Double major with AE or ME

Hello,
I am a current freshman majoring in Aerospace engineering. I came in to college with about 50 credits, most of which apply to my major, so I’m starting as a sophomore and a half -ish. I am also on a scholarship for all tuition for 4 years (18 credits per semester) so the cost of each class has no impact on me. I was curious if a double major in ME and AE would be useful (it would only be an additional 26 credits) or if even a major is ME, AE, and Math (which would be another semester)? Or if I should get a double major in ME/AE and Physics, math, EE, or Computer Engineering as some people have advised me. Finally, which main major should I do to begin with ME or AE? I’ve heard that ME’s can get the same jobs as an AE, making AE essentially inert, but it isnt vise versa.
-Cage

AE is really a focussed specialization of ME. At some schools, it is even housed within ME. MEs get many jobs in the aerospace industry (as do EEs, CSs, even Civils). That said, MEs cannot get all the SAME jobs as AEs. If they could, we wouldn’t need AE.

My son was in your same shoes and decided to get a MS in ME. He started taking graduate classes third year and will walk with a thesis based MS in addition to his BS in ME in 5 years or less. It’s really down to how many extra graduate classes that he finds interesting above and beyond the required hours that he has to take.

He combines all the things you mentioned. He has an undergraduate concentration in mechatronics (the EE, Computer E, CS angle), has taken useful graduate level math classes, and is doing his thesis on a mechatronics device that measures boundary layer aerodynamics in situ. He did all of that because it interested him, and had zero loss of efficiency taking classes solely for the purpose of another piece of paper. Technically it’s all ME.

You need to ask yourself what interests you and realize every class you take in something else in the quest for a piece of paper crowds out a class that you might want to take to further your interest(s).

Do you have an accelerated MS option like a 4+1 at your school?

My first bit of advice is to search this forum for the myriad threads on these two topics, i.e. AE vs ME and whether or not you should double major.

The bottom line is that ME is a little more general than AE, but that there are some jobs that are easier for an AE to get than an ME and vice versa. Think of it as a Venn diagram with a pretty sizeable overlap and where the AE circle is smaller.

As for double majoring, it is rarely worth it.

Yes, but I would lose the last year of my scholarship if I did an accelerated course, which doesn’t seem worth it to me. So instead of doing any double major, you’d suggest just taking classes that I find interesting?

You wouldn’t lose your last year of scholarship. Even if you do a 4+1 YOU choose when to change your status from UG to graduate. My son started taking graduate level classes as a third year, but kept his scholarship through his 4th year.

Even if you accelerate, you aren’t going to be done with your UG based on sequencing in under 4 years. You will just open up capacity.

I suggest you consider graduate classes as opposed to a double for multiple reasons. If you decide to get a MS, you’ll be ahead. If you don’t you will still have a deeper background than your average UG.

You should go on IF you know what interests you by the time you arrive there. For now, you don’t know enough to make that decision. The reasons are compelling to get a MS if you do have a focus, higher starting wage and access to more jobs.

You know what pays better than 1 year of a scholarship? A half of a year of a full-time job that you start a year earlier.

@boneh3ad, that should certainly be in the mix IF the OP can get out early. I haven’t run across many engineers that can though. The credit they bring in is largely applied to GEs, so they open space up, but can’t use the space opened to compress length.

@cagesbuild, there is a way to figure that out. Look at your curriculum map and trace through the prerequisites. See if you can shorten the time. If you can, and finances are tight, it should at least be considered.

Again, if you can do a MS, even if you aren’t absolutely clear on what interests you and you do a non-thesis based program, you will come out with more depth and breadth. It will boost your starting salary some, up to 30% depending on what you read. That will reap benefits throughout your whole career.

Keep your grades up and get involved in a club or with research if you want to be an attractive job candidate.

Good luck.

My point was that @cagesbuild has been implying that he/she wants to stay in school longer to use up these scholarship years, and that should not be a consideration whatsoever. If the option is to stay in school to burn scholarship money or else leave early and start your career, it’s a no-brainer. If the course progression is such that leaving early is not feasible, then of course that is a moot point.

If I pushed it could probably be out in 2.5 years, I have through Calculus C and Physics 2 already completed, and gen-eds should be covered as well. @eyemgh I will ask my adviser during my next appointment. @boneh3ad you’d suggest that instead of continuing study, I should just get a job? How would co-ops and internships play into this, are they worth it?

My son started day one tested out of all of his Chemistry and a bunch of GEs, and started first quarter Freshman year in Calc III and Physics II. He was very diligent in taking full loads and still unable to get out early. But, by his senior year, he only had a hand full of classes left. They just needed to be taken in order.

Start with your Senior classes and trace backwards through the prerequisites. It will vary from school to school, but let’s say Senior Project requires Heat Transfer and Vibes to start. Heat transfer will require the Thermodynamics series. Vibes will require the Dynamics series, which will require Statics. There’s also some crossover (Thermo also requires Dynamics for example). It seems silly, but printing the map and using colored pencils can help you visualize the interconnections.

What @boneh3ad is saying is that if you can get out early, and you will find, that’s a big IF, the money you will make working sooner will far outweigh the scholarship money staying in school. From a purely financial aspect, the sooner you start making money, the better off you are. Earning real money makes not spending money that your scholarship provides trivial. In other words, if you got out in 3.5 years, you’d have roughly $35,000 more earnings than you would if you stayed the full four years and too classes for free.

But, that comes with BIG caveats. By staying longer, you might make yourself a stronger job candidate with deeper and/or broader coursework. If you stay, even a full year longer and get a MS, that could net out not to just $105,000 more one time earnings from getting out in 3.5 years ($70,000/year x 1.5 years), but to $30,000 more per year for your whole career. Of course, no one knows the actual amount you will make. It’s just to show you having a MS has value.Burning scholarship money to take graduate level classes that will shorten your MS may indeed be worth it.

As for co-op and internship, they both have great value, both in getting practical experience, and in getting your foot in the door of a potential employer. Again, using my son as an example, he did internships over the summers. He could have stayed and taken classes to try to accelerate, bu the felt the experience was more valuable, and we weren’t financially pressed.

That’s a lot of words to say there are quite a few options, the best of which will depend entirely on your personal perspective. I do though think you will find that most would say doing something for a minor or a double won’t pay any dividends.