<p>I'm a student at the Illinois Institute of Technology in chemical engineering. I am currently a year and a half ahead in my bachelor's and found out that if I wanted to take the full four years, I could get my master's at the end. I would technically be going into my final year seeing as I could technically graduate after this year. I would get my master's in Environmental Engineering. I have basically a full-ride, so I'm really not paying anything. However, I would like to continue on for a PhD in environmental engineering and science at another university. So here are the three options I have:
- stay and get my master's there
- graduate a year early
- stay and take extra courses (maybe some minors) and do research for the fourth year</p>
<p>I currently have a 4.0 and have only about 5 more major courses. I want to go to a better university for environmental engineering with more possibilities in research in that field, so I'm not sure if I should get my master's here also considering I have a 4.0 with my bachelor's. I have also been doing research since freshman year and have been recognized a few occasions for it... so I'm at a standstill.</p>
<p>Is the Master’s research or curriculum oriented?</p>
<p>This is just my personal opinion, but I think that staying a fourth year and doing research in that fourth year, and getting to know a professor better for another year will help you get into the best grad school possible (whether or not this 4th year is done through undergrad or a Masters)</p>
<p>I’d say be able to finish in three years and apply to the schools you want to. If you finish in three, you get two good chances because you can choose not to graduate if you fail to get where you want to go.
Also consider the opportunity cost of staying an extra year. Is the extra experience worth another year of not making a salary, even assuming college is paid for?</p>
<p>Apply for grad school this year and get out a year early.</p>
<p>I say this because a lot of PhD programs don’t mind taking you in right after your bachelor’s. This way they get more time to train you in the way their department and program works.</p>
<p>I would spend the rest of the summer getting an idea of where your research interests lay and figuring out which schools (and professors) fit your interests.</p>
<p>I’m starting my PhD in EnviroE this fall straight from undergrad. Good luck.</p>
<p>I actually have been talking to my research adviser about this, and he has been dropping names to me of who he thinks I would be interested in working with. He was also tied up though on what I should do. An extra year of undergraduate research might be nice, but would it be more worthwhile to simply graduate the year early and go somewhere to get a master’s and a PhD? The master’s I would be getting if I did a co-terminal program at my university is primarily curriculum based, which is another reason why my research adviser was trying to think of my best option. I just feel that just getting out earlier and into a university where research in the area I’m interested in (fate of organics in environmental systems) is more plentiful, that could be the better option.</p>