<p>I'm an incoming college freshman and am considering pursuing this career along with some other disciplines. If my school does not offer an industrial engineering major, which of the following would be a better option:</p>
<p>1) Mechanical Engineering Major with Masters in Industrial Engineering (possibly since ME is one of the broadest engineering fields?)
2) Applied Mathematics Major with Masters in IE (possibly since IE is more heavy on math as opposed to physical sciences?)</p>
<p>I imagine this is a case of “What do you mean by Industrial Engineering career?”</p>
<p>IE is broad. Be more specific with what you’d like to do. If you don’t know, what else do you have to base your decision on?</p>
<p>math w/ eng minor then IE…cause IE is math kinda</p>
<p>^huh? That’s every engineering major. It’s not like ISYE takes a heavier math load.</p>
<p>Are there any manufacturing engineering courses available at your school? Some of the industrial engineering classes at my school are cross-listed with manufacturing engineering courses.</p>
<p>To answer your original question, how much room is there for electives in the MechE degree? You will need to take courses such as Linear Algebra, Linear Statistics, and Markov Processes for in order to get into grad school for IE.</p>
<p>If there isn’t much room for electives, I would look into the applied math option, and take some engineering courses because you will have plenty of electives in the math option.</p>
<p>Also, do you know what you want to do in IE? That could help you narrow down what engineering major you want (if any), or what electives to take if you choose to go the applied math route.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the advice!</p>
<p>chasely,</p>
<p>Operations research and management science seem interesting to me at this time as areas of study. The reasons I am considering this field are due to my strengths and enjoyment of math and problem solving. However, after taking some pre-engineering courses at my high school, I don’t see myself designing cars, bridges, etc. for a career since I’m not as interested in physical sciences. Also, I enjoy business, and industrial engineering seems like a good combination of the two.</p>
<p>I believe my college has an industrial concentration for its mathematics program, which incorporates some engineering courses. In addition, I will check to see if it offers those classes.</p>
<p>I think you should go with Option 2. Another thing you could look at is CS.</p>
<p>Given your dislike for the physical sciences, definitely go with option two. I transferred from MechE because of my great dislike for the physics of mechanical devices (screws, gears, etc) and boring (in my mind) drafting required.</p>
<p>So I think applied mathematics would be a good option for you. You’ll also want to take some statistics courses, but that would probably be within the curriculum for the applied math major.</p>
<p>What school are you going to?</p>
<p>Notre Dame. (Sorry for taking so long to reply, I couldn’t access this…) Anyway, the university just added an applied and computational mathematics and statistics department, which would offer some of the courses you discussed earlier. The other option I would have involves majoring in mathematics and going for the industrial career track instead of the theoretical one.</p>
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<p>Did someone say c-c-c-computational mathematics?</p>
<p>Before I take in my post, let me say that I will be biased because I took the computational math path to systems and software engineering. I think that using “Comp Math” is an excellent route. The major allows you to concentrate in either CS or Operations Research which is essential to I.E. and SysE.</p>
<p>Take Comp Math as a major with courses in Optimization/Operations Research. I would also take some of the Computer Science “core” to have “in your back pocket” in case you don’t find a I.E./O.R. job off the bat. Information Technology is always hiring.</p>
<p>For grad school, there are quite a few professional programs in Systems Engineering and that major will require more courses in Optimization/Operations Research. There are even a few grad programs in just plain 'ole Engineering (no designation) which is just a group of 10 courses of Math, IE, SysE and Project Management. </p>
<p>Just about ALL of those SysE/MEng (no designation) grad programs with take Math majors…except for U-Arkansas who is a stickler for ABET bachelors degrees for applicants.</p>
<p>Well IE is more about operational research. I ve read college books and learn a bit about linear programming. It kinda links to management, i.e. how you will get work done quickliest with the least amount of resources. It is simpler than EE ME… I’d say the grads have fewer average wages but job opportunities out there are quite a few.</p>