I Hated Engineering School: Is It Really Right for You?

When you search for honest opinions on whether engineering school is right for you, you mostly find idealized stories: success, a guaranteed career, prestige. But the reality can be very different. Here I'm sharing my personal experience at the Haute École d'ingénieur in Yverdon, so you can add one more perspective to your decision.

My Daily Life as an Engineering Student: Running at Full Speed

I graduated in 2017. But before that came 4 extremely grueling years:

• 35 hours of classes per week 📚
• 20 hours of commuting 🚆
• 14 hours of sport 🤾‍♂️
• 10 hours of freelance work 💻
• 20 hours of studying and project work 📝

👉 Weeks adding up to nearly 100 hours of combined activity. That's 14h15 per day!

And on top of that:

• I was on the committee of a sports club
• I had a girlfriend

The result: I was surviving, not living — a full-on zombie. 🧟

The Struggles I Faced

• Rocky integration: adapting to student life was genuinely hard.
• Academic setback: I had to extend my studies by a year because of mathematics… ironic, given that I'd won a maths prize just a few years earlier. 😔
• Physical toll: three months after finishing my studies, I tore my meniscus. Probably because I'd been pushing myself past my limits for too long.

Was It Worth It?

I still ask myself:

• Did I do all of this for the right reasons?
• What if I'd gone straight into freelancing or entrepreneurship?
• Would I have done better?

Looking back, I'm still glad I finished. Why? Because it allowed me to:

• Move up socially 🎓 (there's a real difference when you come from a different background).
• Meet genuinely inspiring teachers ✨.
• Build knowledge I use every single day in my work 💼.

My Take on Engineering School

👉 If you're considering engineering school, ask yourself these questions:

• Are you ready to sacrifice your free time for several years?
• Do you have the drive to keep going through a demanding schedule (projects, exams, internships)?
• Is your goal clear: getting a diploma, or gaining skills that will actually be useful?

Engineering school isn't for everyone. And that's perfectly fine. You can succeed in tech and entrepreneurship without going through it. But if you do go, know that perseverance is everything.

Conclusion

Even though I hated my 4 years at engineering school, I'm proud I stuck it out. That chapter left a mark on me: I only have two photos connected to school — my thesis defence and my graduation ceremony. 🥲

But that experience shaped me, and it helps me every day in my life as a freelancer.

👉 If you're asking yourself "Is engineering school right for me?", weigh both the good and the bad. It's neither a guarantee of happiness nor a mandatory rite of passage. It's simply one path among many.