As i enter my sophomore year of college at Penn State University, i have to make my decision as to what engineering field id like to go into. My dream is to work in the space industry such as nasa, space x, ect. In Pennsylvania the only aerospace engineering school is Penn State so this is why this is a big decision for me. Do I get an undergrad in aerospace or mechanical, and master in the other field? I want to get a masters because it will benefit me for jobs. I want to work while im getting my masters so the issue with AE as an undergrad is that in PA, the aerospace job field isn’t huge compared to down south or out west. ME can get a job much more easily then an AE in PA. The problem with getting an undergrad in ME is that since Penn State is the only school that offers AE in PA, id basically have to get it from Penn state and i have heard that your undergrad and your graduate degree should be from different schools. Also instate tuition is nice and i live outside of Pittsburgh so its still a decent distance away from home. If i got an undergrad in AE i could get a masters in ME from the university of Pittsburgh which is very commutable. From someone who has knowledge in these fields, what do you suggest?!?!?!?!?!? I need to start thinking of my academic planning now.
There’s no law that says your UG and advanced degrees have to be from different schools. You can also work for all those companies with a ME or aerospace degree, along with a few others. It’s more a matter of what you want your job’s focus to be.
I have a few comments:
[ul]
[li]You mentioned getting a MS while you worked. This means you should forget about trying to decide what your field of study for your MS will be for the moment and instead focus on what major field for your BS will get you a job you would like, and then they will fund your MS while working there and you can choose your MS field based on where you see your career heading at that point.[/li]
[li]Both mechanical and aerospace engineers are very much in demand in that industry (as well as others like electrical and software engineers). It’s really more about what job within the industry you want. Some jobs would pretty equally draw from either type of engineer. Others would prefer one over the other. Jobs concerning orbital mechanics are likely to favor aerospace engineers, while jobs involving thermal management are likely to favor mechanical engineers, for example. Unfortunately, it is hard to know the answer to this question until fairly late in your studies, so at that point you can always pick a few relevant electives if you are in the “wrong” major (to be clear, there really is no wrong choice here).[/li]
[li]Going to a different graduate school than where you get your BS is a good idea, but it primarily applies to PhD programs rather than MS programs. It’s not nearly as big of a deal for MS programs (and sometimes it isn’t for PhD either). On top of that, if you are working for a company who is paying for your degree, they will likely have at least some say in which school you attend, and it doesn’t really matter at that point because, if they are paying to send you there, it means they respect the degree you will get.[/li]
[li]If I were you, I’d start bracing yourself for the possibility of leaving Pennsylvania. There is no reason to artificially limit your job prospects like that, as it will make you far less employable, especially in an industry that has a fairly small presence there.[/li][/ul]