Son is ME major and AE minor.
His course requirements for Math end this semester at Diff Eq 1 (AP’ed out of Calc 1 and 2, took Calc 3 and Diff Eq).
The ME/AE major courses at his school are already pretty tight to squeeze in during 4 years (or maybe 5 years if he does a co-op).
But … two more Math classes will also get a minor in Math, which is enticing to him.
Question – is it better to take more Math (maybe provide more tools to work with when he starts being an engineer??), or is it better to take a few ME/AE electives that he may be interested in?
Any input is greatly appreciated from the sage MEs and AEs on this board.
Many thanks.
It may depends somewhat on his career plans, but in general, it’s never a bad idea to get more math classes, especially in a situation like this where the curriculum doesn’t seem to require a linear algebra or statistics course. I’d say it would absolutely be useful to add one of each of those (make sure they are higher-level classes, i.e. a calculus-based statistics class and a linear algebra class that isn’t just geared toward business majors). If possible, I’d use a free elective or two on those courses so as to preserve as many electives within the ME/AE curriculum as possible, but depending on the school, that may or may not be feasible. That would not be a waste of time either way.
On a side note, all of those classes plus the ones I just mentioned were required for me as an ME undergraduate and I didn’t get a math minor without a few more courses, so now I am kind of jealous (not that the official minor would have helped me in any way at all).
Thanks @boneh3ad. Very helpful.