I am a female mechanical engineering student going into my 6th and final year of my degree program. 6 years because I was interested in engineering and my university was chosen mainly because it has a common first year where after you pass first year, you get to choose your field/program. I chose materials engineering and made it through second year no problem but I learned that what a "materials" engineer does is not what I wanted to do. I personally hate chemistry, thermo and phase diagrams. I went on internship in the mechanical field doing CAD work on small scale projects and immediately switched into Mech. The work load of an engineering student is brutal and unless you have some form of work experience it is impossible to know what sort of an engineer you want to be. Here's a few things that might let you know if you are cut out for the field.

-do you like to take things apart and finding out how things work? -do you like problem solving? -are you mathematically inclined? (i.e. math and thinking with math are easy for you) -do you like robots, lasers, machinery, computers, buildings, ect.? all these things have been engineered by someone in some field of engineering.

I don't know anyone who has kicked themselves for completing their degree, but I do know a lot of people who have not finished for multiple reasons. If you want to succeed you will need a good support group of fellow students, the ability to focus for long periods of time, time management skills, and some personal drive to finish it and love what you will be doing after all the exams and long nights doing homework.