<p>Hi,</p>
<p>This is my first post on the forums :)
I have a quick question for you all:
Do most electrical engineers have a bachelors degree or masters degree?
Also, do most Mechanical engineers have a bachelors degree or a masters degree?
Is there much of an advantage having a masters over a bachelors?
What do you recommend and why?</p>
<p>Thanks everybody!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I’m curious if anyone has data on this. From personal experience everyone I know got their EE BS and then their masters via their company. Having said that - they all went to a defense contractor out of school. All the big contractors will help you pay for it (some pay it all). From looking at job reqs the masters buys you 2 yrs of experience. i.e. Bachelors in ___ engineering + 2 years of experience or Masters in ___engineering. You’ll start out making more with a Masters. I don’t believe the difference is that large though. Maybe $5-10k out of the gate? In the end it only helps to have and it’s not that much more schooling (10 classes or so).</p>
<p>In some cases, a Masters degree can add up to 4 years of experience. Not so much “actual” experience, but reduce how much experience you need to qualify for some jobs.</p>
<p>Example: It the I.T. world, the “usual” requirements to be an I.T. Director is either B.S. + 12 years experience OR M.S. + 8 years. In that case, doing a M.S. makes sense.</p>
<p>Also, like VBlick pointed out, a M.S. is only 10 classes (non-thesis) and 8 classes (full-time with thesis). If you want to “play it safe” (not recommended), you can basically select 10 courses which are basically “grad versions” of your undergrad courses.</p>
<p>I dont have any hard data to support the argument. I would add to the conversation that I dont recommend going straight from a BS to an MS. I can understand the point of getting all your school out of the way, which is fine, but your MS should be a tool to enhance your career. If you’ve never had a career, you dont know if and how you want to enhance it by getting graduate education. Besides, even if you have a Masters, you’re still going to be the junior man on the totem pole and have to do junior man jobs, but you’ll be the most educated junior man in your company. Whoopie.</p>
<p>To everyone else:
10 courses for an engineering masters? What MS degree did you get where you only need 10 courses? I’m finishing my MSME and I counted 23 grad level courses.</p>
<p>NavyAsw02,</p>
<p>I did my Masters in Engineering at U-Wisconsin. A WHOLE lot of schools only require 10 courses. Here is a few:</p>
<p>North Carolina State
U-Michigan
Purdue
U-Maryland
U-Virginia</p>
<p>Johns Hopkins</p>
<p>[Program:</a> Electrical and Computer Engineering - Johns Hopkins University - Whiting School of Engineering - acalog ACMS?](<a href=“http://catalog.ep.jhu.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=16&poid=339&returnto=482]Program:”>http://catalog.ep.jhu.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=16&poid=339&returnto=482)</p>
<p>Is that 10 courses that are just engineering?</p>
<p>For me I had 4 courses just to meet math requirements (PDE’s, grad level statistics, Numerical Analysis, Computational Methods (Finite Elements)), 2 Materials Science requirements (Advanced Materials & Failure Analysis, and Corrosion), 3 Fluids courses (Applied Fluid Mechanics, Power and Propulsion (really should be called Gas Turbines and Diesels), Heat Xfer), 3 Machine Design type classes (Vibrations, Solids, Design of Machine Elements). Those are just my core classes, I also had to take about 8 specialty courses and do a thesis. </p>
<p>Maybe some schools structure their program differently than others. I’m not trying to imply at all that one school is “easier” than another, but telling someone that it’s “just 10 classes” is a bit of an understatement and a MS isnt a walk in the park.</p>
<p>The MS i’m referring to is via the Hopkins graduate professional program. I believe you need work experience as part of admittance (no GRE score required and such). Maybe that’s the difference. Did you go straight from your BS to your MS?</p>
<p>Navy,</p>
<p>I think if you did a survey of the Top-50 engineering programs, the amount of credits for the MS Engineering will be somewhere between 30 (10 courses) and 36 (12 courses) credits. Now the schools on quarters will say 45 quarter credits (15 courses) which is equivalent to 30 credits/10 courses on the semester schedule.</p>
<p>It seems like you may have had to fulfill some prerequisites of your MS program first. The “10 courses” is for a student who can start right into the program without taking prerequisites.</p>
<p>I only had 10 courses and completed them in 2 semesters. All the programs I applied to or considered applying to were between 30 and 36 credits.</p>
<p>I stand corrected. I looked at my school’s page and the requirements are below. I forgot that some of the courses I took were to meet requirements for an extra program I did and for the Mechanical Engineer’s Degree which require the same coursework as PhD students.</p>
<p>The Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering requires a minimum of 48 quarter-hours of graduate level work. The candidate must take all courses in an approved study program, which must satisfy the following requirements: There must be a minimum of 32 quarter hours of credits in 3000 and 4000 level courses, including a minimum of 12 quarter hours at the 4000 level. Of the 32 quarter hours at least 24 quarter-hours must be in courses offered by the MAE Department.</p>
<p>A student seeking the Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering must also demonstrate competence at the advanced level in at least one of the available disciplines of Mechanical Engineering. These disciplines are the thermal-fluid sciences; solid mechanics, shock and vibration; dynamic systems and control; system design; and materials science. This may be accomplished by completing at least eight quarter-hours of the 4000 level credits by courses in this department and a thesis in one of these discipline areas.</p>
<p>Thesis Requirements</p>
<p>An acceptable thesis for a minimum of 16 credits is also required for the Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. An acceptable thesis for the degree of Mechanical Engineer may also meet the thesis requirement of the Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering degree. The student’s thesis advisor, the Academic Associate, the Program Officer and the Department Chairman must approve the study program and the thesis topic.</p>
<p>Still, my point was that I dont want anybody getting the impression that the grad level coursework is just a breeze through XX number of courses.</p>
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<p>My friends call Hopkins grad school “degrees-r-us.”</p>
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<p>I have no less than 3 JHU grad-school grads on my team now. They kind of said the same thing. Then again, I didn’t take a GRE either.</p>
<p>Wow. So, I got a lot of the technicalities, but in the end, is it worth getting the masters?</p>
<p>Thanks for all of your replies.</p>
<p>Yes, but get in the workplace first and then decide when and if it’s right for you.</p>
<p>^ I agree also</p>
<p>^good advice unless you want to do a thesis option. If that is the case, it may be easier to go straight after undergrad since it will take a bit longer and due to the gullying commitment you may not be able to get your job to fund it or guarantee you still have a position after 2 years.</p>
<p>Hmm… so you say get a bachelor’s then find work, and then decide after that if you’d like to or not advance to your master’s? That sounds good. So what do you guys say is the most common, masters or bachelors in the engineering field. If you want more specifics, I’m looking into mechanical or maybe electrical engineering.</p>
<p>What’s your undergrad major? Dont pick an undergrad major based on a grad school degree you may or may not pursue. Pick a field you enjoy.</p>
<p>I’m just a junior in highschool so I’m just trying to learn as much as I can so it doesn’t all come on me at once. I’m just looking into mechanical or electrical engineering because i know some people that do that and thought they’re job sounded interesting and fun. I’m trying to learn more about what each of them do, what they do at work, and reasons why or why not I should look into those careers.</p>