UCB offers minors in several engineering disciplines, including environmental. They market these options as being available to students with majors in other colleges within the university. How does this look in the real world, though? Is it common? Are you prepared to work as an engineer or go to grad school having done just a minor? Engineering majors tend to be long and tough; does a minor fit better with some majors than others and, say, require lower division overlap?
My son is interested in Forestry, Environmental/Civil Engineering and building sustainable water systems. He decided to apply to Forestry in CNR this year. But we’re wondering, should he be accepted, if he really can minor in Environmental Engineering as well and what that path might look like.
Thanks for any insight you can provide. We don’t have any engineers in the family to guide : ) .
I’m not an engineer so can’t speak from that perspective, but I am a CNR parent so can tell you from experience there that the CNR advisors are really great. I would start by talking to them. They can give you all kinds of information about what careers previous students have achieved and how they achieved them - including, I’m sure, whether previous students have transitioned into environmental engineering - related careers and which paths might be most likely to lead to that. My daughter has received a wealth of similar info from her CNR advisor, so they do seem to track that stuff. A good place to start. Then follow up with an advisor from engineering - you will likely need to do that to declare the minor. That would be a good time to discuss career goals. I don’t know anything about the engineering advisors, though, so can’t say how helpful they tend to be.
I concur with @worriedmomucb that the best course of action is to connect with a CNR advisor.
The best way to get information on your own is to go to the website for the graduate department which best fits his interests. When I look at the Dept. Of Civil & Environmental Engineering master’s program at Berkeley, for example, they require a bachelor’s degree in engineering or its equivalent for admission to the master’s program. Fir a different perspective, I checked the web page for the State University of NY ESF (Environmental Science & Forestry), which is the oldest school of its type in the country, and I looked at their program for Water Resources Engineering. The prereq is pretty much the same as Berkeley’s, an undergrad degree in engineering or a related science degree with a specific list of courses which are required for admission to the master’s program.
It appears to me that the best preparation for a career in building water systems is to get a degree in engineering because these systems are built by engineers. It would seem to me that it would be possible to work in this field with a minor in engineering but only if someone is working on the business, policy, or planning side of projects. I don’t see companies hiring people with a minor in engineering to do what engineers do. They’ll hire engineers to do that.
But this is just personal opinion and background information. It brings us back to the conversation with the CNR advisor, who are the people in the best position to answer your question.
Just out of curiosity, if your son wants to build after systems, why not major in Civil & Environmental Engineering with a minor in Forestry, which is the same combination with just a reversal of the major and minor?
Thanks for the framing and suggestions. That’s helpful. He did apply to civil, environmental, ecological or agricultural/hydrologic engineering at most of the schools (all public: UCs, CSUs and WUE). He’s about 75-90% sure but also very interested in forestry and environmental science.
Our reasoning for him choosing CNR and forestry at Cal specifically is that that college and program are unique and uniquely suited for him at that university. He thought the culture and pace of the engineering school may not be as good a fit. (I went there and his older sister, my daughter, is a graduating senior now, so we know the school well.) luckily, he had already been admitted to most of his safeties in engineering and has got WUE at several already so he has great places to study engineering that aren’t UCs. (You can never assume you will get into engineering at the UCs.) He is not at all a prestige hound and also applied to Merced. (Before we knew he was top 9% ELA and would likely have been offered a spot there anyway.)
Berkeley’s Forestry program just sounds really special. And CNR smaller and more nurturing.
I had asked some time ago about minoring in an engineering field at a UC and received similar responses - basically not a great idea if it’s engineering work that my student actually wanted to end up doing, but good to have for general knowledge and as a resume builder.
It’s wonderful that your son has such clear ideas for his path forward - wishing him great success!
Thanks for filling in the details. I’ve looked at the website and Berkeley’s Forestry program really looks great! Which makes me think that a conversation with an advisor becomes an even higher priority to answer the question, “What do I do with one of these degrees?” What is the employment history of past grads? Who are the potential employers? What are the salaries? How do those salaries compare with what engineers get paid?
Honestly, the proposed combination feels like a compromise I wouldn’t want to make. I’d either want to go all in on the engineering side or combine Forestry with a minor in something like business/management. If he sticks with the current plan, then I’d pay careful attention to the prerequisites for an engineering master’s if that’s the direction he’s headed. The grad schools make very clear that these will have to be completed before even an already accepted student can begin graduate study.
Again, an advisor can clear a lot of this up and recommend the required planning and course selection. I’d ask about what difficulties there might be for a non-major to get into the courses he needs. This is a notorious problem.
Great clarity that honestly every student wavering between two majors could use. Some disciplines you can straddle and honestly some you just can’t. We are local so if he is fortunate enough to have UC choices or gets into Cal for forestry he can just go over there and talk to real people before the deadline to SIR anywhere.
What you say about getting classes outside your major is very real - even in related majors - and a good reason for California students in impacted majors to look at WUE. My daughter, who is a senior at Cal in Media studies, is currently battling for a coveted spot in a portfolio-based film production class in the Film & Media Dept. it is what it is!