Value of a broad Undergrad vs. Specific Masters degree

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Firstly, I think I should explain why I’m asking here rather than the College Life forum. I am hoping to get responses from people who have been out of college for some time. I am also asking this same question in Parents forum, because I think I may get a different perspective there.</p>

<p>There are a lot of classes out there beyond any major I could pick that I would like to take. But this takes a lot of time and more time to take all of these. So say I can take a 5th year in college and do something. Is it better to spend 5 years as an undergrad and take a lot of these classes, getting a much broader education than I would otherwise, or to just pick a major, take the minimum requirements for that major, and then get a masters in it?</p>

<p>I do plan to one day get an MBA, and I am not sure how that should affect my decisions today. An MBA will marginalize any sort of employment benefit I would get from a Masters in Engineering, where as [I imagine] it will amplify the flexibility of a broad undergraduate education. However, stuff happens, plans change, and I don’t want to burn the bridge of ever getting a graduate degree.</p>

<p>When I say better, I mean in all aspects. I am going to take it as obvious that the masters degree will lead to better employment right out of college. There is however, a benefit from having a broader education (at least I think so) which can allow me to be more flexible in what I can do in my life. Can anyone help me weigh the pros and cons of each in this respect? Especially…</p>

<ol>
<li><p>How much value is there in the broader education in a work-place setting? Presume I double major or triple minor or something like that in complementary fields.</p></li>
<li><p>How does that value compare to the value of an undergraduate and graduate degree in the same field?</p></li>
<li><p>How much value is there in a broader education outside of a work-place setting?</p></li>
<li><p>How much flexibility in employment opportunity is really added by having a broader undergraduate degree?</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Obviously when I say “How much” I don’t mean any strict sort of quantification. I mean what do you view as the main benefits of such, and what relative magnitude you assign.</p>

<p>Thank You</p>

2

<p>1) Employers don’t care about you being well rounded. They care that you are somewhat motivated, intelligent, and will be able to contribute. You demonstrate this by having a good GPA, getting involved in things in your major, demonstrating leadership skills where possible, etc. You’re not going to run into an engineering challenge where you’ll say to yourself “I’m glad I took that class on post-WWII European history, otherwise I’d have never solved this!”</p>

<p>2) One graduate degree is going to be worth substantially more than fifteen minors. Minors are generally a waste of time unless you are truly interested in the subject and/or you want to try to work in some niche field.</p>

<p>3) Not much. If you’re interested in something and it will somehow relate to a hobby you will have then I could see it being slightly beneficial. You could also learn the same material on your own. You’re not going to be well prepared to handle everything life throws at you and be the life of the party because you have an economics minor.</p>

<p>4) None, see above.</p>

<p>The “well rounded” idea is garbage colleges force down your throat so that you give them more money due to needing to take more classes. Don’t buy into it. If you’re interested in something and want to study something out of personal interest. Don’t take a bunch of extra classes because you think some employer will think you’re an interesting, motivated, highly educated person because of it.</p>

3

<p>Saying an MBA will marginalize the benefits of a masters in your specific field is ignorant. In fact, they can often complement each other quite nicely.</p>

4

<p>This is my $0.02 on this topic…</p>

<p>1) I always believed in doing dual-majors (taking courses that spans two majors) than taking a minor. Some dual-majors can be done within the same 120-semester/180-quarter program.</p>

<p>2) A well-constructed Engineering Management program can get you “what you need” without taking those 51+ hour MBA programs. Only the VP’s and CIO/CTO of a company had MBA’s from MY past. The other higher-ups has MS degrees.</p>