Seeking advice on undergraduate major/minors for Grad School

Graduate School
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<p>Hi, I am a rising sophomore at Lehigh University. Currently, I am a Mech E major with an Aerospace Engr minor. My main interest is Aerospace Engineering, and so i plan on going to grad school(the best ones, obviously) in Aerospace Eng. research. However, I need some advice regarding choosing certain majors and minors. At Lehigh, although I’m a Mech E, I currently applied for a 5 years Integrated Business and Engineering(IBE) Honors Degree program, which is a 5 year dual degree in Business and Mech. Eng. Doing so, I will have two degrees with an Aerospace Eng and Economics minor. although I plan to go to grad school for Aerospace Research, I still plan on doing IBE because Business too interests me.</p>

<p>The main question is, when I do IBE beginning sophomore year (fall 2012), I will have to take about 16 credits each semester for next 4 years. Adding one 3 credit class each semester will however give me an Electrical Engineering minor. So, it comes down to whether should I be minoring in Electrical Engineering as well, or should I just stick to the regular IBE degree with 16 credit hours and rather get involved in research if i plan on going to good grad school.</p>

<p>I know research means a LOT for grad school, but taking 19 credits each semester and ending up with dual degree in Business and Mech E and triple minor in Aeropsace Eng, Electrical Eng and Economics would be more useful for grad school or just the IBE with Aerospace Eng. plus Economics and some research throughout my college would suffice? I sometimes think that since Aerospace involves both Mechanical and Electrical, Electrical Eng. minor would give an edge to my grad application.</p>

<p>Or should I not do IBE-Mech Eng. degree and rather do Mechanical Eng. degree with Aerospace and Electrical Eng. minor and some research? Would the 5 years IBE honor’s degree make no positive influence? I just think that IBE dual degree and triple vital minors with grad degree would get me great job, so…</p>

<p>Also, I am an international student doing my undergrad here at the US. Does it affect my grad application by any way? And for internationals, does GRE matter just as much as it matters for the native applicants?
More about myself, I ended up with 3.99 in my freshman year and target on maintaining above 3.90 throughout college. I am involved with the Aerospace club and some Mech E clubs, and my Aerospace minor adviser invited me to get involved in research with his graduate students right from my sophomore year this fall 2012, until possibly i graduate.</p>

<p>I have to start taking IBE and Electrical Eng. classes beginning this fall 2012 if I really plan on doing IBE and minoring in Electrical Eng. as well. I am very motivated to work hard to get into a top notch grad school for Aerospace Eng. but I really need some genuine suggestions from people who know what’s involved with this whole grad school thing. So some detailed genuine suggestions for each major and minor case I have described above on this thread would be GREATLY appreciated.</p>

<p>thanks for reading.</p>

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<p>99 views and no reply yet? seriously. c’mon guys, please give some insights on graduate studies and my case here</p>

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<p>I’m a sophomore (rising junior I guess) too, so I can’t say I have any expertise on this, but the general advice I’ve gotten is that minors aren’t really that important or valuable, your second major carries far less weight than your first, and research carries quite a lot of weight as far as grad school admissions (+ GPA and recommendations). Again, I don’t know from experience, but I get the impression that a triple minor won’t matter too much as far as post-grad school job prospects.</p>

<p>–edit</p>

<p>Rereading your post, if I were in your shoes and trying to decide what would give my application the most “edge,” I would almost certainly choose research.</p>

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<p>@caffeine: yeah, i think i’m gonna double major in Mech E and Business (IBE) and minor in Aerospace, all for my interest. but yeah, i think i’m not gonna minor in anything else and rather focus on research.</p>

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<p>To me, it sounds like you don’t know what your interests are. Business and research are two very different things, and they don’t usually cross paths unless you’re directly involved with an engineering start-up. You’re only a sophomore, so claiming you’ll be only going to the best grad schools is naive. Do some AE research and see if you actually like it first…there are plenty of intelligent people who can’t stand it.</p>

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<p>@gstein: i understand that Business and research do not usually cross path, however, i have interest in both of these and so i want to pursue them as an undergrad. After all, college is all about exploring choices, right? That being said, I am very sure of what my interests are regarding aerospace. I plan on going to MIT for grad school, not for its fame, but because they have the grad program of my interest, namely, Aircraft Systems Engineering. that’s what i plan on doing.</p>

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<p>When you say grad school, you mean PhD right? Well, you must, because you said research! </p>

<p>I think MIT is a fine goal, and towards that goal, a major in AE with minors in ME and EE will far better prepare you than the IBE. By having a solid foundation in ME/EE/AE through majors and minors, you’ll be better equipped to doing research in a far variety of AE variants. It will also open up your eyes to the entire landscape or research possibilities within AE. </p>

<p>I would recommend against 19 credits a semester because then you won’t be able to focus deeply on all your classes and will only get the jist of the topics, rather than learnig them in some depth. </p>

<p>Instead, join a research lab, and get research experience and potentially names on papers. That will help a lot in PhD MIT AE admissions! </p>

<p>Just my 2 cents! </p>

<p>Best of luck,
-DV</p>