<p>Right now I'm planning on majoring in Aeronautical engineering. But I'm thinking about doing a double major with mechanical because of the more broad degree and probably better job security. My dad hires mechanical engineers where he works and said if he was interviewing an AE/ME double major, he would be careful about hiring them because the aero degree shows they have an interest in a different field and that they could leave later down the road if they hire him. He said that he doesn't think the mechanical degree would hurt you when trying for an aero job though. So can this double major hurt you? Thanks for any replies.</p>
<p>Yes, this double major could definitely hurt you. See the “doubling in ChemE and EE” thread for why.</p>
<p>Edit: Though now I that I think about it, if MechE and AeroE have significant overlaps in course requirements, and you would not have to overload to complete both majors, it might not be impossible. You would just be careful and really actually want to do both.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t understand your dad’s reasoning about an AE/ME double major leaving down the road because they might have a different interest. That’s true for any single major, especially a major as broad as MechE.</p>
<p>If he wants to hire a person for a mechanical engineering position, usually he wants a person that would be worth investing in instead of someone that is going to switch industries as soon as aero jobs open up. I think it makes sense because theres probably a good chance that I would do that. Maybe that’s just his opinion though I don’t know.</p>
<p>I think it could hurt you with some companies, but if you are enthusiastic in the interview and the best candidate, you will still get the job.</p>
<p>My concern is this: why?</p>
<p>ME and AE are very close, and you can get many of the same jobs with each degree. If you are really that concerned with marketability, why not just do the ME degree and tailor your electives towards filling the holes that AE would have otherwise filled? That is what I did, and I had a job offer at Rolls-Royce designing jet engines. Also, Boeing hires more MEs than AEs. If you want to do grad school later, then just do AE for grad school if you want to get even more specialized.</p>
<p>That is my suggestion.</p>
<p>I’m interested in AE but my college doesn’t offer it so I’m doing ME instead. Aside from my college just plain not having AE, I think because ME is so broad, it gives a little bit of moving room instead of one main concentration. I’ve also learned that there’s a significant overlap in AE and ME, perhaps consider minoring in AE instead?</p>
<p>Well the reason I want to major in AE is because I’m more interested in it and want to get a job in that industry. The reason I was thinking of doing a double major was so that I would have the option of getting an ME job if the aero industry was not in good shape. I have thought about what bonej3ad said about majoring in ME and taking a few AE courses.</p>
<p>Well like I said, Boeing hires more MEs than AEs in any given year because of their broadness. That said, AE is better if you want to be something such as an aerodynamics expert or something, but even then you can tailor and ME curriculum to get you that experience. When I had electives, mine were filled with Viscous Flow, Heat Transfer, Gas Dynamics (high speed flow) and Finite Element Methods. The only thing I was missing from an AE degree was a propulsion class and the space side of things, and had I wanted to do those sort of things instead of fluids, I could have just taken those classes instead.</p>
<p>When I was originally looking for colleges, my dad, an AE by degree/trade, told me I should really consider ME because you have the same basic foundation as an AE and similar high level courses, and you can tailor your electives to make the degrees even closer, but then I could get a job in other industries easier since aerospace is always in constant flux and you can get laid off at any time. I followed his advice and haven’t looked back.</p>
<p>Of course, you should do what you want, and what your heart tells you, but I just want to urge you not to count out ME just because it doesn’t have the word “Aerospace” in the title. It absolutely will not keep you out of that industry, and is, in fact, one of the best ways to get into it. Maybe go check out the two departments at one or more of your respective colleges and see what you think.</p>
<p>Thanks boneh3ad thats some good advice. If I were to major in ME, about how many AE type electives would I be able to take. Is there a certain number of technical electives that each university requires you to take, or can you take as many as you want or what.</p>
<p>From what I hear, it varies slightly by university, but I can tell you what the case was at Illinois. We had 4 technical electives that were required, two of which had to be in the ME department. I filled those 4 with 2 pure ME classes (heat transfer and finite elements), and 2 classes cross listed in ME and AE (viscous flow and gas dynamics). There are also free electives, which are just hours that you need to fulfill your degree requirement, and those totalled 6 hours I believe, so that amounts to about 2 more classes you could add in there, though most of the time you will only need to fill 3 of those hours (1 class) due to random extra hours you accrue.</p>
<p>When you finish and apply for jobs, just make sure your application or resume mentions that you took the extra aero-related classes.</p>
<p>Other schools might be different, so you will have to have someone else talk to you about those or go look it up at their sites on your own. I would definitely say not not double major though. It will be a fairly significant amount of extra work, and the benefit would likely not be very great, if one even exists. Pick whichever one you end up liking best after doing a little bit of research of the two degrees at a couple different universities.</p>
<p>If you want to do aerospace, go into aerospace. If you are unsure about aerospace, go into ME… and then maybe pursue aerospace as a grad student. There are many disciplines in engineering that are more specific than others. People go into these disciplines because of their interest in them, and if motivated enough, many are just as successful or more than the others whom decided to pursue a more broad major. </p>
<p>Personally, I think the whole ME is more broad argument isn’t that great. I’ve known plenty of aero majors that work ME jobs, the interchangeability can go both ways… even though many assume it doesn’t. Sure, ME might give you more sub-fields to work in post-graduation, but this doesn’t necessarily correlate to more job opportunities/offers. Perfect example is my ME friend: Past internship experience (multiple terms), >3.0 GPA, no job offers until 3 months after graduation. Compare that with AE friend, whom was given an offer with the company he interned with prior to graduation. I realize this is one example and there can be many reasons behind why one received offers and the other didn’t, but I’m just saying: If you like aero, don’t pursue ME solely because “it’s more broad”.</p>
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<p>This is how the job market is, not just the aerospace industry. Working for the government can help with this. There is a need for aeros as much of the industry is composed of retiring baby-boomers.</p>
<p>Aerospace is more like that than most because it relies heavily on the government, which never can make up its mind.</p>
<p>In my mind, AE and EE are too close to make double majoring worth your while. I would recommend going for something crazy… like mathematics, computer science, physics, economics, business, or industrial engineering.</p>
<p>What’s with all the double majoring threads lately? Just major in one kind of engineering. You’ll have no trouble finding a job anyway. Besides, any kind of engineering degree gives you a lot of flexibility after college in terms of choosing a job, so it’s not like you’re limiting yourself for the future. Enjoy college for what it is and stop worrying so much!</p>
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<p>It really has more to do with the US people not making up their minds than it does with the government. When we change the partisanship of the president with every new president in the last ~20 years, government spending will drastically change along with it. Bye f22 =(</p>
<p>I was more or less referring to the current job market anyways.</p>
<p>IMHO, you should only double major if you’d be disappointed if you hadn’t had the full exposure to the second discipline. That’s why I’m a DM in CS & Physics.</p>
<p>i think its pretty pointless majoring in both. You can major in ME with AE electives can’t you? i think a BS in ME and Master of AE would be a solid plan. You typically need a Masters to do anything big in defense companies anyways, other wise your just another pawn engineer in the firm IMO.</p>
<p>Is it a good idea to DM in AE and applied math then go to grad school for an MBA?</p>