<p>I got into NU, Wash U in St. Louis, and Carnegie Mellon, and I’m trying to assess their academic programs for math and operations research/ industrial engineering (I don’t know the difference).</p>
<p>From what I’ve been reading, Northwestern seems to have the better math program. However, Carnegie Mellon has a concentration in Operations Research (OR). If I’m ultimately going to go onto graduate school, should I just go for the better math program and then study OR at grad level? Even though Northwestern doesn’t offer an Operations Research program per se, would it make sense to major in math and take courses related to OR? Also, Northwestern boasts a very impressive Industrial Engineering program. Is there much of a difference between Operations Research and Industrial Engineering? Does Industrial Engineering require study of the natural sciences (chem, phyics, etc.)? Operations research seems to say away from those sciences.</p>
<p>Stanford’s managemnt sciences and engineering department used to be called IEOR. The shift is probably due to the diminishing role of manufacturing/merchandizing companies. MS, OR, and IE are used interchangeably for many people while for other people/schools, there’s a slight difference in emphasis (with MS being more about business management). Look at the curriculum and the required core/concentration electives and compare.</p>
<p>You can easily switch to engineering school from WCAS. There’s also a 4-yr dual-major already set up between econ and IEMS at Northwestern. You can also easily double-major in math and IEMS though it may take some extra effort to finish in 4 years.</p>
<p>The concentration at CMU is not OR, as far as I know; it’s called “production and operation management” and is one of the concentrations for the undergrad business major. It’s far from the same thing as OR and whatever it is, it’s at a superficial level (as just about any undergrad business curriculum is). </p>
<p>By the way, the IEMS at Northwestern is ranked #5 in the nation. I think NU is the clear choice here.</p>
<p>tricky:
Educational benefit: knowledge in the two related fields.
Grad school placement should be excellent esp if you do well at NU and in GRE. Your placement is dependent on GRE, GPA, essay, prestige (which NU has), and letters of rec. The faculty members are leaders in the field (IEMS is ranked #5) and I am sure their recommendation would carry considerable weight.</p>
<p>Industrial Engg is much broader than OR. Actually OR is considered one area of IE. OR is application of mathematical models and analysis to obtain optimal solutions to real world industrial problems.</p>
<p>"Industrial Engineering at the undergraduate level is generally seen as a composition of four areas. First is operations research, which provides methods for the general analysis and design of systems. Operations Research (OR) includes optimization, decision analysis, stochastic processes, and simulation.</p>
<p>"Production generally includes such aspects as economic analysis, production planning and control, quality control, facilities design, and other aspects of world-class manufacturing.</p>
<p>"Third is manufacturing processes and systems. Manufacturing process deals directly with materials forming, cutting, shaping, planning, etc. Manufacturing systems focus on the integration of manufacturing process, usually through computer control and communications.</p>
<p>“Finally ergonomics deals with the human equation. Physical ergonomics view the human as a biomechanical device while informational ergonomics examines the cognitive aspects of humans.”</p>
<p>Industrial Engineering seems to be a broader version of Operations Research that deals with many of the same types of problems. Is a BS in IE enough for a job or is a master’s/doctoral required?</p>
<p>Would it make sense to continue a year or so at NU for a master’s in IE?</p>
<p>Thank you for all your help, Sam Lee. The choice seems pretty obvious.</p>
<p>I was admitted to Weinberg Arts & Sciences. Would NU allow me to transfer to McCormick immediately so I could start there fall of my freshman year, or would I have to complete a quarter and apply to transfer? I don’t know if this matters since I’m interested in industrial engineering as opposed to something like chemical engineering, but would NU look down on the fact that I haven’t taken physics or chem in high school (I took AP Bio and AP environmental instead)?</p>
<p>I see that you said that I could easily transfer to McCormick. I guess my question is can I do it immediately or do I have to apply for McCormick with some form after a quarter or so? Also, would the absence of chem & physics in my education affect my transfer? It seems that the natural sciences are excluded from the IE curriculum, so I’m thinking it shouldn’t matter too much.</p>
<p>I would think more people would take advantage of the IE/Econ dual major to create a more versatile degree. Since I’m already in Weinberg for Econ, am I already eligible for that degree? Is there a special application process?</p>
<p>I apologize for the bombardment of questions. Any answers you can provide would be greatly appreciated :].</p>
<p>You can email your request and get that taken care of. Some CC members already did that. Maybe one of them can tell you whom they emailed to.</p>
<p>Any IEMS major is eligible to do the dual program. Actually, anybody can double major anything between WCAS and McCormick. It’s very flexible. It’s just that NU gives IEMS-econ a deal to double-count quite a few courses so they can finish it in 4-yr easily even without any AP credits.</p>
<p>how does the workload of iems compare in relation to that of other engineering majors? do they work harder/less/ or about the same but doing different stuff?</p>
<p>generaljoe,
Penn State obviously has an excellent program; the differences I see are the followings:
Penn State’s program has significantly more emphasis on manufacturing system/process
Penn state’s program is more rigid; there are more required courses (13 vs 9 at NU) and less specialization electives (3 vs 7 at NU). If you don’t plan to go into manufacturing or deal with manufacturing companies, you may not like being forced to take “product design, specificaitons, measurements”, “work design, productivity, and safety”, “manufacturing systems design”, and “manufacturing processing elective”.
As in many semester schools, it’s tough to add a second major at Penn State, especially with a rigid curriculum, without spending an extra year.<br>
You are required to take physics and chemistry at PSU
The first year curriculum is very different; at NU, linear algebra, differential eqn, part of mechanics, and programming are all integrated into 4 courses of “engineering analysis”. You’d also have 2 quarters working on real world projects for industry clients and make presentatations (in groups of 3-4). At PSU, like just about everywhere (Olin is an exception I can think of and it’s similar to NU), you wouldn’t start seeing some engineering until second semester of sophomore year. NU gets you exposed to engineering much earlier in an integrated manner; the real-world projects in the curriculum, let alone having it done during the freshmen year, is unique among engineering schools. (I personally think Engineering First makes NU engineering superior to some higher-ranked schools since this benifit isn’t captured in any ranking)</p>
<p>I am at a school where OR is offered as a major, and the CMU program is more inline with what I have taken/will take. I’d say if you plan on going on to do graduate work in OR, it might be better to get a math degree, as at the graduate level OR is quite theoretical and math-y. A friend of mine was a math major and is now getting his PhD in OR at MIT. While NU’s IEMS is great (I have done research with department during the summer and have only great things to say about it), it might be too applied and not as focused on OR (more general engineering and industrial stuff) as CMU.</p>
<p>^if you look at CMU’s curriculum, it’s really not that “focused on OR”.<br>
[Deptartment</a> of Mathematical Sciences: Degree Programs](<a href=“http://www.math.cmu.edu/undergraduate/operationsresearch.html]Deptartment”>http://www.math.cmu.edu/undergraduate/operationsresearch.html)
Other than the 2 “Operation Research” courses, I don’t see how others are “OR focused”; also, those others are not really that “mathy”; one can easily take those at the (higher ranked) math or statistics (CMU doesn’t have stats department) departments at NU if one wants more math/stats courses. </p>
<p>I agree with Sam Lee that CMU’s program isn’t that focused on OR. It is exactly what the CMU website describes: a math major with a concentration on OR. I would describe the concentration as a lot of stats courses and a few OR courses. The IEMS program at NU has 3 OR courses and allows for electives from a wider selection. From what I understand, IE draws upon the skills used in OR, which is why I was attracted by it. It can be used in almost any field to solve problems.</p>
<p>As for the MMSS program, isn’t that for students in WCAS? As of now, I’m going for IE in McCormick.</p>