First, a little bit about me. I am currently a sophomore at Amherst College with a 3.5 GPA, majoring in Physics. After this semester, I’ll only have three more courses until I finish the major - my Math/Science gpa is a 3.33. However, I do not want to be a Physicist - I just really find physics interesting. I DO want to have a career in engineering.
That leads me to my main point. I was just waitlisted at just about the only opportunity that I have to study engineering as an undergraduate at Amherst, the Dartmouth Dual Degree program.
Obviously, I began fearing whether my engineering career was over before it had even begun, and I don’t really know what to do or think.
I have heard of some undergrad students being accepted into engineering masters programs, and I was thinking I could do something similar… does this happen often?
I guess I just have some questions.
Is my gpa competitive enough to be accepted into mid-level engineering masters programs? I’m kind of expecting my math/science gpa to stay at around the same level (3.33) or drop a bit (maybe to a 3.2) b/c the upper level classes are going to be brutal.
What would happen regarding my lack of engineering background if I applied to a engineering program? Would I just be required to take a few undergrad courses before enrolling? Is this such a big hurdle to overcome (through admissions and whatnot)?
How do I go about looking for engineering internships without any engineering background and minimal programming experience (some Labview, more extensive Mathematica and Python)?
Any tips/reassurances/ideas on where to go from here?
There are many physics students who go on to graduate school in engineering without any undergraduate engineering experience. It’s very common and almost certainly a better option than getting a second BS in engineering. To answer your other questions:
Your GPA is a tad low but not so much so that it kills your chances. Do you have any research experience as an undergraduate? That would help you out in that department.
Most likely you would have to take a few classes to get you up to speed with whichever program you choose to pursue. With a physics background, ou are already fairly well-equipped to handle most engineering classes but there will likely be a couple of foundational courses in your area of interest that you are encouraged to take.
The career services at your university can likely help. Otherwise you may have to start browsing company websites for internship opportunities.
Do you have an engineering field in mind? What about a research area? I'd give some thought to that and try to get some research experience on your current campus of you can.
Yes, I do have some research experience. I worked in my professor’s lab over the summer and have a poster written about the work I did. He did say at some point that it would be written up and have my name on it if I wanted as 2nd or 3rd author, but so far nothing has developed further than that.
The problem with the research on campus is that there is only so much of it in a school where only 1800 students attend. One prof works with Bose-Einstein condensates, another with trapping atoms with lasers, and my professor works with supercooled nanomagnets. Others work in biophysics labs. None of which exactly are “engineering” projects - I wouldn’t be able to get a feel for engineering here at a liberal arts college no matter how hard i tried.
Do you really think a degree in master’s would be more beneficial to me than a bachelors? I mean, either way I would have to take a semester or two after graduating to catch up. The advantage of the dual-degree program (basically just an extra year of undergrad) is that I would be exposed to engineering earlier on, and I would really get a feel for whether I want to do this as a career. After having made that decision, I could then apply to grad school and theoretically still graduate at the same time as if I had just applied for a master’s program straight out of Amherst, then had taken a year to catch up on undergrad engineering coursework. Or I could just work for a few years and then go back for my masters. The dual degree would give me flexibility in those paths.
Around what do you think I would have to bring my gpa up to to be competitive/above average? It will be pretty difficult to get A’s in advanced electrodynamics and Quantum Field Theory… although I’d expect earning a 3.6 cumulative total gpa wouldn’t be too difficult by the time I graduate considering my relative ease in the humanities courses.
Do grad schools care more about the physicse gpa or the cumulative gpa?
By the way, thank you for your response @boneh3ad.
That is less important than you think. What is important is that you have experience that shows you can function in an academic research setting (the gap between physics research and engineering research is often smaller than you think) and it should lead to a letter of reference from said professor that is stronger than what you would otherwise have.
In general, yes. You circumstances may vary a little bit such that a second bachelor’s degree makes sense (and it taking only one extra year is certainly a bonus), but in a general sense, it is better to get an MS than a second BS. Do you have any sense of which engineering field you would like to study?
There is no magic GPA to get admitted. I was admitted to a “top ten” program or two with a 3.3 overall GPA and something like a 3.4 or 3.5 GPA in my technical courses, a couple years of research experience, and GRE scores that didn’t disqualify me (since no GRE score alone will make you stand out). They definitely care more about your GPA in technical courses, and typically more about your last few years in school rather than how you did as a freshman. Basically, if your GPA is slightly below average but you show marked improvement in your last few years, you have a better shot. If your GPA has gotten continually worse, that hurts some.
I was a Physics major at a liberal arts school (Carleton), and I went on to pursue a Masters degree in Engineering. After working for years following my Masters degree, I went back to school to get a PhD at Michigan in engineering. I recently graduated. While I think bh3d gave some good advice, I have some more thoughts/advice…
You will get accepted into a Masters program in engineering that is ranked between 10 to 20 with your GPA upon finishing a full degree at Amherst. Your opportunities to study engineering are certainly not over. I agree with bh3d, your science/math grades could be a bit higher. Depending on the major requirements at Amherst, one idea is to stop taking physics courses and take lower level Chemistry, Math, and CS courses that might better prepare you for engineering and where you could get better grades. This is what I did at Carleton for my last year after finishing the course work for a Physics degree.
On the surface these dual degrees are a decent idea....just so long as they are 3-2 degrees. They are good ideas for exactly the reasons you mentioned.
Liberal arts colleges advertise these 3-2 programs more than they should. In other posts, I have called the concept kinda like a gimmick for exactly the problems your are facing. Students don't get accepted into the other dual degree; they are discouraged by faculty members from pursuing the dual degrees; at Carleton our senior comprehensive requirements made a 3-2 program almost impossible, etc. What often happens is that students end up pursuing a 4-2 dual degree program, and I think this is deeply unfair to the student. I do not recommend this. That extra year could be used to pursue a masters degree where you might have a shot at funding (tuition and stipend) opportunities.
If I were you, I'd speak to your dean...seriously. You have legitimate concerns. 1) You'd get accepted into a good masters program 2) Why can't I get into the advertised 3-2 program, when, no doubt, you'd succeed at Dartmouth 3) Why wasn't I advised to apply to more than just one dual degree programs...I know Columbia, Upenn, U Wash st. Louis will consider being part of a dual degree program. Your dean might have some sway on getting you admitted to Dartmouth