<p>Sorry, there was no 'General' board under Graduate School.
I'd just like some light shed on the topic of Masters/Graduate education.
If I major in, say, mechanical engineering and get my B.S. in it, and then I decide to go back and get a Masters in Industrial/Systems Engineering - Will I then be playing a lot of catchup in my masters program because I don't have the undergrad background in mech. eng.?
Basically I'm wondering how hard it would be to get a masters in a program that isn't built on my undergrad bachelors. (Maybe even get a masters in a liberal arts instead of engineering)</p>
<p>You basically need the standard core classes of a major to do a Masters in it. Look up what that core is and take all the required IE classes as electives.</p>
<p>It was just an example, but that’s helpful thanks. Is that the general nationwide rule in America? To do a masters program you have to have a core in that subject first?</p>
<p>Yeah, pretty much. If you don’t know the core material, you can’t build on it with an advanced degree.
But you don’t have to major in that field.</p>
<p>Having the undergrad core of the master’s major would help. Still, if there was a graduate engineering degree that would have less “makeup work”, it would be systems engineering. Most schools require undergraduate courses in probability, statistics, operations research and simulation and it is very possible that your engineering (or CS, Math or Physics) degree required that anyway.</p>