<p>Hi everyone! I've been perusing this forum for a long while, periodically checking in to get advice to help solidify an engineering area to study. I've really been going back and forth between ChemE and MatE, as I'm interested in both areas. I was looking through transfer schools, and I cam across a joint degree program at Cal State Berkeley for both ChemE and MatE. I thought this would be perfect since I'll be able to study both areas. However, I don't know if this will be equally, the same, or more so impressive to future job prospects than just obtaining a single and more in depth studied degree in either one area or the other. I've tried googling this over and over and I just can't seems to find the right answer, or any relevant answer, really. Any input is greatly appreciated! Thanks guys!</p>
<p>Investigate and ask a lot of questions about your target schools. My understanding is that Ch-E can be quite interdisciplinary and therefore include Materials Science and/or Materials Chemistry. Is a double major in these related fields really necessary or reasonable?</p>
<p>It’s to early for you to plan for grad school, but studying to eventually get to a M.S. or PhD in one of these disciplines might be a better plan. Ch-E is quite broad. Lake Jr. is a Ch-E major whom wants to specialize in Materials Chemistry, probably polymers. Therefore, he could get a graduate degree from either the Chemistry Department or the Materials Science Department. Some universities that don’t have graduate departments in MSE do offer M.S.and Phds in Materials Chemistry. I believe that George Washington U and Vanderbilt U are two schools that bestow graduate degrees in Materials Chemistry but have no MSE major (but do have Colleges of Engineering on campus).</p>
<p>By the way, your Ch-E major might already require at least 11 semester hours of Inorganic Chemistry and Physical Chemistry, which includes Materials Science. This is the case at Lake Jr.'s engineering school. Add in the introductory materials course and a science elective like polymers, nanomaterials or biomaterials and you then have essentially a Minor in Materials within the Ch-E major. Such a program might suit your needs/interest.</p>
<p>Berkeley has a specific joint major program in chemical and materials engineering; some peripheral requirements from each major (e.g. biology for chemical and biomolecular engineering) are removed to make it fit better in eight semesters.</p>
<p>Chemical and biomolecular engineering: [UC</a> Berkeley, College of Chemistry – The Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering](<a href=“http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/degree_programs/cheme_major/index.php]UC”>http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/degree_programs/cheme_major/index.php)
Materials science and engineering: [Materials</a> Science & Engineering ? UC Berkeley College of Engineering](<a href=“http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/guide/departments/mse.html]Materials”>http://coe.berkeley.edu/students/guide/departments/mse.html)
Joint major: <a href=“http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/degree_programs/docs/joint-majors.pdf[/url]”>http://chemistry.berkeley.edu/student_info/undergrad_info/degree_programs/docs/joint-majors.pdf</a></p>
<p>Of course, a student could also take the regular chemical and biomolecular engineering major and use materials science and engineering courses for the engineering electives.</p>