<p>Has anyone had any experience trying to complete both the Engineering and ISP programs?</p>
<p>straight up IMPOSSIBLE</p>
<p>Why do you say that?</p>
<p>Very possible. Don’t believe mattw. as long as you work hard and get a decent GPA, everything is possible. Besides, if I remember correctly, many ISP students do double majors.</p>
<p>Combining engineering and ISP is more complicated than the usual double major. I was hoping to get a comment from someone who was doing it or tried to.</p>
<p>Lots of people do engineering + liberal arts (econ is the most common) with engineering as the home school. But with ISP, it’s more complicated because ISP is very structured and packed into 3 years; you may have to take 5 classes in certain quarters.</p>
<p>I’m thinking that I might be able to spread the ISP requirements over 4 years? I’m starting to suspect, though, that combining Engineering and ISP is not practical.</p>
<p>It’s my understanding that the ISP requirements are packed into three years to allow students to meet final requirements the fourth year, so they can double major. Many ISPers double major, most often in a science but not always. My S (who will be in ISP next year) spoke to three current ISP students. One is double majoring in ISP and anthropology, and travels to downtown Chicago and the museums a number of days a week, doing research.</p>
<p>My guess is that it might take more than four years to major in ISP and engineering, due to the large number of class requirements in each.</p>
<p>I don’t think NU would stop you doing it. My guess is it’s doable if you are willing to take more than 4 courses/quarter and it just depends on how capable you are. Some of the top students mentioned in [Integrated</a> Science Program Current Students](<a href=“http://www.isp.northwestern.edu/currentstudents/index.html]Integrated”>http://www.isp.northwestern.edu/currentstudents/index.html) have 3 (Lu Yao) or even 4 (Dennis Hu) majors.</p>
<p>FAP, I wonder if the student you referred to is Lu Yao.</p>
<p>I’m not an NU student, but I researched a lot into ISP after I got into the program, and seriously considered going to NU. Apparently materials science, which is arguably NU’s best engineering program, is also offered through the school of liberal arts. My plan was to double in ISP and materials science through Weinberg, and I don’t think I would have had to take more than 4 courses a term (as long as I spreaded out ISP). </p>
<p>However, I partially agree with mattw in the sense that it would be really difficult just in terms of shear workload. Are there people who can do it? Yes. The real question is if you are that person.</p>
<p>Sam Lee, I tried to send a PM to you but your box was full.</p>
<p>It is possible. I know a real case of someone who did it in 4 years. Whether you will be able to do it or not however depends significantly on how much AP credits you have and how many classes you are willing to take each quarter. I suggest against it though as your freedom to take random classes (i.e. the most valuable ones) will disappear.</p>
<p>LOL Dennis Hu is a good friend of mine and he is not taking 4 majors… hahaha, even for him that’s ridiculous. He’s not even ISP. He is extremely bright though, and probably could do it if he wanted. Last I checked he was 3 majors, Math + physics + chem. </p>
<p>ISP kids are smart, but the program has diminished significantly in caliber over the last several years. I took quantum with them and was not as impressed with them as I thought I would be. But I have to say that the prospect of ISP + engineering sounds pretty daunting. I was a double major applied math and MSE, and that was pretty hard as it was. If I were you, I would commit myself to one or the other, and really invest my time in research or something extracurricular. Don’t forget to live a little too :-p. </p>
<p>Also, don’t do the Weinberg Materials Science - you’ll only get a cursory understanding of the field and you’ll miss out on a lot of the really fun upper level MSE classes, the ones that make taking MSE at Northwestern worth it.</p>
<p>I was in ISP briefly, but I do know one of the girls who graduated my year did ISP and environmental engineering. You do it at the expense of your social life, if that sounds like something that interests you, by all means go for it, its possible.</p>
<p>I’m a senior in ISP, and while I’m not doubling in an engineering degree, I know several people who are. This is, interestingly, particularly true of the current sophomore class - so depending on how the trend holds, it may be true for your prospective class as well. In any case, it’s not impossible, and depending on the major selected, may not be so terribly difficult. You also don’t need to maintain a ridiculous course schedule to achieve it - although, in my experience, AP credit doesn’t help you out that much. </p>
<p>Also, the three-year ISP course schedule can be spread out as much as you like. In general, your first year will be relatively well-scheduled, your second will be half-ISP, half-major requirements, and your junior and senior years will be relatively unburdened by ISP requirements. Plenty of time to become an engineer.</p>
<p>The reason you don’t see more double engineer/ISPs is twofold for different reasons than terrifying workload, I think. Firstly, it’s traditionally more routine to double in a science major, so course overlaps help you out quite a bit - you don’t need to negotiate as hard to fit everything in. For example, I’ve already finished my math major, and only needed to take one three-sequence course to earn it, in addition to the ISP classes I’d have taken anyway. The second reason has to do with the nature of the subjects. I have many engineering friends, and their problem sets and courses usually seem focused toward application-based problem solving. You see more numbers and more situation-specific equations - longer problem sets as well, although conceptually easier. For ISP courses, the emphasis is much more on the underlying theory, with the presumption that if you had to know more about a specific application, you’d derive it out yourself or look it up in a book. Calculators became superfluous for me a couple years ago - my engineering friends are still very attached to theirs. So you may favor one choice over the other based on your interests or your usual mindset.</p>
<p>A more interesting question for you would be how you want to pursue the dual degrees - as a student in Weinberg, or in McCormick. Depending on which way you go, you have to deal with distribution requirements and foreign language credit or theme requirements and EDC (let me know if you want me to elaborate more). These courses can sometimes be fun, but are more frequently regarded as the scourge of their respective programs. Since timing will be tight for you, you’ll want to pick carefully so as not to incur more classwork related to your school and not your majors.</p>