<p>My son is a junior in civil engineering and his materials professor has asked him to do research with him over the summer and continue working with him next year. It's in an area my son is interested in and which he thinks will be valuable for him in the future. If he decided to go that route, and found he liked the work and working with the professor, he would probably stay for a fifth year at his school (which is not highly ranked), get his masters in structural engineering, keep working with the professor and probably get some research published.</p>
<p>Is this a good plan, or would he be better off with an internship? (A victim of the lousy economy, he wasn't able to get an internship last summer and worked construction and for a heating/cooling firm instead.) I don't think he wants to end up in academia ultimately; I think he want to be out in the field.</p>
<p>He is a good student, by the way, with a 3.88 GPA.</p>
<p>Aibarr would be able to give you some insight into structural engineering BUT I’ll take a shot at it.</p>
<p>If your son wants to go into Structural Engineering, chances are that he’ll need to get his MS and pass the EIT/PE exam. Make sure that he takes the FE (EIT exam) before he graduates. In terms of research, will be get paid/receive credit for the work or be able to leverage it into a fast track masters? Keep in mind that most MS programs are 1-2 years but I imagine if your son starts early on a thesis (or gets research published) he might be able to shave a semester or two off his MS. I know a few students who started researching early and were able to finish a PhD a full 2.5 years after their UG graduate date, which frankly is remarkable.</p>
<p>On the other hand your son has top academic marks and would be able to attend a top structural engineering program and have more exposure to other top structural engineering firms.</p>
<p>When does your son need to respond to the professor? I imagine that now is the time for him to start applying to internships and one possible route is for him to hedge his bets–see if he can gain an internship at a firm and if not, he has research as a back up.</p>
<p>Internship. Generally good money $20-$25 an hour. May open up a job possibility when he graduates next year. He could probably then get his masters for free from the company he works for. My sons internship started him on 401 k with 75% match and health insurance.</p>
<p>Research. If your son can get a paid research assignment (REU’s pay $4000 for the summer) it would help. Published papers are always great to have on your resume. Good letter of rec from his prof and a look at what research involves. He may end up loving it. </p>
<p>I suppose he could try for an internship and ask the prof if he could do research for the rest of this year and next year. Best of both worlds but may not be what the prof is looking for.</p>
<p>Son has spent 2 summers in REU’s and one summer in internship.
Son found that his internship solidified his desire to do research and stay in academia so this was a summer well spent.</p>
<p>Either one is a good experience, and research does not force you into academia, especially considering that it is undergrad and possibly masters research, and it takes a Ph.D. to get into academia. If he is truly interested in the subject, then it would make sense to do the research. The other thing is that he might do the research and then look for an internship anyway, and then come back and continue researching the next semester. I think a professor would have to be a pretty big jerk to not allow that of an undergrad. A grad student is a different case, but that doesn’t apply here. Just tell him to follow his heart. That is honestly the best advice in my opinion. Who knows, if he does the research and loves it, maybe he WILL want to be in academia.</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your thoughtful (and quick!) replies. A bit more info: He would get paid for the summer research and it might help him get a scholarship. Also, the fifth year IS the master’s program, but he would start taking courses next year toward that degree. He knows that he would have a good shot at a masters program at a top school, but that would also involve two more years of school instead of one. As Sax said, so much to think about!</p>
Depends on the school and if he’s looking to do research while getting his master’s. All of the programs I had looked at (non-thesis) were only 1 year long.</p>
<p>unless you are into the academia stuff, research is for people who dont cut it for the good internships out there. Let’s face it. Do you think companies would rather see relevant elite internship experience or would they rather see research?</p>
<p>If you are going for a full-time position in IBD or consulting then yes, only a relevant internship will get you through the door. Though I would argue that an undergraduate publication in a reputable journal would be much more difficult than getting an elite internship. During my junior year, I was able to make it through IBD superdays and a consulting case-interview off of research/grades alone but could only manage a few conference papers before graduating.</p>
<p>Anyway, FrannyT your son has pretty strong grades and I think he should consider applying to a top-ranked MS program. If he has suitable research experience he could graduate faster and if anything, do an internship between his senior year/1st year summer.</p>
<p>I dont even think he/she reads anything before his/her mind goes straight to banking. Its really perplexing because, whod have guessed, were in an engineering forum </p>
<p>Actually in terms of employment, internships are what seem to be the ticket for employers hands down. Not saying that the research experience is not helpful, but, as our student has found, most employers are interested in internship experience and seem to be less impressed by research. Would agree w/previous posters that prof should at the very least be considerate enough to concede on the research if your student finds an internship op–esp in this economy. Additionally, agree with the “follow your heart” advice; the research may be just the avenue your student is looking for, esp for that higher degree level–it will be a very valuable exp for that degree. Hope this helps–I know it sounds on the fence regarding both issues…good luck to your student!</p>
<p>For entry-level BS jobs, having that internship is a very big plus. However, if he is getting an MS anyway, it will become less of a factor and more on equal par with the research, and once you get to a Ph.D. level, it is almost all about research. It really depends on his goals though. That is why I suggested that he try and do both. That would be ideal.</p>
<p>Research usually isn’t that impressive because, in undergrad research, you sometimes have people who are little more than just lab hands, while other times you have people who are really a part of the team and right in there doing heavy research and making some of the decisions. That is why the ones who get published are more impressive, and why if he will get published and wants to stay in a technical field, that publication will be just about as good as an internship on his resume, if not better depending on the eventual goals.</p>
<p>internships??
IMO I would think that the term “internship” should be *work experience *. Nothing wrong with working and working in a field related to one’s future goal. </p>
<p>Yes, IBD is investment banking. Don’t mind bearcats, every time someone brings up a thread that is even remotely similar to this, he brings up his beloved ibanking jobs and acts like they are the pinnacle of all engineering, even with the OP specifies that they want to remain technical, as in your case.</p>