<p>I am a 21 year old with an associates degree in radiation therapy that led to no job opportunities (apparently it is a flooded field, only 2 of 20 graduates in my year found a job). SO...I decided to go back to school. During the radiation therapy curriculum we did a lot of studying interactions at the atomic level which caused radiation and I found myself intrigued by all the physics classes.
Starting May 31st I will begin taking the "generals" (math, physics, chemistry) classes at Normandale Community College before (hopefully) transferring to the U of Minnesota. But I can't decide if I want to do materials science and engineering or chemical engineering. I have looked through the text book that has been posted on here as the beginner text for Materials, as well as some textbooks that amazon shows me when I search for chemical engineering. I have looked at the U's website as well, they do offer a "complementary second major" of materials science to chemE majors, which takes an extra year of study. But would a double major in these two even matter?
I'm really more interested in the Materials Science courses because it looks like it is a lot of studying things at the atomic level which I loved in my previous degree. But would it be better to do chemE bachelor's then a master's in Materials Sci? Or will I be too old by the time I finish all that since I am starting so late?
Are there many job opportunities for just a bachelor's in Materials? Would the jobs be similiar to ChemE major?
Thanks in advance for taking the time to read and potentially reply to my post!</p>
<p>The [UC</a> Berkeley career center survey](<a href=“https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm]UC”>https://career.berkeley.edu/Major/Major.stm) may give some idea of how chemical engineering, materials science and engineering, and other majors did shortly after graduation over the years.</p>
<p>[Here’s</a> the post-graduation info for Carnegie Mellon.](<a href=“http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/career/students_alumni/post-grad-survey/cit.html]Here’s”>http://www.studentaffairs.cmu.edu/career/students_alumni/post-grad-survey/cit.html)</p>
<p>Both fields have plenty of opportunities and have a bit of overlap. I think the main thing you need to ask yourself is if you’re more interested in solids or liquids & gasses. I found the ChemE curriculum to be completely boring and uninteresting, while I love thinking about solidification, solid-state diffusion, grain structures, and all those sorts of things. There’s no way I would have made it through a ChemE undergrad only to pursue the actual field I wanted in grad school.</p>
<p>Also, MS degrees are fairly uncommon in MSE as they’re mostly only given out as consolation prizes to people that don’t finish their PhD.</p>