Engineering Questions

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>I just finished my first year of college. I'm not 100% sure I want to be an engineer, like I first thought when I went in. I have several questions because now I'm pretty confused.</p>

<p>Is engineering a lot of writing reports? My intro to engineering design class seemed to just focus on reports and not the actual designs. I kind of hated it because it all seemed like grunt work.</p>

<p>I will only have a general degree in engineering. What does this mean for my future in engineering? Will I be limited to the number of jobs I can get?</p>

<p>What type of non-engineering employers would want an engineering graduate?</p>

<p>I am also interested in Political Science. What kind of engineering jobs could combine a Political Science degree and an Engineering degree?</p>

<p>What kind of jobs would I get if I only graduate with ~3.4 GPA? What would my chances to the elite engineering grad schools (MIT, Caltech, Stanford, Berkeley, Cornell, etc) look like?</p>

2

<p>I'm no expert, but I'm just giving you my two cents.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I think report writing is an important part of the design phase. A report will outline the basic ideas of the project to present to other people. A project couldn't get going until you get an approval. I suppose it is a brainstorming tool and persuasion tool.</p></li>
<li><p>You could probably take a few extra courses in a specific field to get a job in a particular engineering discipline. A general degree probably isn't enough for jobs requiring the skills of an electrical engineering graduate. </p></li>
<li><p>I hear there are lots. Engineering is supposed to be a versatile degree that allows you to land jobs in other areas that use mathematics heavily. Investment banking is a frequently discussed alternative.</p></li>
<li><p>Perhaps policy making dealing with the techology sector and startup business. You might also be interested in a law degree doing patent law.</p></li>
</ol>

3

<ol>
<li><p>Along with any design in any type of engineering, there is almost always a written report or presentation that goes along with it. An excellent design is of no use if you can't communicate it effectively to others. Being that this was just an intro course and you're a freshman, there really wasn't much actual engineering that you could've done. I took a similar course during my first semester as well.</p></li>
<li><p>As far as I know, Harvey Mudd doesn't even offer specific engineering disciplines, but would rather you focus on being a well-rounded engineer. As steevee said, if there are discipline-specific electives you can take, those would probably be helpful.</p></li>
<li><p>Many financial firms like engineering graduates. Some grads also go on to med school or law school.</p></li>
<li><p>Political science... hmm... I'm not really sure. I do know that ASCE (the professional society for civil engineers) is often involved in politics and public policies, lobbying, etc, as civil engineering is an industry that's somewhat dependent on government funding, especially in the transportation sector. </p></li>
<li><p>Jobs... as long as you keep your GPA above a 3.0, you probably won't be at a disadvantage. I'm a believer in that many jobs are gotten through who you know rather than what you know. </p></li>
<li><p>Grad schools... are you aiming for a master's or PhD?</p></li>
</ol>

4

<p>As far as design vs. report writing, you may spend hours and hours doing the design work but the report is the only thing most people will see and all of the hard work you put into the design won't mean anything unless you can document it and write a very good report. In one of my classes our professor would make sure everyone did the lab correctly because he wanted us to focus on communicating through the written reports rather than worry about getting the math right.</p>

5

<p>I'm not really even sure if I want to go to grad school. Part of me wants to hit the working world right away, but another part wants to definitely get either a masters or a PhD. What is the path that most engineers at the top schools take?</p>

<p>I've also thought about being a lobbyist as well because I know it could combine engineering and politics. I know there are also plenty of engineers turned politician (Bloomberg comes to mind).</p>

<p>Throughout the course of an engineers life, do they stay in one field or move around a lot? I could really see myself moving between multiple disciplines in engineering. I have a preference for structural, aerospace, and mechanical, but I really can't decide on what I want to do. I'm also really interested in physics and astrophysics. The way I imagine it is that I would constantly mix it up to keep from being bored in the future, changing fields every decade or so. What do you guys think?</p>

6

<p>It's really difficult to move between various disciplines of engineering, becuase it would probably take twice as long to be proficient in structural, aerospace, and mechanical engineering. If you make such a move, you probably won't be making a lateral move. If you were a project manager for a structural engineering company, it's highly unlikely you'll become a project manager at an aerospace firm right away without any prior experience in that field. It's not impossible, but you'd pretty much be starting over with every new field you take on. </p>

<p>I think you probably just need more time to learn what each of the field encompasses in the real world. By then you'll probably have one field you want to head into. The good thing about HMC is you're not forced into making that decision early on, so you have time.</p>

<p>A PhD is a huuuuuge committment. I wouldn't recommend it unless you want to commit 6 more years to school in a very specific field.</p>

7

<p>
[quote]
What is the path that most engineers at the top schools take?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Most engineers just get their BS and go work in industry. </p>

<p>As the previous poster said, getting a graduate degree takes a big commitment towards a certain field. It's a sign that you want to spend your career devoted to that field. It's not a contract to do so, but anyone who devotes 6+ years in graduate studies (MS+PhD) (working for the bare minimal of compensation) isn't likely to disregard all of that training and time and move on to something else. </p>

<p>You need a real passion to do well in graduate school in your field. I think that's the only way to be successful and keep your sanity. Staying til 3am in the lab, working 100 hr weeks, giving up 5+ years of your 20s (if you go to grad school out of undergrad), and studying your field in every detail.... that takes a enormous amount of devotion and commitment. </p>

<p>You're also not likely to jump around different engineering fields. You might be able to jump around to different industries if your degree is broad enough (ie. mechanical or electrical). If you degree and specialization is in aerospace structures, you're gonna be pretty much confined to a single industry (and only a dozen or so meaningful companies). </p>

<p>If you want to be a politician, be a politician. I think it will be more important to know economics and political theory than have an in-depth knowledge in engineering. There are some uses for engineers in politics. Expert witnesses are often called forth (to testify in front of Congress, or in front of juries, or to form recommendation boards). These positions are filled with PhDs (often from academia). But again, the act of getting a PhD means that you are regarded as an expert in the field. That's why companies will hire you. It's also why some people will say that having a PhD will make you over qualified and even hurt your chances for employment. Most companies just need warm bodies to do the work... they don't need experts in the field.</p>

8

<p>I don't really want to be a politician, but I've definitely be interested in politics all my life. I'd rather be some sort of adviser or lobbyist or analyst or whatever. In my political science class we studied the work of the leading political analyst in DC and he was an educated engineer. I saw some definite ties between his work and math/engineering (polling and data analysis).</p>

<p>I don't think I could be committed enough to get a PhD in anything, but a Masters sounds like it could be fitting. I get the impression that to really get ahead in the engineering field and get into engineering management, I'd need a Masters degree. Am I wrong here or what? I don't really want to be stuck just being an engineer, but rather the boss of engineers eventually.</p>

<p>Also part of me does feel I have the need to go onto grad school for a different reason. I went into Mudd thinking I would surely go onto a grad school that would offset Mudd's bad name recognition and my deflated GPA. Obviously this is not a huge reason for me wanting to go onto grad school, but I'm sure it would feel really nice not having to explain to employers what Harvey Mudd is.</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
I don't really want to be a politician, but I've definitely be interested in politics all my life. I'd rather be some sort of adviser or lobbyist or analyst or whatever.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You might want to look into organizations like RAND (<a href="http://www.rand.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.rand.org&lt;/a&gt;) and the broad category of "think tanks" (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tanks%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tanks&lt;/a>, of which RAND would fall under). There are other consultancy firms that do similar work. However, those closely related to politics (and therefore gov't policy) would be organizations under the think tank umbrella. </p>

<p>I know that RAND and similar firms recruit fairly heavily in engineering graduate programs. They need both the technical skills from PhDs, but also from specializations. For instance, they need aerospace PhDs to help form aerospace policies (like defense, or space exploration). They need biomedical engineers to help form policies for funding medical research. To get these kinds of jobs, you need a PhD (to become an expert in your field) and experience. However, I have seen them recruit newly minted PhDs, but the amount of experience will dictate how much responsibility you will have. </p>

<p>
[quote]
I don't think I could be committed enough to get a PhD in anything, but a Masters sounds like it could be fitting. I get the impression that to really get ahead in the engineering field and get into engineering management, I'd need a Masters degree. Am I wrong here or what? I don't really want to be stuck just being an engineer, but rather the boss of engineers eventually.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Part of the problem is having a way to differentiate yourself from your peers. Everyone from your graduating class will have the same degree. Therefore, at each stage of the career, you need something to get ahead. When you're looking for your first job, internships and GPA matter most. After 5-10 years of experience, you need something else. That's where a MS/MBA might be most important. After you've proven yourself in the job force, you need something that shows that you can move onto the next level. You won't be able to get a meaningful MBA out of undergrad, and getting an MS immediately is debatable. Many engineering companies will fund/reimburse you to take part time MS classes while you work. It will also be beneficial to get a few years of work experience to really focus your graduate studies. On the other hand, some of us (me included) know what our passion is and went straight into a MS+PhD program out of undergrad. If you don't know... wait a while... </p>

<p>If you want to be the boss of engineers (ie. project management, technical lead, etc) there are a few different ways of getting there. Getting an engineering MS+MBA is a good combination. Many engineering companies have established programs of getting talented new hires (with only a BS) on track towards management. During these programs, they will rotate you through different positions and have you enroll in a MS OR MBA program. An MBA isn't critical for technical management, but again, it's something to differentiate you from your peers. As industries get more competitive, business decisions have to be made at all levels.</p>

10

<p>Atomicfusion, you should know that one of RAND's Senior Political Scientists, Roger Cliff, went to Harvey Mudd.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.rand.org/media/experts/bios/cliff_roger.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.rand.org/media/experts/bios/cliff_roger.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I would be willing to bet that you have an internship just waiting for you...</p>

11

<p>Wow, rocket, he is absolutely amazing. What he does seems really interesting to me too. Thanks!</p>