<p>I finished a Bachelors of Psychology in '07.
Went back to start a BSIE in '11
Just got accepted to a Masters in IE this fall, without finishing the BSIE.</p>
<p>Under my education section of my resume I don’t want it to look like A) I spent a really long time in the Masters, or B) I finished the BSIE. </p>
<p>I did this. Is there a better way, or is this acceptable? Just trying to get the resume squared away.</p>
<p>North Carolina State University
Master of Industrial Engineering, December 2014<br>
Bachelor of Science Candidate, Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2012-2013</p>
<p>Since you did not finish it, I would probably omit any mention of the BSIE. You may have been a candidate, but without finishing it all you really have is additional undergraduate coursework.</p>
<p>I probably would not list the M.S. area until I have the BSIE. Within minutes of receiving the BSIE, I would update the resume to mention the MSIE.</p>
<p>Unless you are saying that you didn’t need to finish the BSIE to start the MSIE.</p>
You are in a mildly tricky situation here - I understand wanting to get credit for the work you did, but while it started as coursework towards a BSIE it became preliminary/remedial coursework for an MSIE, and that is not something generally worth including alongside a completed BA and MS. If you are set on including it, I would call it “additional undergraduate coursework” or some such and include the GPA separately. You should NOT lump the GPA’s together, as it is misleading and will not match your transcripts.</p>
<p>Putting just completion year for the BS from Chapel Hill and MS from State is the best path. Without a start date, there is no way to tell how long it took to get the MS (or the BS for that matter). I am sure you will get asked about getting the MSIE after a BS in psyc, and that is the time to talk about all the prereq work you did. It would demonstrate how much you wanted the MSIE and were willing to complete a bunch of work that did not contribute to a degree.</p>
<p>On the other hand, how much work would be required to complete the BS in IE? 15 hours? 30? 60? If it is on the lower end, it may be easier to just finish it.</p>
<p>I don’t see the point in finishing a BSIE degree given that there will be an MSIE. Be efficient and get the MSIE as quickly as you can, without getting slowed down from that goal.</p>
<p>How about instead of :
Bachelor of Science Candidate, Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2012-2013
saying something like
Pre-MSIE undergraduate coursework in Industrial and Systems Engineering, 2012-2013</p>
<p>It makes perfect sense that with a non-engineering undergrad degree you would need to fulfill some undergrad engineering pre-requisites before entering an MSIE program. The key point is to describe that succinctly in a resume, without it looking like you did something bad by not finishing a BSIE degree. </p>
<p>When will you be using this resume? For internship opportunities now? Or when you are closer to finishing your MSIE degree and are looking for a full-time position to begin once you finish your MSIE degree? You might want to handle it slightly differently in those two cases. </p>
<p>If you want to PM me, I could look at the actual resume and give you feedback. (I’m an engineering manager, although in EE not IE, and do hire engineers with BS, MS, and PhD degrees from time to time.)</p>
<p>@Decide
Same time to finish but 45credits for BS, 33 credits for Masters. The Masters is cheaper, quicker, and better long term.</p>
<p>@Sacchi
Thanks a lot, I really like that idea. I was actually setting it up for career fairs this fall. I know its a ways off but just wanted to get my ducks in a row. Thanks again, and I will definitely take you up on that PM!</p>
<p>Omit the BSIE- you are not getting it. If you want, explain this (and your GPA) in the cover letter. the IE courses you are taking are the pre-reqs and don’t belong on a resume.</p>
This is the best solution. Your resume is supposed to sell, and there is no way to put “additional coursework not directly leading to a degree” on there and get a genuinely good reaction. List the end dates, list some courses you have taken, list your degree GPA’s, and when you get an interview then you can tell them about the extra courses. Anything else is just wasting space.</p>
<p>The problem with this advice is that there will be a gap in the resume. When I read a resume with gaps, it raises questions in my mind. Better to put in a very succinct description of what was done during that time period, but in a way that doesn’t raise any red flags.</p>
Is there a gap to even worry about? I had assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that there is some work experience to include on the resume. Even a job listed that was concurrent with the pre-req IE classes. So the resume would convey the following sequence -</p>
<p>Graduate from UNC
Work some based on Psyc degree
Realize this is not what I want to do
Go to Grad school
Start new career path in MSIE.</p>
A common concern, but since there is only so much detail you can fit on a resume and since the interleaving of work and education is tricky anyway I would say that some number of gaps are nearly unavoidable for someone not right out of undergrad. Still, if this is the concern then I would simply extend the dates for the MSIE to include the undergraduate coursework. 3.5 years is long for a masters, but since the OP was clearly transitioning from Psych to IE it should be easily understood as reasonable.</p>