<p>I'm considering getting a dual degree in chemistry and chemE, but I heard that it may make employers/recruiters feel that I am overqualified for engineering positions. I am only a freshman in college right now, so it's difficult to say exactly what I would like to do after graduation, but I'm fairly certain I would like to work for some time period and then go to grad school.</p>
<p>Would a double major be fine? Would that be the same?</p>
<p>I'm also a little uncertain as to my commitment to engineering in general because it's very difficult to wrap my mind around what engineering really comes down to, especially when I'm just taking core classes now. But that's kind of another thread altogether...</p>
<p>I’d do chemical engineering and drop the chemistry degree. I work with a lot of chemical engineers and they do cool, down to earth stuff. Like testing various types of paint used on airplanes. </p>
<p>I have no idea what people with chemistry degrees do besides teaching high school kids (if they get a teaching certificate) or ???</p>
<p>Chemist will be confined to the labs. I don’t see the point really, unless it’s to quench the flames of curiosity. Though, a lot of that can be done with a masters.</p>
<p>i’m no expert in either area, but the degrees seem so similar that it doesn’t sound very impressive. that is if employers were really impressed by double majors . . . </p>
<p>it is much better to find out what you are good at or what you like to do and study that thing in depth.</p>
<p>As far as course load - that depends on the school. B.S.ChE students usually take the majority of Chemistry classes required for a B.S.Chem degree. In another thread we discussed the exact number, and found that a B.S.ChE student takes anywhere from 14 to 60 (out of 120) fewer Chemistry credits than a B.S.Chem student. Chem majors usually do not take any of the core chemical engineering courses.</p>
<p>As far as a career - a chemistry major usually needs a graduate degree to work in a lab. To perform extensive research (say for a pharmaceutical company), they usually need a PhD. But regardless of the degree, most of the career is spent in a lab. Chemical engineers, on the other hand, work in many environments, including plant production and R&D.</p>
<p>So are two degrees better than one? No. An engineering company will hire you and only consider your engineering degree. The chemistry degree wouldn’t hurt, but it also wouldn’t help. It also wouldn’t make you that unique - there are thousands of 3-2 graduates every year that have two BS degrees (one in Chemical Engineering and the other in Chemistry, Physics, or Math). A B.S.Chem position would be harder to find and would pay substantially less than a B.S.ChE position, so you probably wouldn’t pursue it.</p>
<p>Are there any positions that would benefit from both degrees? The only time I could see both degrees being even remotely useful is if you worked as a research chemistry in a pharmaceutical or other new product development company, then worked on scale-up and production for chemicals you identified as beneficial. Though, for that career, you would probably need a PhD in chemistry and considerable experience in plant design, a combination of skills and education that would take 25+ years.</p>
<p>It’s not really for impressing; it’s more of a curiousity thing. I am very close to double majoring anywho and I thought maybe a dual degree would be fun to pursue, haha.</p>
<p>at my school a dual degree (not a double major) means a BS in engineering and a BA in another subject (you still get a BA even if you do a science subject). This requires that you must complete all the requirements of the BS and the BA, which includes a language requirement, as well as some other things. Just make sure you really understand the requirements of both degrees before you pursue anything!</p>
<p>If you’re doing the double major (a) because the second subject is genuinely interesting to you and (b) you’d do it even if people didn’t care, then do it, otherwise, don’t.</p>
<p>I totally agree with AuburnMathTutor.
there are very few positions where a double degree is helpful, so only do it if you’re interested. I also urge you to consider taking chemistry electives instead of getting a full degree.</p>
De gustibus non est disputandum. I’m double majoring and it’s not a waste of time for me.</p>
<p>"You do realize that a second degree usually adds 3 years to your undergraduate, right? "
I don’t know about a dual degree, but double majoring usually doesn’t add any time, maybe a semester. I don’t know anybody who stays 7 years for undergrad for any combination of degrees.</p>
<p>So don’t lock yourself into a degree program. Just take the extra chemistry courses that you want to take; you don’t have to get a second degree in order to satisfy your curiosity about something. That way, if you find that you hate a class that’s required, you don’t have to suffer through it… You can just drop it and take only the classes that you’re interested in.</p>
<p>I assume he means you don’t receive any significant tangible benefits. Are you getting a benefit from double majoring such as increased job prospects? Is the benefit you’re getting from double majoring not something you can get by just taking extra courses in the area that interests you instead of formally double majoring?</p>
<p>Well, I think there’s value in people who know better than you deciding what is important to know about a certain field. I liked physics in high school, but not all subjects equally. I may never have taken E&M in college, for instance, had I not been made to in order to satisfy program requirements. In hindsight it was incredibly worthwhile to my formation as a physics major… had I never taken it, I couldn’t say later that I had undertaken a serious study of physics.</p>
<p>All the double major program does for me is to help me stay on track. Of course I could have taken all the courses without declaring the major, but at that point, why not? The main difference is that you have a support system in place. It’s too easy to start something and then flake out… unless you’ve taken steps to ensure that you’ll see it through to the end.</p>
<p>Taken together - the well-roundedness the formal program guarantees and the accompanying administrative structure and support - there is value to it if you know it’s what you want to do. If you’re not sure, of course, it could be a mistake, and you’re never really sure about anything, but I would advice anybody that it does have its benefits. For instance, it makes more scholarships available… I’m getting support from both departments, which wouldn’t have happened were I not a double major. I also get to take part in activities available to both majors, like colloquia, parties, etc., which would not normally be open to the general student population. And as much as I say that one shouldn’t do it for career benefits, it can have those as well. I have attracted considerable attention to some employers due to my exposure to Physics… as a CS major, this is not as common as you’d think, and I have interests in scientific computing and computational science as well. It has been brought up at interviews as something positive about my background, and at least one told me that it was the deciding factor in interviewing me.</p>
<p>Sometimes you just want something and as long as it doesn’t hurt your career or drastically bring down your GPA then why not? I have a thread going about me possibly getting a CS degree right after I finish my current degree, it sounds crazy, but I just might do it because of desire. I have come to realize that the jobs will come, maybe not right away, but they will come. Just do what you want provided there is a means to pay for it both fiscally and mentally.</p>
<p>Oh, by the way, I’ve already checked out the dual degree requirements and they are just a few more classes than the double major (albeit there are some strange required classes…). It would add at most another year, not three, to my college experience.</p>
<p>Hmm, well, I’m still considering it. It’s not for job prospects; I know that pure science majors need more than a BS/BA to get lab/research jobs. Since orgo is a prerequisite for almost every other chemistry class; I’ll see how that goes as well. Thanks for everything. (:</p>
<p>i think it will be fine for u to study cheme and chemistry. Considering that cheme itself has a lot of the chemistry classes, just add a few more and you may have an equivalent to a chemistry degree. I say go for it, its not impossible to graduate in 4 years.</p>