Discussion Approved

Sam, to be frank its OK to ask for suggestions but the ultimate question is what interests u more?

I would suggest that u have a look at the complete curriculum, get a list of the papers - major and allied and find out which course u would be interested in. If u find that u will not be able to handle a few subjects, talk to ur seniors and get their opinion. U know ur limits the best and so try working with that in mind.

Am from a non-engineering background and so cannot give u too many details on the courses as such. Happy deciding!! and WISH U ALL THE VERY BEST!!!!!

i am doing electronics and communication engg. 3rd year.
civil seems to have better scope in future than mechanical. you can go for it if you really have intrest in building works.
but, if you like automobile than you should go for automobile enggineering,if you go for mechanical you will find alot of things that
you will never want as you mentioned that you re intrested in automobiles for eg in mech . you will also have to study about water pumps,boilers,... alot of other stuff. and mechanical is also known as toughest branch of engg. choice is yours although you will not find lot of colleges offering automobile engg.

If you love automobiles, mechanical engineering is the way to go, although automobile engineering would have been perfect. On the other hand, if buildings, dams, roads etc are your things, go for civil engineering. And about a particular branch being tough, it basically depends on your aptitude. If you have interest for the subject, you can learn very easily. Both branches will need a good knowledge of physics. So take a deep breath and ask yourself where you want to see yourself a few years form now.

Mechanical Engineering

First and foremost "Mathematics is the backbone of engineering".Mechanical is a very difficult stream that requires a lot of dedication(I just graduated from mumbai university).Right from day 1 you have to get your basics right.For eg-mechanics,if you don't understand mechanics you will suffer in the forthcoming semesters in subjects such as-strength of materials,theory of machines,kinematics of machinery,dynamics of machinery,machine design etc...Mechanics is the backbone of mechanical engg.Similarly is the case of thermodynamics .Thats one area that requires a good amt of concentration too.Another subject that also requires hard work is the fluid dynamics.You get the basics right then the other subjects such as hydraulic machinery,hydrostatics etc would be as easy as breathing.All the subjects mentioned above requires a vast amount of calculations and derivations.The first year has phy and chem,but you had mentioned you are weak in them.I directly entered 2nd year as i had done my diploma.
In short mech engg is more about mathematical calculations than theory.
As you had mentioned you are interested in automobiles also,there is a subject called internal combustion engines(at least in mum university,no idea of others) that deals with the mathematical part of automobiles.As you have said you are good in geometry(calc or drawing?) then you might feel engg drawing simpler.
No idea of civil,but mech engg i feel is the most difficult stream.
Best of luck

Hi!,
Request you to not take offence but i read here that you are weak in physics and chem. Moreover you are not confident in your abilities with numbers. Firstly, I would like to tell you that no matter which one of these two streams you opt for, you would find almost all the subjects to be an extention of the various topics you have already studied in school in physics. Only now, you will find that these "topics" that were a mere chapter or two earlier have expanded into whole bulky books! And they will be much tougher than school! So, Iguess if you found physics tough in school you will find it even tougher here.

Moreover, correct me if I am wrong but from the statement "i am weak in physics and chemistry.as in like carrying huge calculations", i can conclude that essentially you are not particularly good in either physics, chem or maths. These three subjects are the essential pillars of engineering and i seriously wonder how you are contemplating an engineering career without being good in any of the basic tenets of engineering.

I can understand your facination for automobiles, but that does not have to culminate in an engineering career. Please take a step back and realistically reasess your decision. Again, I would like to reiterate that i mean no offence and maybe you are being modest by saying that you weak in the three subjects but let me tell you that i have personally seen a lot of batchmates joining engineering just because it seemed cool or respectable or they thought that they would like being an engineer. But by the find the first semester ended, they were left disillusioned and fighting to pass and somehow complete their degrees, just because they did not have the basic foundations in place. In engineering, the profs are completely unsympathetic in terms of academics and start their lectures assuming that the students have mastered the topics that were taught in school. They would not stop in order to teach one student the basics. There is absolutely no spoon feeding.

Moreover, presuming that you are not strong in the three subjects, i can assume that you are not going to be joining the IITs or any other premier engineering college. Now, the kind of colleges that follow these have a completely different approach to engineering and let me tell you that engineering is hardly taught as a practical course there! It all boils down to cramming the books a few days before the exams and learning on your own and from friends. The profs are mostly not of very high quality and are only concerned with covering the whole course with scant deference to the fact that many students are unable to follow. Moreover, even Mechanical engineeering hardly has 2-3 subjects out of about 40 that deal with automobiles. i think you should pause and think whether this is worth it.

I repeat, please don't take offense, i merely meant to point that it's not necessary to be an engineer if you have an interest in automobiles. xbhp is filled with a lot of people who are not engineers and yet know a lot more than most engineers about automobiles. I would suggest you take up something in which you are really good and not merely interested in. you say you are good at geometry, maybe that's a clue.

Anyway, ultimately it's your life and your decisions! wish you the very best of luck in whatever you decide to go with and hope you are successful in your endeavours!

thanks a lot sir .. this thread will surely help me
thanks a lot man .. well personally i feel that i MAY NOT be able to handle
soooo many things other than automobiles ..i mean i want mechanics for only automobiles but i am sure i wont get a seat there nor my dad will allow me to take that up .. but i am TOTALLY intrested in construction and alll .. never missed a show on discovery and natgeo
civil has a better scope ? but i feel mechanical is like a all rounder or something ??
and exactly .. i dont want to learn EVERY MECHANIC THING in this world ..
thankz bro
ok .. so there is no hiding here .. the fact is i cant do calculations nor can i do derivations .i literally struggle with inter physics the main concepts such as [thermodynamics , liquid , pressure , etc ] . i was awesome at trignometry . i like geometry in a digramatic matter . i am creative and packed with ideas[automobiles also reqr ideas] ,
but as you all suggested .. auto is only a small part of it .. so its kinda point less

but what are the scopes of civil enggr ? job and all ?

i didnt take as a offense at all ..
i am good at maths [ well according to inter i am] i get confused with SOOO many formulas in physics .. and its not like that i want to look cool or something . its what i want . what can i do other than this ?
i am almost 80%sure ill go for civil but the demand is making me think again and again
mechanical is evergreen but what about civil
and i know that even if i think mech is good and go for it whats the point if i cant make it out ?

so any light on hows the position of civil in india

Real estate, roads, dams etc developments primarily require civil engineers. Scope in India is very good provided you get into one of the better colleges.

But let me tell you something - civil engg. too does require a sound knowledge of physics. It may be just a wee bit easier compared to mech. engg. Actually, most of the engineering branches share a lot of common subjects.

well people were projecting a bright future for civil a couple of years back, but with the recession hitting the infrastructure industry hard, i guess the demand has been tempered. As of today, there is hardly much of a difference between the two as far as placements are concerned. Even the IITs are struggling to place their students, hell even iim-a could not place it complete exec-mba batch.
Four years down the line when you will graduate, i guess both the streams should recover, but i would say that mech would be a much safer bet. at the heights of job boom, even the IT companies were ready to recruit mech people and these guys were joining IT because IT paid more. Mech jobs would definitely pay lower than IT and EC jobs, can't say about civil because civil is a lot less recession proof thatn mech.
I would say mech is a safer bet in terms of job opportunities but then you would have to compromise on your interests.
ultimately it's your call. I guess you must be about 17. You are old enough to make a mature decision and be ready to face up to it's consequences.
another option is to look at engineering as just another graduation and aiming to go for an MBA immediately after completing engineering. you get a lot of time to do that in the final year, where the things are lot more relaxed.

completely off topic to me

One more thing,mech engg have the flexibility to enter any field.Civil is good too,u can work with a good company or set up your own firm.I believe south side has a good opportunity for entrepreneurs.

The main thing which you need is hardwork and dedication. If you can provide these two to your studies, then nothing will be difficult for you. As far as civil or mech is concerned, both of them are evergreen fields. I do understand that recession has a effect, but then there is always a demand for a skilled person and if you are the one then you don't need to worry since you will get good job offers.

You can personally meet the students of those respective departments and ask them about the subject. This will give clear all your doubts. Both civil and mech are equally good. They will be easy if you put in hard work else it would be difficult.

As you said that you are good in geometry and maths, you can think of architecture or automobile designing as well. It has a good scope in future.

Finally it all depends on your decision. If you want, I can give you some of my friends contact number who are studying mech and civil in Osmania University. You can ask them about both these fields and decide which suits you best.

i am in doubt of civil and mechanical being evergreen,but EC is evergreen.