<p>Do students at MIT ever earn both degrees at the same time? If so, is it only for specific majors? If a student is done with their u/g courses in their major (but still have some required u/g courses outside the major left to take) with several years left as an u/g, would it ever be possible for them to work towards a master's?</p>
<p>The short answer “Depending on your department, it may be possible.” Keep in mind that you usually need to be accepted to the graduate program, and that is far from a given, and in some departments, it is an impossibility. Regardless of department, an undergraduate can take graduate level courses, should they be appropriate.</p>
<p>But in truth, this is a variant of a Frequently Asked Question. The question fundamentally is “I am worried that MIT may not be hard enough for my intellect to be challenged. Is there a way to keep my interest piqued?” Actually the opposite problem may be more relevant. Almost everyone that MIT accepts is at or near the top of their secondary school class. It does not take a statistical genius to work out that fully half of these are going to be in the bottom half of their MIT class. There may be a tiny handful of kids who find MIT tremendously easy, but I never met any of them while I was at MIT.</p>
<p>My son’s already a student there and was able to transfer in all lower division math classes, so he’s been taking upper division and graduate math classes and will be done fulfilling requirements for his major at the end of sophomore year. It just got me curious, I guess, since he has/had no plans to go onto a PhD. I just wondered about the process. He said he’d ask his advisor. Just wondered if others here had any experience with it.</p>
<p>Oh and by no means does he find MIT easy. He just was able to get transfer credit.</p>
<p>Math? No. Computer science? Yes.</p>
<p>(it’s called MEng-ing, if you want a term you can google.)</p>
<p>Many do a double major if they can fit it in rather than a masters but it is best to talk to an advisor to evaluate the choices. He can always graduate early if double major or master’s does not work out.</p>
<p>There is also a third choice. Take whatever classes he likes and not have a goal. This would be based on where he wants to go with his math degree (finance, CS, economics, …).</p>
<p>Thanks, nightshade. I knew there was a program-just couldn’t remember what it was.</p>
<p>Texas, yep. That’s his current plan-just enjoy taking classes in areas of interest (econ and management). I was just curious about the master’s.</p>
<p>I don’t see master degree offered in the math dept.</p>
<p>I never even looked. I just assumed that any school that offers a PhD in something offers a master’s. I am clearly not knowledgeable about such things!</p>
<p>Yeah MIT math doesn’t offer a terminal masters. I think Phd students who drop out can get a masters in math. Even the MEng in EECS is really a fifth year master’s program instead of a more typical joint BS/MS (which is what Harvard has).</p>
<p>The Master of Engineering degree means different things to different institutions. For some schools, you can get admitted to grad school somewhere and get the M.Eng degree without having been an undergraduate there.</p>
<p>At MIT, the Master of Engineering degree is not earned like that. Here, you get your M.Eng degree with your bachelors.Certain departments, such as EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science) and Mechanical Engineering offer M.Eng programs.</p>
<p>For those coming from undergrad programs outside of MIT, or even those coming from outside the department, you don’t earn a M.Eng degree. Instead, you earn a Master of Science degree instead.</p>
<p>The course 6 MEng can be separated from the undergraduate program (you graduate twice in two separate years with two separate degrees) or not (you graduate once at the end of five or six years with two degrees). I don’t know anything about other departments. But yes, if you are in a department that offers a Master’s program, you should be able start working toward your Master’s before you finish your undergraduate program. (Again, if you’re not course 6, you should ask your academic advisor to be sure.) I am almost done with my Master’s requirements and will be completing the last of my undergrad and Master’s requirements during my MEng, then graduating with both degrees in 2015 or 2016. This is not at all unusual.</p>
<p>You do have to be admitted to the EECS MEng program. Though generally if you’re above a 4.2 GPA, you’re in, and if you’re 4.0-4.2, you have a pretty good chance.</p>
<p>You cannot apply to get a Master of Science in EECS. You can apply to the PhD program and earn the master’s along the way.</p>
<p>What about Econ/management?</p>
<p>@lidusha But, you have to be a Course 6 UG to be a Course 6 M.Eng. You cannot apply to the M.Eng program from another school… or even from, say Course 18. </p>
<p>And, as @PiperXP mentioned, as someone outside Course 6 UG, you cannot apply to solely an EECS masters program. The M.S. offered has to be via the PhD program, if you do not already possess a masters.</p>
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Indeed.</p>
<p>^ I actually do know a student who applied and got accepted to the MEng without being course 6. He had de facto completed a triple degree (6/8/18), but MIT only allows you to get a double degree officially. So he chose 8 and 18, but met all the requirements to get into the course 6 MEng and got that degree as well.</p>
<p>This was a few years ago, so it’s unclear if they’ll still allow this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they do. But that’s sort of a very special case.</p>
<p>Interesting. I imagine that might be a rare special case. I knew an 18C who wanted to do the 6 M.Eng and was flatly told no by Anne Hunter. </p>
<p>^ Did they complete all the course 6 requirements (or plan to)?</p>
<p>That was my understanding. She was 18C and either 14 or 15 (I think it was 14).
I believe she had just about everything to fulfill the 6-3 undergrad requirements, with the exception of 6.UAP, that she could never schedule in due to her double major course load. But, she did not want to super-senior another semester just to try taking one additional course for a 6-3 + 14 double major, so she went with 18C + 14 instead. But, alas, no M.Eng that way.</p>
<p>Though the Master’s program as an extension of the undergraduate program is not the same as a major, I suspect the reasons for allowing or not allowing in students who have completed course 6 requirements with other official majors are related to rules about double majoring.</p>
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<p>It might be because 18C and 6-P (the course 6 Master’s program) have a lot of overlap, and you are not allowed to double major with courses that have that much overlap. But course 6/8/18 are all approved for doubling, so it makes sense that you would be allowed to add 6-P to a course 8/18 combination.</p>