! life is just too short
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Sorry I don't want to part with mine. They are a decade and a have old + now, and I still reference them occasionally.
M900ie
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You have two options here ...
1. Buy used from the school book store.
2. Mark's Handbood for Mechanical Engineers.
Having been through that specific academic hell, I would recommend that you bone up on engineering physics. That is the one course that washes out most people from engineering programs. 40% washed out in the first semester and another 25% after the second semester.
The rest of the engineering courses are just labor intensive and are also derivatives of the physics courses.
Statics - shit don't move or wants to twist
Dynamics - shit moves
Kinematics - shit moves in funny directions ... I don't think it is taught anymore as part of the core curriculum.
Thermodynamics - heat equals work
Fluid Mechanics - pissin' in a hole
and so on.
If you got a good handle on engineering physics, the rest just expands on that subject in a very comprehensive manner.
Don't try to do it by yourself ... that is a recipe for insanity or a nervous breakdown.
Find a study group and bang it out together. The more it is discussed, the more it locks into your head. Explaining something without quoting the book will lock it down.
Buying the textbooks ahead of time is a waste of money. The damn things are over a hundred and a quarter apiece. Plus they have time to change revisions. That is a real pisser especially when you have two different texts on the same subject. Each prof has their style of teaching ... go with that flow. Trying to pick it up on your own leads to incomplete foundational skills. Believe it or not, each subject is a brick in a wall and they are all related in one fashion or another.
Assuming you already have calculus math skills, just focus on the engineering physics.
EDIT: Oh, and never sell your engineering texts ... you will use them for the rest of your life. +1k to brewmasters comment.
Last edited by Currently; 01-28-08 at 07:48 PM.
When I was in school I was broke as hell. I found a bunch of the texts in the library. Was a pain in the ass havin to check them out every two weeks, but saved well over a grand at the bookstore.
+1 to Buddha's advice here -- you can get amazing deals online, sometimes half off when you go with Amazon's "partners". Just pay for expedited shipping and you get the book in a couple of days.
I sold a couple of my books early in school and really regretted it later on -- the books you learn from are the best references because you've spent so much time studying them.
Joe
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lol wait till you get to school man there's no way you're gonna know what they want you to use for classes.
and +1 keep the books they're really useful later on because you'll forget so much of it once you're out of the class.
which books?
you can't just say "I want engineering books!" and get everything for free...go check which books are required for each of your classes at the bookstore or on your course syllabus, than list the titles/authors/editions/isbn here
or go to BIGWORDS.com | Buy Textbooks | Sell Textbooks | Used College Textbooks | New College Textbooks | Textbook Price Comparison | Cheap Textbooks | Cheapest Textbooks | Compare Textbook Prices | Textbook Buyback | Textbook Price Bot | New and Used Music | and search by ISBN#
+1 on amazon, ive also had good luck with ebay too. but wait until the class starts to see if you really need the books. i have had a couple classes where i didnt really have to use the book because of the teachers material. your a girl and your going to be an engineer? there needs to be a few more of "your kind"
Tuono
I've also been through the acedemic challenge of Mechanical Engineering. It will teach you time management to say the least. The freshman year and begining of my sophmore year were the toughest - after that all of the classes just built on what I already learned. Calculus will be the backbone of the entire curiculum, quickly followed by physics.
The text books will be specific to the school - so wait until you get there. Also, start saving for a good calculator. The big one when I went through was the HP-48sx. I dropped over $250 for mine, and still use it. Good Luck.
SSearchVT
For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction - and sometimes a scar...
I still haven't acted on my desire to burn my old Thermo books. Evil, evil stuff..
Im a Junior at ULowell right now in Mech Eng.
Your just starting there im assuming? I have some stuff that I could possibly let you borrow. But as everyone has already said, your going to use these books for more than one class down the road. Its a pain in the ass to have to pay 600-700 a semester for books, but they get their use.
Shoot me an email
Leo
I'd keep an eye on that tailpipe if I were you...
to answer every ones questions.
as for the avatar maybe, maybe not...
I just started u-lowell as a transfer. I have a few
2nd year classes to take, calc 3 being one of them. I have taken 2 physics and chem classes already. I hope to be at the Jr. year level by the end of summer.
I am going part time so this will take some time.
I work as a mechanical designer right now.
I was looking to see what you guys had.
I will check out the web sites... so a big thanks for those.
oh I am taking mechanical behavior of materials and a phsycology class as my last elective.
thanks guys
lis
no regrets!!! life is just too short
01 YZ426 motard (sold)
99 YZ250 (sold)
klx 110
Awesome ... that is the worst part behind you.
Everything that is now coming your way is building on those core foundational courses. Still a lot of hard work, but sounds like you are in the groove. Take your time and watch out for burnout. Easy to talk about, but once you are in the middle of it, hell is an apt description of it.
The answer to this really depends on whether you want get an engineering degree, or actually become an engineer.
A lot of people who get their engineering degrees use them to get their first job (companies will hire engineering students for almost anything since they know they are hard workers) and then never do any real engineering... just some analyst/manager/technician/etc job. If that will be you, just find books people have and borrow them. You'll never need them afterwards
If you want to become a real engineer, buy them and keep them forever. You'll need them. I got all mine from online (amazon, half, etc) and saved HUGE money compared to the ripoff bookstores.
Good luck.
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