<p>Right, but BEFORE I can even have any “relevant experience”, I need to first get with the major(s) I’ve selected. Otherwise I’d never be hired and therefore no experience.</p>
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<p>This may be true. But say you want to be the guy who came up with the entire process. Knowledge of EE and ChemE would be very handy. You would know exactly what is required for the whole process, and could make designs and/or hires accordingly.</p>
<p>I’m a fan of having different educational paths than standard students. A unique background sets you apart from others. Not in the sense that employers will want you more, but in the sense that you’re more likely to come up with something novel if you come from a unique and interdisciplinary background.</p>
<p>I’m with quantize again on this one. That would make a person with such profound knowledge of such disparate engineering curriculums pretty much indispensable, if not essential.</p>
<p>And to Slorg— yes! I couldn’t agree more!</p>
<p>You’re obviously “with quantize again on this one.” He just agreed with you. And regarding what you said earlier, you don’t need two bachelor’s degrees to get relevant experience. You only need one. Are you even in college yet?</p>
<p>I actually don’t doubt that Facade might have interest in both fields, or that he wants to double major. My issue is that double majoring in engineering is suicide due to the ridiculous amount of work that would be involved. This isn’t some time management issue, this is an issue that there may not be enough hours in a day to complete the work necessary for the large number of classes you would have to take. It’s merely a warning. At least a minor would limit the courseload a bit more, but its feasibility would greatly depend on the school you attend.</p>
<p>Also, Quantize, what does EE have to do with chemical processing? If anything MechE would be useful for understanding the other side to process design, not EE. My roommate is a EE, and his major involves E&M fields, circuit design, and small electronic devices.</p>
<p>My son will graduate next May with two separate degrees. A BS in Physics and a BEE (electrical engineering). Many of the required courses overlapped. He also used AP credits for required college general education courses. I believe it will serve him well. A physics degree opens up a number of different job opportunities. An EE degree offers a great paying job after undergrad. He will go to grad school.</p>
<p>Here’s the thing: EE and ChemE do not strike me as being “interdisciplinary”. They’re both engineering degrees. It’s engineering. Sure, the EE might do circuits, and the ChemE might do chemicals, but at the end of the day, it’s the same sort of engineering training that you get. It’s that training that makes engineering degrees different from science degrees.</p>
<p>That’s why I recommend an Engineering/Science double major before an Engineering/Engineering one. It is (more) interdisciplinary. Science is different from engineering… it requires a different mindset, asks different questions, and uses different methods to answer them.</p>
<p>In my mind, EE/Chem or ChemEng/Physics wouldn’t just be more “palatable” (see below), but it would also be more useful. Instead of wasting time repeating the engineering part of the curricula, you would learn more about the underlying science, and then be able to apply the engineering approach to it.</p>
<p>Engineering is well-known for being a well-paying field. Double majoring in engineering seems like you’re trying to say “hire me and give me a lot of money”. A single engineeering major does not have that effect… an engineering major and a non-technical (or scientific) major, like English, Art, or Physics, doesn’t have that effect. It’s usually a fairly trivial exercise to tell who is trying to look good on paper and who is actually good.</p>
<p>In technical fields, you’d be well advised to consider what a double major means. It means you’re sacrificing depth of study in the primary major for the breadth offered by the secondary major. This can actually put you at a disadvantage for some jobs. So why would anybody do it? Well, for personal fulfillment. Unless you are prepared to do the double major and not have it noted anywhere on your transcript or degree, you shouldn’t do it. That’s my rule of thumb. It’s self-restraint.</p>
<p>Someone had posted how EE and Chem would be helpful if you were trying to run the entire process…I disagree. If you were designing an entire process, I think that an ME degree would be much better to have, since your process is going to have piping, pumps, heat exchangers, etc. Once you have specs for flows, pressures, etc. you pick your equipment that meets the specs and at that point a EE could figure out the loads, etc.</p>
<p>I guess my point is just that combining EE and ChemE seems kinda pointless as you are almost always going to need an ME to do the work between the those two areas. I can see combining EE and ME or even ChemE and ME. EE and ChemE just doesn’t make much sense…go for one or the other.</p>
<p>Just an example, photovoltaic cells. ChemE for materials science, EE for conversion of energy. </p>
<p>Auburn, I like what you’re saying about engineering/science. There definitely could be a lot of truth to that. </p>
<p>I also like what Slorg said earlier about a unique, interdisciplinary curriculum. </p>
<p>Listen, if all you want is to get an entry level job and do basic engineering work your whole life, yeah, the standard engineering education is fine. However, if you want to improve your potential to innovate and do something that will make you largely successful, I truly believe exposing yourself to multiple fields will help.</p>
<p>Myself, I plan on doing EE and dabbling in other fields with the spots in my curriculum I have cleared from AP tests.</p>
<p>Well, it’s up to you at the end of the day.</p>
<p>If you want to innovate, you’ll probably want to look into graduate school. You could always do a bachelor’s in EE or ME, and then go for a Master’s in the other one. Something to think about.</p>
<p>Dammit Auburn…you came up with some REALLY valid points. However, as I stated earlier, I’m not just rying to “look good on paper”. I have a genuine interest in bot. I don’t want to pick one or te other and then have to come BACK for a second degree when I could simply just kill two birds with one stone.</p>
<p>Not to mention, I’m not even sure if one can minor in an engineering degree, but I could be wrong there.</p>
<p>I do like the idea of creating something innovative…something that would require the knowledge of those two different fields, but then again, the timeframe and amount of work would simply be far too staggering.</p>
<p>Look, I just want to change the world and I thought this would be a good way to go about it. I guess I’ll have to settle for a double minor, then.</p>
<p>@ ManOfFaith:: Yes, you DO need a bachelor’s degree to get relevent work experience in an engineering field. And not yet, I’ll be entering college this september.</p>
<p>Hey, dude, don’t let me crush your dreams. If you want to double major in engineering, go for it. I wouldn’t recommend it and wouldn’t do it myself, but it’s your life. As for whether or not it’s possible… work-wise, yes, but not all engineering departments allow a double major in two engineering fields. Something to look into.</p>
<p>Read my post again. I said you need one bachelor’s degree to go into engineering. No job requires two.
You haven’t taken a single college engineering class yet? Ahahahahaha, oh, you’re in for a lotta fun. It’s a little too early to be planning this sort of thing. Take some classes first. Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up really liking archaeology.</p>
<p>Well, hopefully my department will allow that. And if not, then I’ll either simply change the rules or move somewhere where they do allow for it.</p>
<p>ManOfFaith, I doubt that. I detest archaeology, and I’m sure I’ll be able to handle my engineering classes.</p>
<p>Okay. Then the topic is settled.</p>
<p>Good luck in your future endeavors. But don’t say we didn’t warn you if it doesn’t work out in the end.</p>
<p>I’m sure facade can handle them, I’m just not sure he really knows what he wants… and in the interest of giving him constructive advice, all I can suggest is that he think it over.</p>
<p>Alright. Thanks for all the input.</p>
<p>=D</p>
<p>Board closed.</p>
<p>Board closed? can you do that?</p>
<p>(EDIT: apparently not)</p>