The education of a civil engineer begins in grade school with the study of English and arithmetic. And that education is a lifelong process, ending only at retirement or after leaving practice as an engineer. Between these two end points, engineering education moves from a formal study program that teaches technology and the sciences through a career that demands judgment and management skills as well as scientific fundamentals. The college years of formal study are only a foundation for your education, a prologue to the lifetime you'll spend as a professional engineer gathering experience and applying knowledge in practice.
Formal study in engineering has several goals. A good curriculum should be well rounded; that is, it should prepare the student for productive practice in all aspects of the civil engineering profession. Formal education should provide the student with sufficient mathematical, scientific, and nontechnical background to accomplish fundamental technical tasks. Also, the civil engineering student should receive sufficient formal education to enable her or him to succeed in self education throughout an entire career. A formal course of study should introduce engineering students to the social, political, and economic sciences so that in the future, as civil engineers, they will be capable of working with specialists in those areas and developing engineering designs which will take into account multiple aspects of problems. In other words, the engineer must be able to consider social, political, and economic consequences of designs and plans as well as the intended technical results. Finally, an engineering curriculum must provide adequate preparation for those exceptionally capable students who wish to continue their education beyond the first professional engineering degree. Whether you're in a two year engineering technical program or a full fledged B.S. program, this formal education in college is based upon what the student has learned in high school.
HIGH SCHOOL
The rapid pace of change in today's technological society has already been described. New knowledge in all fields of engineering, as well as in the particular field of civil engineering, is growing at an astonishing rate. Engineering education, in order to cope with these rapid changes, has become more complex and more difficult. New engineering graduates must possess a very sound background in the physical sciences, in mathematics, and in communication skills. This background in turn must be based upon high school preparation in these areas. A thorough grounding in English, communication, mathematics, and physical sciences will be required for entrance into almost every engineering program in the United States. Engineers are required to communicate with other persons, including technologists and non engineers as well as members of the general public. It is imperative that engineers have a good command of written and spoken language. If an engineer cannot describe designs and plans, if he or she cannot put the solution to a problem into words, it will be no solution at all. Most students would recognize that it is necessary to have a thorough grounding in mathematics and in physical sciences, but it is also important to have a solid background in language skills.
You should have a thorough grounding in these curriculum areas in high school, and you should begin as early as possible to satisfy the requirements for engineering school and for an engineering career. Many students do not decide upon a career until they are well along in their high school education. Some have not decided upon a career at the time of their graduation. As a result, many students attempting to enter college or university engineering schools find themselves lacking the necessary requirements for admission. These students must spend additional time taking makeup courses before they are formally admitted to engineering school. If you want to avoid this, you must give serious thought to your career plans as early as possible and begin taking those courses which will be required for admission into the professional program you select. If you have not completely decided to pursue a career in engineering but you take those courses necessary for entrance into engineering school, those same courses will be valuable background if you choose a career in any of the sciences, and they will not represent lost time for a wide variety of career choices.
While the exact requirements for admission to engineering schools in various universities differ from school to school, these differences usually will not be significant. In general, the requirements for entry into engineering school will be as follows: a total of 15 or more standard high school units of credit, of which 12 must be academic, not vocational in character. The distribution of these 12 units should be approximately as follows: English, 4; algebra, 2; plane geometry, 1; advanced mathematics (trigonometry, introduction to analytic geometry, calculus, or equivalent), 1; chemistry, 1; physics, 1. The remainder may be history, social studies, or foreign languages. Some basic knowledge of mechanical drawing and drafting also would be helpful in several branches of engineering. If possible, other physical science courses should be included in the high school program.
In addition to these courses in English, mathematics, and the sciences, you should take a course in computer programming if one is available in your high school. Having a course in typing or keyboarding would help, too. Both of these types of courses would be extremely useful from a practical viewpoint in engineering school and in most other curricula. In most cases, typing courses have been converted to use computer based word processors so that it is possible to get some experience with the computer hardware at the same time you are learning typing skills. If you do not have a chance to take these courses you will not be seriously at a disadvantage in college. If you can take them, however, without interfering with the other more important courses, such as English, math, and science, they can be a bonus for you in engineering school.
In addition to planning your high school program to include those courses necessary for entry into engineering school, you can also prepare for a career in engineering in other ways. For example, you can investigate hobbies and crafts that are associated with technical activities. Do not misunderstand; it is not necessary to be highly skilled in a wide variety of crafts or to have a high degree of manual dexterity. You should simply seek to develop some familiarity with tools and instruments, and try to develop a certain degree of mechanical skill. Joining a student association or club devoted to a technical hobby also can be extremely useful in indicating to you what abilities you would have in these technical areas. This kind of activity has an added advantage in that it will indicate to you how deep your interest runs.
Finally, during high school it is important to acquire good study habits. Engineering students find themselves pressed for time to complete all of their assignments and keep current with all of their courses. This is true for students who had little difficulty in high school, as well as for those who had to work hard. There is a great deal of technical material to master in an engineering curriculum. Many engineering courses require two to three hours of study outside the classroom for each hour the student is in the classroom. Also, students who were at the top of their graduating class in high school may suddenly find in engineering school that they have a number of classmates who are their intellectual equals, if not superiors. It will not be possible to "coast" through engineering school on the basis of inborn ability and talent. Long hours of study will be required from everyone. Budgeting of study and leisure time is an absolute necessity. If the student can acquire these good study habits during high school, this investment will pay handsome dividends many times over in college and later in professional life.
