<p>Like the title says, Chemical engineering is the closest thing that comes to Materials science and engineering in some schools that I really like. I really don't want to get stuck in some reactor, I am more interested in the research that MSE's do on things such as Polymers, Nanomaterials, and etc. Any comments?</p>
<p>Only apply to schools that offer MSE.</p>
<p>Honestly, as a MSE undergrad now at a school that only has a grad MSE department there’s a huge difference in what you’ll be learning in a ChemE department from a MSE one. I’d rather have punched myself in the nuts every day than done ChemE in undergrad in hopes of doing MSE in grad than not just doing MSE from the start.</p>
<p>That said, some schools house their MSE sections in other departments. I know WPI had it as a specialty within their MechE department. Other places it can be located are applied physics and sometimes even electrical engineering. But none of them will give you anywhere close to the same focus as a traditional MSE program.</p>