<p>:rolleyes:</p>
<p>I think the OP is a little irked that this seems to be the end of her career as a helicoptering parent. She should chill out and thank her lucky stars.</p>
<p>I do not see any problem with your D’s decision, none, zero, zilch, many would envy you and admire everything that your D’s has done with her life so far. Good parent, awesome kid, I do not know what else to say, except, please, do not mess it up after doing so greatly for so many years!!!</p>
<p>Stop trying to live her life. Yes, how dare she does what she wants to do. Much better to amass prestige points for you. I agree, this is a disturbing post.</p>
<p>Btw, I don’t see why a Phd is so important to chase.</p>
<p>OP: Several posters on this thread are unnecessarily quite harsh in their responses to your thread. The truth is is that not always do kids see things as clearly sometimes as adults do. However, she may not rule out higher education, but just for now. I have a friend that just got his PE in Engineering and he is 50 years old.</p>
<p>My H has an MBA, his sister a Law degree and his brother “just” a Bachelor’s in Engineering. Guess who makes the most $ by a long shot! The Engineer with no advanced degree. And he went to a much less prestigious school.</p>
<p>Just let her be happy with this company and she’ll be fine. When the time is right she may decide to go on for more schooling…sounds like she’ll do just fine, not to worry!</p>
<p>I think the word “mediocre” is an insult to your hard-working, pragmatic, high-achieving daughter.</p>
<p>And I say that as someone with an advanced STEM degree married to someone with a PhD in the same area. Believe me, a PhD does not guarantee happiness or success.</p>
<p>
A P.E. or P.Eng certification is the result of work experience and performance on a very rigorous exam, not so much higher education.</p>
<p>^^ Thanks for letting me know. I don’t have a background in Engineering so I was impressed when he told me! </p>
<p>Anyone my point still stands…it’s really not necessary to be so harsh when responding to posters! However I do agree with the majority that say that she should do what she’s comfortable with. Maybe applying to other companies will help her to decide that she wants to stay where she is.</p>
<p>“My H has an MBA, … and his brother “just” a Bachelor’s in Engineering.”</p>
<p>-“just” a Bachelor’s in Engineering is much much, many times harder than MBA. I have both, my H. has both, we know. I am not an engineer, but my H. is. MBA has helped me to find many jobs, I was told that my resume stood out because of that. It did nothing else for me, but classes were very entertaining while working ful time.</p>
<p>Your daughter obviously has great instincts that have served her well so far. And there is no reason to think they aren’t serving her well now.</p>
<p>It sounds like she has given it thought and really knows what she wants, not just want she is supposed to want. My fervent wish is that when my D15 is a senior in college, she has the same “problem” your daughter has.</p>
<p>Your D can go back to graduate school later, with some work experience under her belt, if she decides that she wants to do so in the future. As an engineering manager, I don’t see any downside to taking the job that you have described. It sounds like they have a good mentoring program, which will really help her ramp up quickly. Having good job experience on her resume will really help in the future when she goes looking for her next job.</p>
<p>OP - Hopefully we have not overwhelmed you with responses. I suspect your initial post was stream-of-consciousness kind of internal debate, perhaps not the tone you intended. You are likely proud/concerned parent like the rest of us, eager to see child’s hard work pay off in the best way. </p>
<p>I have two really bright NMSF kids. One is excels in a top Engineering program, and my personal hope is for easier path of job rather than grad school. </p>
<p>The other kid got overwhelmed in Engineering (long story), and I am a delighted that another major is working better now. Lots Engineering student parents have endured similar angst. That’s why we cheer for your D’s success and opportunities.</p>
<p>More schooling without a real, functional or financial purpose is often more about status-seeking through credentials; i.e., “My daughter is a Ph.D.; your daughter is a B.S.E.” Et cetera. If this is the situation, perhaps straighten out those priorities and see what the real personal motives are.</p>
<p>Actually, it is a great advice to go to grad. school later as many companies would pay for this. Our employers paid for my H. and my MBA’s. Actually, we also have no ambitions, we got our MBAs only because they were free. On the other hand I love my “mediocre” job a lot, I have no plans to retire as it is my greatest entertainment. They will have to kick me out to get rid of me, hopefully not any time soon. It is important to feel happy about what you do.<br>
Your D. should be allowed to feel happy, she truly deserves it. And you should be happy for her!!!</p>
<p>Well, “More schooling without a real, functional or financial purpose is often more about status-seeking through credentials” - as I have mentioned, its was more entertaining than anything else for me and I would have not done if it was not free. Nothing else…oops, yes, looks impressive on resume, but my H. had one job, so he did not care for this part, still works at the place that paid for his MBA. No status seeking, except for the status of being employed.</p>
<p>One other good thing about your D going to work is that her company may well pay her to get her masters and/or PhD if it helps her in her job. MANY employers do with valued employees. It makes no sense to go on to grad school if the student’s heart isn’t in it. It makes a lot of sense to earn money at a firm they like while they figure out if there is something more they want to study and/or research. This is why our S got a job in Feb of his SR year & is working there now while he figures out what he wants to do next, including possibly letting his employer help finance any grad school or certifications.</p>
<p>Actually, MiamiDAP, if I read your comments accurately that you had a BSE and a MBA, I would be much more impressed by your BSE. </p>
<p>I remember looking through the Bachelor’s level mechanical engineering curricula of U. Mich. when I was living the easy life as a liberal arts major at a small college and thinking that it was totally sick that they make people take so many intensely quantitative courses in such a short amount of time. </p>
<p>I know, sure, that some people “breeze” through these programs, but then again, I also know some people who run Olympic marathons and find them just “somewhat challenging”. </p>
<p>They really should give the BSE a different designation, one that makes the degree stand out from the other degrees, since, as we all know, that BSE is hard, very hard, to achieve. Maybe something like Archon of Engineering, or Overlord of Engineering.</p>
<p>I am an engineer and work for one of those “Top Companies to Work”. I hire many young engineers right out of school, most who interned with us. They know by the time they go back to school in the Fall that they have a job, and they can focus on Senior year. They have told me that knowing that they have a job all set when they graduate reduces a great deal of stress in their lives. The number of bright new engineering graduates without jobs as soon as they graduate is high.</p>
<p>Here is a sampling of what some of these young engineers are doing 3-5 years after working at my company:
- Left company and went to school full time to get an advanced degree at a prestigious college.
- Applied to selective program offered by company to work for 30 hours a week and go to school to get Masters.
- Stayed with company but switched job from first job engineering to other positions (at least 5 have done this)
- Attending graduate school part time at night/weekends fuly funded by company (too numerous to count)
- Left company and went to work for other companies- some smaller, some further away.</p>
<p>Relax. Your daughter will be fine. She is young, and can change her mind if the company is not right for her.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>I really appreciate all of the thoughtful advice from the majority of respondents. There is a lot of sense in what you say. (However, a select few need to take their medications before they post again. Sheesh!)</p>
<p>Going back to school in the future sounds practical, especially with her employer paying for it. Give her time to figure out what she wants to do. But being a girl complicates things. I am interested to know how many females in the group have returned to school for masters, particularly engineering? It’s different for women. Once you have a family…well, you know. Of course there are exceptions, but school with a family is a very difficult combination for a mom. It’s much more likely not to happen. Not that she’s imminently going to have children, but I think there’s a different window of opportunity for women for graduate degrees than there is for men. I don’t want DD to have regrets that she didn’t take advantage while she had the chance (says the voice of experience). But if she really doesn’t want to go to grad school… yes, she has to make her own choices. I get that. I just wish I could know exactly what her thought processes are rather than second guessing her. But she has yet to ever make a bad decision.</p>
<p>I am a female structural engineer. I went straight through and got my BS and MS. I HATED working on my master’s degree - turns out I didn’t like research at all! I’d always been an excellent student, but I think my supervising professor was frustrated with me. The best part about grad school was meeting my future husband! (oops, maybe I’m not suppose to say that, but too bad!)</p>
<p>After working a few years and getting my engineering license, I stayed home most of the time to take care of our three kids. I worked part-time doing AutoCAD (computer drafting), which didn’t even require a BS in engineering! But I enjoyed it - it was low stress and still paid decently since I was a contractor.</p>
<p>In 1999, my husband and I started our own firm that we run out of our house. We can say that we have multiple PEs, and I take care of all the drafting and daily bookkeeping.</p>
<p>Looking back on it all, I don’t think it would have mattered if I had stopped after my BS. I had the world by the tail, too - graduated with high honors and worked for an engineering firm starting my freshman year in college.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t worry about your daughter AT ALL. She is obviously incredibly bright and will make her own way just fine. Trust me!</p>
<p>I’m not an engineer but I got two advanced degrees after I had my children. Having kids does not prohibit someone from going back to school.</p>
<p>Your daughter has done quite well. Just be proud!</p>