going back to (home) school

**Seeker** · 08-30-2009, 05:46 PM

Straight out of High School I worked for many years before finding that which I wanted to study. So, yes, I went back to school full-time in the beginning and then part-time when I grew bored with the slow pace, and found part-time work in my field to be.

Self-study from books is one thing I don't think that I could do. It's one thing to have an accredited degree and quite another to learn solely from books. The social aspect is also missing from self-study that I too would have missed.... though the social aspect from peers several years younger than myself was a bit interesting.

All-in-all it was fine for me. I too had to take some catchup courses, and some pre-tests for placement into English and Math classes because the HS grad requirements were a bit lower than what minimums colleges were requiring at that time.

Regardless of earning a living at it, college improves so many other aspects of life... and if you're truely interested in learning more about electronics, even as a hobby, then I'd recommend you to pursue it as costs permit. Even slowly if necessary, as long as you find enjoyment in it.

**zetta** · 08-31-2009, 04:02 AM

Although I work in software, I have BS degrees in both electrical engineering and computer science, and my husband has an MS in EE and works as a digital ASIC designer. If you PM me, I'd be happy to help with specifics about your choices of topics to study.

Lots of people pay for classes for hobbies like photography. You could take calculus, differential equations, and possibly vector math very cheaply at a community college. (In my undergrad program there was only one math class beyond differential equations, called Engineering Mathematics.) While self-study is possible, it can be very helpful to watch and listen to a professor demonstrate the concepts and to be able to ask questions. After that you could consider auditing classes that interest you at an engineering school.

If you have enough passion for electrical engineering that you would do home study, why not consider going for a career change? It's a well-paying profession, starting at about $60k out of school, and averaging around $80k after 5 years experience and $120k after 10 years. Engineering technicians (who generally come from the military or graduate from places like ITT with a BS in Engineering Technology) start around $40k and make around $80k by the 10 year mark.

If you prefer to keep it a hobby, are you more interested in eletrical engineering or electronics? There's a big difference. I have trouble imaging doing the former as a hobby. Once you get beyond learning the background knowledge, the tools to design and fabricate anything are tens of thousands of dollars and the complexity doesn't lend itself to solo projects. With electronics, you could join a hobby club that builds robots or rockets or converts cars to run on electric batteries.

Personally, having been trained as an engineer I have an urge to study the humanities on my own.

I like the classes offered by The Teaching Company (The Teaching Company : Educational Courses on DVD, Audio CD, Tape, and Cassette - Lecture Series by College/University Professors), where they tape lectures by top-rated professors. My local library has many of the courses, and you can also find them on ebay. I've found I don't have the discipline to stick with it, though, and would probably be better off taking a class here and there from a local university. Also, I think it would be beneficial to have homework and write papers rather than just passively absorbing the lectures.

**KTP** · 08-31-2009, 07:30 AM

Seeker: I agree the piece of paper with the degree stamp on it is very important to get your foot in the door and get that interview, but I am not really interested in a full career as an electrical engineer right now. Also, I have known many people with that paper who couldn't bias a simple transistor amplifier or even understand a low pass filter. Quite ridiculous actually. I think they spent the time cramming for the test and never really understood the practical application of the material.

Zetta: Heh, it seems like 95% of the EEs went into software. That is actually what I did for awhile after I finished 3+ years of college stud ying EE. I have had six courses in Calculus, including diff eq, vector math, linear algebra, but it has been many years and I am very very rusty. I have also had courses in signals, op-amp desgin, AC circuits, and the first of a three course series in electromagnetics. I guess what I am trying to say is I am not starting from square one here. I have actually designed and built several projects, including a microcontroller based servo motor controller with a digital PID loop on a multi layer board, all surface mount (not for little RC plane motors, but for big industrial motors for CNC machines). I did it all at home and even set up the board for pick and place and had several hundred made (I got tired of soldering under a microscope after 40 or so boards). I also have quite the lab of test equipment, including a 500mhz tektronics scope, an older spectrum analyzer (to 1.8Ghz) and various function/frequency generators. I think I can probably complete most experiments that would be expected in a college lab course.

I guess what I am trying to say is there is a love of the field (no pun intended) already there. I have an urge to learn more, but I do not want to put any strain on our budget while doing so. I have heard that MIT has a large collection of free online courses, so I might look into that.

Thanks for the advice!

going back to (home) school