Can you get a BS in a particular engineering field and then get a masters in any other field?

I know I’m far from graduating either way. But could I get a BS in say industrial engineering, and then get a masters in Mechanical engineering?

The graduate program in ME will expect some preparation in ME topics, at least those which relate to your graduate specialty, so you may want to choose your electives carefully to prepare for such if you major in something other than ME. Check the graduate program pages of various schools’ ME departments to see if they have any specific requirements or recommendations.

In general, departments weigh how well prepared you are against your desirability. If you are below average (for the department to which you are applying!) in GPA, GRE, and research experience, you really need to be in the same major. If you are about average in those areas you need to be in the same major or in something similar with some decent coursework or experience in that major. If you are above average you need to be in something at least related so you won’t take too long to come up to speed. If you are way above average then you can be pretty new to the field so long as you have the math and physics to understand it.

But it does vary by department, and some have more strict rules, so your results may be different.

Sure.

That said, I would plan out a pretty rigorous IE program with electives related to ME and make sure you have taken classes in chemical materials, statics and dynamics, fluids, heat transfer, etc not just IE electives.

I am sure it varies amongst schools, but IE is typically not that similar to ME.

Why would you major in IE if your heart is already in ME? Where are you in your curriculum? If you are a junior or senior, sure, go collect your IE degree with your electives in ME. If you are earlier than that, start taking ME classes now. Even a junior may be able to just switch administratively at end of this semester.

@PickOne1 I’m not sure where my heart is. I’m a freshman because of my math. I could finish IE more quickly than I could finish ME. In IE the most I would have to take a semester is 15 hours. And most semesters would be more like 12. With ME I’d be taking 15 or so hours almost every semester. Plus I’m not really sure how much I like my engineering graphics class…

So what’s the appeal of ME master degree?

Don’t write off a whole field because you don’t know “how much you like [your] engineering graphics class.” That’s silly.

@colorado_mom Well I guess because I could do the IE more quickly and less stress, but I think ME sounds more appealing.
@boneh3ad Maybe you’re right. It’s just originally I thought that ME was more about the 3D modelling software and that’s what I thought I wanted to do. I like Solidworks, but I really don’t want to work with it as a job, It’s interesting, but I don’t find it appealing. I guess I don’t know what else they do. I need to shadow a one, but I’m having trouble finding out how.

I can honestly say I’ve never known any engineering student who has “shadowed” a working engineer. I’m not 100% what that even means.

At any rate, I still don’t understand why you are thinking about a MS in mechanical engineering all while doubting you would even like it as a BS. That makes no sense to me.

My step mom works at DOW Chemical and you can shadow an engineer for a day and see what they do. I don’t see how it’s any different than shadowing someone from another field.
Well maybe you’re right. I guess it doesn’t make sense. I like more aspects of ME than IE from what I’ve read. It’s just that the engineering graphics class really sucks and makes me question ME.

We’ve been over this, though, and “engineering graphics” is such a small part of what mechanical engineers do that you are being very myopic if you give up on ME based on that one topic.

Shadowing an engineer would be quite boring most of the time as well. A lot of them spend most of the day at a desk and in meetings. At any rate, shadowing one engineer is not going to give you a good picture of all the different things a mechanical engineer (or any other type) can do. It’s not like shadowing a doctor where medicine is pretty much the same everywhere in the US.

Look at the degree plan for ME at your school. Look at all those classes that are required and the available electives. That ought to give you a sense of whether you are still interested.

You could get a BS in engineering and then get an MBA - great combination.

@boneh3ad You’re right. I guess I just need to look more into what ME’s do.
I didn’t think of it like that. You’re right.
Forgive me, but I should look at the degree plan and look into what I’ll study? I’ve done that for ME and it sounds so technical and difficult. I think more because I don’t know that much about ME.

I also am going to suggest that an IE undergrad could be followed eventually with a MBA, masters in econ or operations research or a variety of other masters when you figure out what you want to do in the future. Might need to take an additional course or two after you get out of college while you are working before entering grad school… Lots of choices available in the future.

@boneh3ad Looking at the course descriptions just overwhelms me…

Well you aren’t meant to understand all of the topics they list under the advanced courses in the course catalog at this point. If you were, you probably wouldn’t be in school to learn about them. However, you can look at their names and do your best to infer the sort of things they might help you tackle. At the very least it should be obvious that engineering graphics is a small piece of the pie.

Maybe ME is not the right choice for you. I really can’t tell you if it is or is not. However, it would be very difficult to determine something like that based solely on something like engineering graphics. ME very well may be the right choice for you as well and that single class is not going to allow you to give it the consideration it (or you) deserves.

How are you with math? If your math skills are strong, then the material from those ME courses (or any engineering discipline) should be within your grasp. That’s not to say it would be easy, just that it doesn’t need to feel overwhelming.

Shadowing seems a bit extreme, unless a company has something in place … .maybe you can find some people who have worked as IE or ME at your school or through your families contacts (Dow has both IEs and MEs) and schedule a 20 minute meeting and maybe a tour of whatever hardware they are working on. Similarly, ask both departments if you can take a tour with a grad student and see what they are doing … this also focuses on what your school actually offers in these majors, which I do find varies with the college, faculty interests, grants, facilities, etc

For these, be a bit positive and don’t start on about not wanting to do Solidworks for 8 hours a day … or need to get a BS in 4 years and then spend 2 on MS in ME … these both seem unrelated to finding a field you want to work in.

I think IE vs ME is an easy one to determine, the jobs are pretty different … unless you veer off the mainstream in either field. Sure both jobs could involve mostly meetings and paperwork, but the interesting part of your work is different. If your interest is in management or meetings and paperwork … it likely does not matter that much.

Issue with sticking to IE to graduate sooner is that you won’t be interested in your junior and senior year courses and may not do well and you are preparing for a job that you may not like as much. And again, that MS in ME will take 2 years or more or 3-5 years part time with only a 5% salary bump.

there was a thread about engineering graphics and we made lots of good comments …