<p>Hi I'm a high school senior looking doing the usual college search. Some schools offer 5 year accelerated programs such as BS+Masters, BS+MBA, and IEP (international engineering program mixed with a language).</p>
<p>Should I jump onto these programs??? Are they worth it? My main concern is overqualification. If an engineer also has an MBA is that a sign to an employer that he/she isn't dedicated to engineering?</p>
<p>I'm also Chinese which would work for IEP.</p>
<p>So should I do a normal BS+coop at a school like Drexel or should I do a 5 yr program at U. Rhode island?</p>
<p>I wouldn’t consider a 5 year BS/MBA. When you hit the job market, companies looking for BS engineers will be inclined to pass over your resume because they’ll assume you’re more interested in a management position and are using their position as a stepping stone. Meanwhile, a company that comes to hire MBA’s will view you as the least interesting candidate since you have no work experience. It really puts you in a bad position.</p>
<p>In terms of BS+MS vs. BS+Coop, it depends. After your third semester of internships, the value of continued work experience drops off substantially. So I would take a BS + MS + 3 semester internship over a BS + Coop any day. However, the quality of the school also plays a significant role. Drexel is a much higher ranked engineering school than URI, so I’d be more inclined to attend Drexel for a BS than URI for BS+MS. But I wouldn’t leave it at that. There are plenty of schools around the quality of Drexel (and better) that offer BS + MS 5 year programs as well as co-op/internship offices as good or better than Drexel’s. I’d look around some more.</p>
<p>I think it depends on what you want to do after you graduate. You should definitely take advantage of them though, if you have the grades for it.</p>
<p>I’m definitely curious how they manage to give you an engineering degree + MBA in 5 years. I believe the accepted philosophy regarding MBA’s is that you shouldn’t get them right after your undergraduate work because you don’t have a track record to show you’d be good at management, this makes you over-qualified with degrees, but under-qualified with experience. I think experience usually wins.</p>
<p>And for your IEP program, the one at my school says that can’t use your native language (or English) for the program. You would have to check into the other programs and see what their restrictions are.</p>
<p>If you want to find work after your BSE, a co-op is a great option. But of course, you can do co-ops at pretty much any university.</p>
<p>FWIW, I’m doing a 4+1 BSE/MSE program. I find it extremely convenient.</p>
<p>JW, what is the difference between a co-op and an internship? I know that internships happen in the summer, but which one is preferable? Sorry I really don’t know.</p>
<p>A co-op is an extended internship. An internship usually lasts 3 or 4 months, while a co-op usually lasts at least 8 months. I have not experienced it, but I’ve heard that by the end of a co-op experience, you are basically treated like the most junior member of the team, instead of a peon doing grunt work. I’m sure that varies by company though.</p>
<p>Ok so it seems like a co-op and experience are a very important thing. I’m not going to be able to get into a top undergrad school such as MIT, Stanford, and UCB. Therefore, is a 5 year BSE/MSE in a “tier 2” school worth it? Or should I go to a top grad school later on if I want? I know my dad’s master’s tuition was covered by his company.</p>
<p>Michigan has a program called EGL which might be what you’re looking for. It however has a minimum GPA requirement.</p>
<p>You get an Engineering degree, take language and culture classes (you could choose Chinese for instance), and you take 12 credits at Ross (the business school here). It also involves an internship.</p>
<p>Ok my “native language” is not Chinese. I’m born in the US and is 100% US citizen. Then is Chinese considered a native language? <em>loop holes</em></p>
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<p>Yeah I know what you mean. I meant “IF I want to pursue a graduate degree”</p>
<p>Although I’m not sure if this is a universal qualification, but when I worked in the department of foreign languages at my previous university, your native language was what was spoken at home.</p>
<p>So let’s say that you are fluent in Mandarin (or another dialect) and speak that at home with your parents. Then that would be considered your “native language”.</p>
<p>The program which QwertyKey refers to will not let you do the program in your native language (if your native language is not English). I personally think this is a stupid rule, but that’s the way it is.</p>
This is certainly worth it. Actually, I believe a CC member said he did his master in 2 semesters. So a year for master is quite normal.</p>
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I suppose this will be true only if you indicate that fact on your admission application. Otherwise, most people fill in “English” if they were born here and they claim they speak English fluently. Of course, this issue gets quite interesting because very often there is also an option for parents’ language. </p>
<p>LOL</p>
<p>As an immigrant from Hong Kong, I filled in Chinese for both. So that’s an immigrant case.</p>
<p>I would also avoid the BS/MBA route, for the reasons others have mentioned: you will appear to lack interest in engineering, while also lacking the experience really wanted for management. If you change your mind after your undergrad and desperately want that MBA, most MBA programs allow at least some people in without experience.</p>
<p>As for the BS/MS route, I would recommend it provided it is a research-based degree, and so long as you understand what it will require and how you can get it out of it should you so choose. The masters can be a big boost in either industry or research, so getting it out of the way can be convenient, but many undergrads find that they lack a specific area of interest into which to focus a masters - sometimes that takes a few years of work to appear.</p>
<p>Co-op I would recommend only if you were dead set on industry as soon as possible. Solid grades and a summer internship or two will stand you in nearly as good a stead, and leave you more time for grad school prep (should you tilt that way).</p>
<p>One last thing - avoid the urge to rush through school as fast as possible. It’s not about how quick you get through it, but how much you learn while you are there. I would recommend a 4+2 BS/MS with lots of content over a 4+1 BS/MS where you just complete the minimum.</p>
<p>If your likely to be a top undergrad student, the 5 year BS+MS program is a complete scam. You lock yourself in to a certain college, and they have no incentive to provide you with TA positions and other funding options. If you apply to grad school your senior year schools will provide you with competing packages in an attempt to “woo” you to coming there.</p>
<p>(1) As many have noted, committing to an MS before you even start your BS can be risky. They may cause problems for you if you want or need to switch.</p>
<p>(2) If you eventually develop an interest in a PhD you may find that not all (or perhaps not any!) of your MS will transfer, effectively wasting all that time. Integrated BS/MS programs are really for those who want to go into industry, not academia.</p>
<p>(3) It is usually a safer route to complete the BS and then worry about post-grad in your senior year. By then you will have a clear idea of your true strengths and interests, and that may be very different from what you think they are now.</p>