<p>Hello!
I am currently a Management Information Systems Major. I should be finishing up either August or December of 2014. As freshmen I wanted to major in engineering, but ended up switching majors and universities. I am now interested in returning to engineering. Besides all the general classes, there are a few classes that will apply to ISE, but I still have to take my Calcs and Physics.
My question is if I should I finish my current degree and work on the pre-reqs for ISE after I graduate? Switch majors? Or get a Masters in ISE?
My current university does not offer the ISE track so I would be returning to my old university. </p>
<p>Thanks in advance for any help you could provide.</p>
<p>While a purely Industrial Engineering degree could be far from MIS, a more “Systems Engineering” degree could be beneficial for an undergraduate MIS major. The systems engineering slant would enhance your expertise on how to conceptualize, establish requirements, design, develop and manage the engineering processes that produce new information systems.</p>
<p>It can also help how you are “viewed” by other engineers at a company. Sometimes at some engineering firms, employees can “draw” the line between engineers and “outsiders”, where outsiders are the Math, Physics, and I.S./MIS majors. Often times, the higher technical positions are printed with “Must have a M.S. in Engineering or CS”. Getting that “graduate engineering degree” helps that image, although it really should not matter but sometimes one has to play the game.</p>
<p>This was one the main reasons why myself (an undergrad math major) went for a graduate interdisciplinary-type of engineering degree. I really just wanted an “engineering degree” so that I did not “appear” to be that outsider and could be considered for senior-level engineering positions without decision-makers using the “he’s not engineering” mindset.</p>
<p>Global, an MIS degree is far removed from an Industrial Engineering degree or any other computational for that major. He would have to either spend another 3 semesters in undergrad (for the pre-requisite math and science courses alone), or do them in graduate school. It might help to know what university you go to or what schools are in the nearby area.</p>
<p>I agreed with “an MIS degree is far removed from an Industrial Engineering degree”, but after taking Calculus II, the OP could apply to graduate degrees like:</p>
<p>Granted, these degrees are best when one has experience. Once you have the experience, the degree(s) are just a “check off the box” thing many times in the hiring process.</p>
<p>I am not even mentioning the ton of “engineering management” grad programs out there.</p>
<p>I started off at the University of Florida, but moved back home after completing summer and fall semesters in 2011. I am at Florida Atlantic University and I am a year ahead so an extra 2 years is not horrible. Being that my budget will not work for me to go out of state or to a private school, I would like to return to UF again. Their ISE program is highly ranked. I took an intro to engineering course my first semester there and realized that industrial was the route I wanted to take. I’ve always tried to figure out ways to do things quickly while staying effective and no matter where I am, I tend to analyze things more as a system (airports, restaurants, Disney…). I worked as an intern at sports and entertainment arena so I got to witness several types of operations first hand. </p>
<p>I just finished up an operations management course and took interest to the process and product design aspects. My physics teacher in high school always encouraged me to land a job that involved projects and teams and with hard work be the leader of that team. </p>
<p>I would stick with just my MIS degree, but I have this gut feeling that I should go after engineering. I just want to explore all my options to getting to that point.</p>
<p>I should also mention that becoming a Logistics Readiness Officer in the Air Force has come up, but there is time to consider that after I graduate.</p>
<p>Global, you summed up another one of my reasons for wanting to take the extra step and go engineering in your first post.</p>
<p>GLOBAL is making a good point; you can complete your MIS degree and then take an “engineering” masters program. This could be a cost effective way to get your masters. A Masters of Engineering (or Masters of Science) program (For Industrial and System engineering) is available at UF. Below is a link to UF’s program.</p>
<p>“All students who enter the graduate program are expected to have had undergraduate courses in the following areas: Calculus, Probability and Statistics, Matrix Methods, and Computer Programming. These prerequisite topics are generally covered in an undergraduate degree program in one of the engineering disciplines or in mathematics, statistics, physics, quantitative management, computer science, or similar fields.”</p>
<p>So, you can save money for grad school (by staying at FAU, I’m assuming you’re living at home), complete your degree and then get into UF’s masters program. Just insure you take the core engineering undergrad course, like Calc, Physics and Chem. (and study for that GRE!). It’s even possible to get your degree on-line, so you can stay home, work and get the degree, if that makes the most financial sense…</p>
<p>Otherwise, of course you can go back to UF for your undergrad degree. UF does have a great program!</p>
<p>Talk with a consular at UF before making any decisions. You don’t want any surprises…</p>
<p>I just went ahead and calculated that after this fall semseter I will only have 7 more classes to complete for the MIS major. I guess it only makes since to finish it.</p>
<p>Now I am just trying to decide if I should start taking calculus in the fall. I took AP Calc senior year and Methods of Calc last fall. So I dont think it will be a problem on top of all the other classes I am taking. The plan is to graduate next August and be ready start at UF in the fall. For now I want to get the bachelors and hold off on the masters. </p>