[marmetio]

> As somebody trying to get into mechanical engineering

As a career? I'll assume "yes".

Go to college for ME. Not one of the big brand-name schools. The local one that services the regional mechanical engineering industry. Tell them you want a career change. If you're serious about it, they'll bend over backwards to make it as feasible as they can. They'll also be brutally honest about whether you've collectively reached the point of feasibility yet.

I'm saying this as someone who is very outspokenly critical of universities as unnecessary gatekeepers.