<p>If I pursue a liberal arts education in some top LACs (say Amhersts, Middlebury etc.) and major in Mathematics or Physics, can I go to engineering graduate schools? Is it common to do so?</p>
<p>Why would you do this if you want to become an engineer? UG training for liberal arts and engineering are very different. The purpose of UG is to get the fundamentals down pad so you could effectively function well in your chosen field.</p>
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<p>Yes you can. I don’t know how “common” it is but there have been Math/Physics undergrads who go on to graduate engineering programs. I am one of those types (B.S. Math/M.S. Engineering). It is dependent on the graduate school if they actually care about your Math/Physics degree being from a LAC or not.</p>
<p>The only issue you may run into is that some graduate engineering programs REQUIRE that your B.S. degree is in an ABET accredited major. U-Arkansas (as I remember when I was researching grad programs) has a hard rule on ABET accreditation whereas U-Wisconsin (where I got my M.S. Engineering from) allows Math/Physics/Chemistry majors into graduate engineering programs.</p>
<p>You absolutely can. Follow this link…</p>
<p>[Engineering</a> Options | Middlebury](<a href=“Preprofessional Programs | Middlebury College”>Preprofessional Programs | Middlebury College)</p>
<p>One of my colleagues here went to William and Mary, majored in physics, then went to Stanford for a structural engineering masters degree. The only thing that bugs her is that it sets her a couple of years behind in terms of qualifying experience for taking the PE exam, so she’ll end up getting her licensure later than others her age would. This is only really an issue if you’re going for an engineering field that requires licensure, though.</p>
<p>But yes, it can be done.</p>
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<p>You’d be very surprised at the advantages that the intangibles of a quality liberal arts education might give to the average engineer. Half the people I work with can’t string three sentences together. Anybody who knows how to write and communicate about engineering (AND are able to hold conversations about non-engineering topics, miracle of miracles!) will inevitably end up getting along very well with our non-engineer clients, who repeatedly pay lots of money to people they like to work with.</p>
<p>I know chemistry majors who went to grad school for chem and bio- engineering, and physics majors who went to grad school for electrical and structural engineering. They only had to take a few additional undergrad engineering classes enroute to their Masters degrees, which they easily handled.</p>