Boston College and Engineering

I just got into Boston College and it was always a top choice for me. Recently I’ve become more interested in engineering. Can any current Boston College students or grads tell me if I’d be able to pursue engineering in graduate school after majoring in something like physics at BC.

Hi Greg, as a recent graduate I can tell you that a degree from BC (with a high GPA) can get you into any graduate school. My roommate majored in neuroscience and is currently at MIT. I didn’t know too many physics majors, but I’m confident that if you major in physics at BC, you’ll undoubtedly do well in your graduate school engineering search.

Thanks I was hoping that would be the case since I know physics is pretty good at BC. Do you know if BC has a good relationship with other elite schools in the area when it comes to getting into grad school like what happened with your roommate?

I’m not really sure for the sciences, honestly. My roommate developed good relationships with his professors, and the professors in the physics/chem/bio departments tend to have a lot of really good contacts at other universities in the area. If you got into a good engineering school and you were really passionate about engineering, that might be your best bet. But if you like BC and are willing to work hard to get your physics degree, there will be a lot of opportunities for you to take advantage of, especially if you get to know the faculty at BC.

Okay thanks for the help

Greg, I don’t know about this, but Olin College of Engineering is close by and a BC professor mentioned it when we visited. My daughter has no interest in engineering, so I didn’t explore it.

Without an undergrad degree in engineering a graduate degree in engineering would require an extra year of coursework.

@hockeyfan23 Is your friend getting an engineering grad degree at MIT? MIT offers many programs other than engineering.

if you want to do engineering, you should probably choose a different school. Eng has a very defined curriculum, even in the 4+1 schools, to earn that official engineering title. As a liberal arts-focused college, BC just doesn’t offer many of the required courses to get you there.

Are you sure that if I majored in physics I would miss out on a whole year as I transitioned to graduate school for engineering. I’m not sure I want to do engineering so I just wanted to see the feasibility of doing it in grad school from BC.

Contrary to what hockeyfan23 said, with a science bachelor’s from any school a master’s in engineering would take at least another year regardless of your GPA or any "magic’ that he believes a BC degree will confer.

I’m not sure what TomSrOfBoston thought I meant–I wasn’t saying he could major in engineering at BC. I even said it might be his best bet to go to an engineering school. My point is that a physics degree from BC will give him a decent start if he decides to go in the direction of engineering (even if he has to do an extra year elsewhere) because it is a respected school for the sciences. My friend is not at MIT for engineering; I didn’t intend to imply that, though I might have accidentally. My point is that he got into a good graduate school for a science after going to BC.