Engineering as Undergrad major versus Grad degree?

doughmom
Sun, 03 Mar 2019 07:30:29 +0000

DS double majored in math and physics at an LAC and subsequently got a MS in electrical engineering at UCLA. He is now a PE in mechanical engineering (long story) For him the PE was quite important, as it is $25K more a year in salary. In California at least, as long as the grad program is part of a school that has ABET undergrad, you don’t have to have the undergrad degree.

That being said, the MS was difficult at his school at least without previous engineering experience, because you need to finish it before two years. Basically he was forced to take classes without having the prerequisites, and because of that he had to specialize in a narrow (and more physics related) area. The only reason he could do it at all was his very strong math and physics background. But he never got a broader ee background. He had been recruited by a number of engineering PhD programs, and in retrospect that would have been a better way to go in some ways. He would have had more opportunity to take the introductory and mid-level classes without the strict time limit.

Btw, surprisingly, the engineering board didn’t care if he studied ee and not me, as long as he had an engineering degree and passed the me licensing test.