Complimentary Degrees

<p>I know there are a few related threads on here but I wanted a place to put them all together. I will be studying MechE but might switch to ChemE, still undecided. Love both fields. Anyways, I was wondering what degree would compliment those degrees? I was thinking about either minoring in Math, Physics or Chem because those are easy minors to accomplish with an engineering degree, but would this really help me in anyway in the job market or in my future job? I was also thinking about minoring in business. I am attending UMich and they have not only an excellent engineering school but an excellent business school as well. Or I could double major in one of the above mentioned concentrations. Would there be much difference between minoring and majoring in these? How would it play out in my search for a job in the future? Also, I would like to attend an elite Business school to attain my MBA after 4-5 years of work experience. Would I just be better sticking to only my engineering degree to try and keep that GPA up since it is a very hard major on its own or would I benifit by minoring or doubling majoring in business? Is any of this even doable if I still would like to participate in extra currics and have some sort of social life?</p>

<p>Basically my careers plans are that I would like to be involved in engineering new ways to power cars, planes, boats, etc. I really like the idea of the fuel cell cars and would love to study that. This is why I'm torn between ChemE and MechE. The new energy and fuel cell research involves both fields. I would then like to go and get an MBA so after a few years of working in that field I could be able to move up the corporate ladder. What would be my best plan of attack?</p>

<p>I have the same question, does double majoring in management and engineering open more doors for you or am I better off minoring in management and just focus on engineering now as the double major will consume a lot of my time. I do plan to get a MBA later on.</p>

<p>bump for opinions</p>

<p>I heard that UMich has a policy where you cannot minor in Ross school os Business.</p>

<p>Really, that's not cool. Well then do you think it is possible to dual major in either MechE or ChemE and Business and still have a life? Or is that just too much?</p>

<p>bump........</p>

<p>bump......</p>

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I have the same question, does double majoring in management and engineering open more doors for you or am I better off minoring in management and just focus on engineering now as the double major will consume a lot of my time. I do plan to get a MBA later on.

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<p>Double majors are often times overrated. The fact is, a double major in anything, including management, does not really provide you with much of a boost in terms of getting jobs or in terms of getting into an MBA school later in. Does it make things a little easier? Yes, but not by enough to go out of your way to try to 'hit a double'. Few if any companies are going to say "Oh, I see you have a double, so we're going to hire you, whereas if you didn't have the double, we wouldn't hire you". </p>

<p>Don't get me wrong - if you are highly interested in that second field by enough that you would be taking almost enough classes to hit a double anyway, then you might as well complete it. However, I wouldn't go out of my way to hit the double. I would instead spend my time trying to graduate early with a single major, and/or taking work coops/internships, or (best of all), trying to complete a BS/MS.</p>

<p>I've been thinking about the BS/MS combination lately. I think that's the one I'll try. Michigan has a program where you can complete a BS in Mech Engineering and an MS in Mech Engineering in 5 years. A lot of engineers take 5 years to graduate with a BS anyways so I figure I should at least try.</p>