M.S. Math to Engineering PhD

<p>Hi, guys, I'm new here! I graduated two years ago with a M.S. in Mathematics on top of the B.S. in Math and B.A. in History that I hold, and I'm currently teaching math in a community college.</p>

<p>The job is good but I hope to move up to a four years university so I will have to complete a PhD. A few of my co-workers are engineers and I have been researching on the possibility of doing a PhD in Engineering.</p>

<p>Now, I took all the undergraduate math courses, and I took all Real/Complex Analysis, abstract linear algebra and algebra, and theoretical statistics plus statistical learning. But I have never taken Physics, Chemistry, or any engineering courses.</p>

<p>My question is, what will I have to do before I apply for an Engineering program in order to be seriously considered?</p>

<p>Thank you and any help will be appreciated!</p>

<p>What is your area of specialty in math and what sort of research area are you looking to get into in engineering?</p>

<p>I did analysis, algebra, and a little bit of economic math, and currently I’m taking some statistics courses… But I would say that most of my studies are concentrated in the field of analysis, but I really enjoy the statistics that I’m taking and I plan on taking a few more stat courses in the next couple of semesters.</p>

<p>As far as engineering goes, I’m more leaned towards mechanical engineering but I’m leaving my options open.</p>

<p>I think that you would have a good chance provided you concentrated on the more-mathematically oriented specialties. I am not sure what they are for mechanical, but for electrical engineering it would seem that you are well suited for signal processing and similar fields, and to a lesser extent eligible for electromagnetics, imaging, and acoustics depending on your physics preparation.</p>

<p>So you think I can just apply straight to the Ph.D without taking Physics/Chemistry/Engineer courses? What about the SE exam?</p>

<p>Here’s the thing - for any given engineering PhD opening, they will expect you to have a certain set of courses under your belt. If you have all of them already, great. If you need a couple, they will usually let you complete them DURING the program. If you need a semester or more they probably will not admit you. I think that there are likely a number of opportunities for you in the first two categories, so I do not think you will need additional classes unless you want to go into an area where you are just flat-out unprepared (like circuit design).</p>

<p>As to the SE exam… what is the SE exam? Do you mean the FE exam? If so, it is not required and not even common in engineering PhD programs. Heck, only engineers in certain fields even mess with it professionally.</p>

<p>Thank you so much! See I will take all those Physics and Organic Chem courses if I need to, but I would much rather not pay for them and wait till I’m in a program.</p>

<p>I guess it sounds like I should start with electric engineering if I’m a math person lol</p>

<p>If you are interested in a PhD and academic research career, have you also considered doing a PhD in finance? You’d already have what it takes, and there are plenty of academic posts in business schools these days (compared to engineering), and the salary is fantastically good as well. Anyways, just thought I’d throw that out there.</p>

<p>Why are you even looking to do a Ph.D. in engineering (aside from teaching)? It is sort of foolhardy to even think about without even knowing which branch of engineering to go into, let alone what specific research area within that branch. You really need to figure that out before you can move forward. Every branch of engineering has its share of extremely math-oriented branches. It is just a matter of what you are interested in doing (and teaching in your case). So… what interests you? What do you see yourself being able to research for many years to come? Is there any reason you don’t want a Ph.D. in math or applied mathematics?</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>He already said his goal for a Ph.D. was to teach so I don’t think this is what he is looking for. I may be wrong though.</p>

<p>Why not do your PhD in math, statistics, or economics, for which your math bachelor’s and master’s degrees should be good preparation for?</p>

<p>Going to engineering graduate school would likely require several physics and engineering courses.</p>