<p>Is this a good idea? If I were to do a chemistry major undergraduate, would this prepare me enough for chemical engineering in graduate school?</p>
<p>You wouldn't have any of the chemE courses so you would need to catch up in those. Also it depends on how difficult your degree was to obtain. If it is like our BS in Specialized Chem then you would just need to add the chemE courses before or during grad school. If it is like our BS in Science & Letters Chem then you would be missing advanced (engineering-level) physics courses, diff eq (very needed in chemE), maybe even adv chem courses (don't think hardest p-chem courses are required, and easier chem courses are allowed instead of the adv due to increased amount of time to learn chem as compared to chemE), and of course the chemE. A lot is missing. Check up on the grad schools you're interested in.</p>
<p>UIUC's BS in Specialized Chem is pretty much the ACS-approved chemistry curriculum, which you should choose for grad school preparation.</p>
<p>I think it also depends greatly on what you are getting in graduate school. If all you want is a master's degree in ChemE, then that's really not that hard to do if you have a solid technical undergrad background, even if it's not necessarily a ChemE undergrad background. </p>
<p>For example, I know a number of people who are getting or have already gotten their MS in ChemE at MIT who have said frankly, that there have been only 1 or 2 courses they had to take where a previous ChemE background would have been truly useful. In most other courses, a good knowledge of general thermodynamics and/or a strong mathematical background would have sufficed. If you don't have a ChemE background, then maybe you won't get top grades in these courses, but you'll still pass them. And as far as your research goes, it depends on what you do. I've known ChemE grad students who did research on things that, frankly, have little to do with ChemE whatsoever, strictly speaking. For example, I've known plenty who have worked with mostly chemistry faculty members and submitted work that is basically just a chemistry project by another name. It's all a matter of what your advisors will allow.</p>
<p>The reason why I was thinking about doing this is because I miss the liberal arts core (lang, history, english,etc.) I do consider myself a math and science inclined person, though. What are some core master's courses (I'm probably thinking too far in advance) in ChemE? Don't most of those courses build upon fundamentals learned in undergraduate ChemE? The way you guys say it make it seem that only a strong background in chemistry, math, physics, etc is required.</p>
<p>what about Washington & Lee's chemistry-engineering program? is that any good</p>
<p>and ecnerwalc3321... take a look at Swarthmore, Washington and Lee (chemistry-engineering), dartmouth's, trinity's etc chemE engineering program.. i have EXACTLY the same issue as yours</p>
<p>I know for a fact that Michigan State accepts chem majors into their graduate program in ChemE b/c I read one of their flyer poster announcement thing. And I found the corresponding website, just scroll down to "SCIENCE/ENGINEERING MAJORS INTERESTED IN ADVANCED DEGREES IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING:"</p>