Anyone has an idea in regards to the t type of coursework and activities needed for an OR engineering major. Any insight into the extracurriculars/general admission is much appreciated. Also, do any colleges offer the major as part of undergraduate studies? Thanks for your help in advance.
Are you talking about what to take in HS? If so, 4 years of core classes - math, English, science, history and foreign language. Be sure to reach calc if it’s offered at your school. One year of bio, chem, and physics and then one of those at the AP level. If you have room for an elective, take stats.
Many schools have OR or IE (or a combined ORIE) for undergrad.
That was my H’s major at Cornell and a friend’s son is currently studying OR at GT.
For activities, do what you enjoy.
Check out Georgia Tech’s (Georgia Institute of Technology) website for required courses in this area.
Thank you!
@ Momofsenior1- yes, I was asking about the high school classes.
So if the activities/extracurricular/awards are in an area that is not related to OR, is the application considered strong?
@ Publisher, I will check the GT site. Know of any west coast schools that offer this major?
@knowstuff, thanks for the U of Michigan link.
So your Ecs don’t have to be in the exact major at all. Most kids excel in Math and science and take their most rigorous classes offered. If your school has an engineering type of track and it makes sense to you then go for it. My son’s Ecs were Competitive Chess team, Chess Tutor, Math peer to peer tutor and track team, with some friends they created a fun club also He also bought and sold coins at auction . These were the main ones. In other words do things you enjoy. He did do a year-long engineering program in Junior year called Ace Mentoring and I highly recommend it. It’s in just about every state. Applications end like December so check it out.
@Knowsstuff, thank you for the affirmation. In our case, ECs are music, music and music. part of a competitive youth orchestra and few awards in music-not sure if the Aos are familiar with those. Even though the school offers APs, none of them were what the kid was interested in, so ended up taking the interesting ones from local colleges. Participated in the engineering program offered by a local company last year which moved online this year. The online version became more like a webinar than the hands-on it was last year.
Thank you for the ACE mentoring. Will check if room available for the year.
@tugogi… Your child’s fine . At Michigan 1/3 of the marching band are engineering students. Music and engineering is actually very common.
@Knowsstuff, that makes me feel better. The kid wants to pursue both music and keep in touch with sciences/math/programming (if not Engineering).
My bachelor’s degree is in applied math. My master’s degree is in Operations Research. I think that OR is a great major. If I were to do it again I would probably pick the same major.
In terms of what to do in high school for this major: My first recommendation would be to get a solid foundation in math. Try to do well in math classes. Some computer science / programming experience might also be helpful.
In terms of ECs, I recommend that students do what they want to do, and do it very well. Music is a great choice IMHO.
Maybe these prior threads may be helpful:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/18593516
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/17941805
(follow all links to prior threads too)
In terms of preparation, consider:
- Strong math.
- Interest in statistics and computing.
- General high school college preparation (including English, science, history, foreign language, art).
- Interest in optimizing processes and procedures.
Thank you @DadTwoGirls, has programming classes experience-Python, will take Ap calc as a senior. EC is mostly music, Now we will have to figure out how to connect the ECs to why this major…
@Moneydad, links are helpful. Thank you, gives the general idea of schools that are offering.
@ucbalumnus, yes. Hopefully, AP cal AB in senior will fulfill the strong math part. I think rest of the class schedule fits the regular requirements. No AP classes until the senior year, but local community college classes in programming and music theory/music.
Both Music and OE are very mathematical… FYI