<p>I know math is required for chemical engineering. But is higher level math helpful for chemical engineering? I try to know whether or not double major is good idea?</p>
<p>good idea for what? chem e at mit is a rigorous course. job and grad school prospects are excellent. double majoring with math may be an overkill, unless you enjoy it.</p>
<p>Like itsme123 said, ChemE at MIT is very rigorous by itself. Higher level math is helpful for any engineering major. Courses like differential equations, linear algebra, statistics, etc are not all required, but most students here take them. With that said, there is no point in majoring in math unless you are seriously considering going into a quantitative field. I would just take whatever math courses that interest you without worrying about major requirements.</p>
<p>Math has fewer requirements than most majors to facilitate double majoring. You should wait and decide once you get on campus and survive your first year. Many people end up changing their majors anyway.</p>
<p>Doubling in math may be more feasible if you don’t do take the course 10 without ICE (forget what they call it.)</p>
<p>However, higher level math really doesn’t help chem E, unless you plan on actually going into fluid mechanics. (It wouldn’t even help for the class in fluid mechanics, just for actual research in that area.) The math isn’t what makes it difficult. Getting a deep understanding of thermo is usually what makes or breaks a chem E candidate. The equations are quite simple, but they are subtle and deep. A lot of the equations look almost the same. Your understanding will be even more tested in 10.213–thermo for chemical engineers.</p>
<p>If you intend to be a chemical engineer, your time is probably spent getting an A+ in thermo than learning a bunch of extra math.</p>
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<p>Differential equations is useful for chem E, but I thought it was required. Linear algebra is not really that useful. The stuff that is important people have encountered before, and I think the easy stuff is reviewed in differential equations.</p>
<p>Another tip: it’s probably better to take classes in other areas junior and senior year. The freshman and sophomore years are where you learn all the fundamentals…</p>
<p>thanks for all of the comments!</p>
<p>Most majors at MIT are comprehensive enough to not necessitate a second major to gain strong knowledge in the subject matter (some exceptions might include 8B, but that is, more or less, physics for double majors or people who don’t do J-lab). If you’re truly interested in higher level math, then by all means double, but doubling will probably not help too much.</p>
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<p>Perhaps my take on this is a bit of a twist on what has already been said, if not very original, but I believe it’s important…</p>
<p>I strongly recommend against the mentality of double majoring because another field is related. By that logic you should be doing a lot more than 2 majors - physics would CERTAINLY be on the list.</p>
<p>Rather, take what courses you find eventually to be useful to the particular path in Chem-E which you are crafting for yourself. A random shot at differential equations isn’t going to get you anywhere. Figure out what differential equations are necessary for what you want to learn deeply, and then maybe pick out a mathematics course that does exactly that stuff in detail. </p>
<p>You may find no such course exists, and have to read a book on your own. If that book requires some math background found in a course, then go ahead and take that.</p>
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<p>I fully believe this, although it is definitely the case that two different presentations of a subject can be refreshing and very worthwhile at times. Physics classes and mathematics classes might present things quite different ways, and similarly with mathematics and ___ quasi-mathematical discipline.</p>
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<p>I’m actually not opposed to supplementing one’s major with specialized courses in other fields, just not with math in chemical engineering. If you are an electrical engineer, I think you might be better off as a physics major for the first couple of years and then switching over. </p>
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<p>I think in the case of diff. equations, you are better off just taking the course as a straight shot. It’s the only advanced math that you really use in chem E. But it’s required for the major anyway as far as I know. I do agree your main point, though, about crafting one’s major. There are a lot of people who are attracted to chem E, not because they actually want to design reactor plants, but they want to model physiological systems in an interdisciplinary, perhaps more quantitative way. Tissue engineering and building artificial organs are an example of such research areas that are found within the chem E department. In the latter case, you may actually be better served as a material science engineering major at MIT. </p>
<p>The guy at MIT (Langer) who runs the biggest biomedical engineering lab in the world was a chem E major at Cornell before he went to grad school at MIT. In an interview, he said he really didn’t like some of the advanced coursework as an undergrad major, and I don’t think he did well in it.</p>
<p>I suspect the OP’s question comes from the fact that he/she really likes math, and wants to justify taking more of it. If that is the case, the OP should evaluate whether or not they would be more interested in just majoring in math or physics. </p>
<p>When you are at MIT, take a trip to the bookstore and look at the textbooks required by the upper level classes and decide if the chem E curriculum is what you want to learn about.</p>
<p>So linear algebra is not required for chem engineering?</p>
<p>@collegealum, right - I am assuming they’ll finish all the math required for the major, and was commenting only on things used to supplement their education. There are several levels of differential equations, as well as several kinds which are approached differently, as I’m sure you know. After the first basic course, I feel that any specific class in such a subject will not necessarily have a “standard” presentation. So at that point, if still interested in going deeper, it’s very important to start asking what exactly one wishes to model/understand.</p>
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<p>I don’t know about chem-E, but if you ever want to take a class on quantum, you’d better know linear algebra.</p>
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<p>I got this feeling too. If interested in multiple things, I’d again emphasize not feeling tied to a major. A major is a guideline, and if you want to go all the way, sure, but there are lots of interesting assortments of things you can study which can work just as well.</p>
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<p>If this is the case, consider just doing math (which has a lot of elective space), or something like 10C (a flexible version of chemical engineering that requires concentration in another field).</p>