Hi all! I will be starting my journey as a master’s student in Mechanical Engineering this fall and I have a few questions. My largest concern at the moment is that I am blissfully unaware of how much of a workload graduate courses will require. I am currently signed up for three 500 level courses consisting of 2 dynamics courses and a heat transfer course. I am currently leaning on doing a non-thesis since I have no intention of staying in education or R&D. I have a ton of internship and co-op experience but decided to further my understanding of engineering concepts for work in the automotive industry in particular.
To cut to the chase my questions are:
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Is taking 4 hours of courses too much? I know this will vary from student to student and from school to school but I won’t be working this semester and will have most all of my time dedicated to classwork.
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Will going the non-thesis route give me any disadvantages in finding a job in the automotive industry? I am particularly interested in Automotive design and have no intention of staying in education. My school offers an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering both with and without a thesis.
I know grad school is a whole different world from undergrad. I appreciate any help!
@TroyMcClain - 4 hours? At most grad schools, 3 classes equals 9 hours.
Funny, I was just having this discussion with my son, who is starting an online masters program in polymers engineering. His advisor recommended starting with two classes (six hours). This seemed like too few credits for me, but I remembered that the general rule for graduate classes is that each class covers about twice as much material as an undergraduate class would. The competition is greater too. My son decided to start fall semester with two classes. If all goes well, he will bump up to three for spring semester.
Another option we discussed was signing up for three classes and seeing how it goes. If you do this, keep an eye on the deadline for dropping a class without penalty. If you are handling things well, keep all three. If you are having a tough time, drop one of the classes.
My son is going the non-thesis route. He just wants to learn as much as he can and improve his job prospects. His job interviews all got cancelled thanks to Covid. He doesn’t plan on a research career.
Someone in the auto industry may want to weigh in thesis vs. non-thesis question.
I made a silly mistake. I meant 4 COURSES my apologies. This would equate to 12 hours in my university. My apologies.
Thank you for the reply! Covid has definitely been a drag for any job prospects I had. I will likely start slow thank you for the weigh in!