I am a current undergraduate Mathematics major and want study electrical or mechanical engineering in graduate school at Texas A&M University. Is it better to obtain a Bachelor of Arts or a Bachelor of Science in mathematics? Would I have to take more courses with a B.A in math to obtain a master’s in engineering? Thank you.
With either one, you will have to make up all the undergrad ME or EE classes you missed. That’s about two or more years of those classes alone.
It’s a bit of a stretch so say that he or she will need to make up all of the undergraduate courses. There will almost certainly be some “catch-up” work to do, but I doubt it would be two full years of undergraduate courses. It will be somewhat department specific, though.
In general, the BS is a better choice because it requires more actual math classes and generally greater depth. But while the BS may help with admissions it probably has little to no impact on your actual shortcomings for ME.
As a math grad, you will need to overcome two shortages in your education: the general department expectations, and the specific needs of your lab/research area. Both of these can vary dramatically - one department may make no overall requirements while another may expect 24 credits of core ME classes, and while one research group may be working on theory for which your math background is wholly adequate another may require their students to have lots of practical engineering coursework and experience.
In your case, since you are talking about Texas A&M specifically, you should contact them and ask them yourself.
That having been said, here’s a few questions for you:
Why not switch into ME as an undergrad?
What do you want to study in ME? (Grad school is specialized.)
What ME courses can you take as a math undergrad to help you prepare?
Why are you only asking about TAMU? (It is broadly considered a bad idea to fixate on one grad program, given the fickle nature of grad admissions.)