<p>Since I have a bunch of AP credits, double majoring won't delay my graduation. I will probably go to graduate school in Mechanical Engineering. How is a double major in physics? Will it help me get admitted to graduate programs?</p>
<p>Why waste time getting a second degree that you are not going to grad school for? Why aren’t you just trying to do a 5 year BS/MS? This would be even faster for you if you already had AP. Or just grad early and go for the MS. MechE courses will prepare you plenty for MechE grad school…</p>
<p>As a retired manager for a large engineering company, I would always downgrade a resume when I saw a double major like ME and physics. I would wonder where their passion is. If it was physics and they were applying in case they couldn’t find a job in that field, then I wouldn’t want to hire them. Of course no one ever admitted that and how was I to know what the real story was behind the double major.</p>
<p>Your graduation requirements for ME are the minimum that you need to get the degree. No reason why, if you really like ME, you couldn’t get more knowledge in the field.</p>
<p>I know that you are going for a grad degree and not out into the real world. I would think that any grad school admissions person would be thinking the same as I was with the same questions I had.</p>
<p>I agree with the others. As an employer, I would MUCH prefer seeing that a student took additional courses in his area of engineering rather than in an entirely different area of study. And a lot of engineers I know kind of look down their noses at physicists! I think a double major could backfire on you.</p>
<p>Grad schools generally won’t care about a double major. The exception would perhaps be if you were looking to get into a research field that was very heavy in both fields, then they may care, though even then simply taking some of the extra courses yourself would likely be just as good.</p>
<p>I agree with the other postings except that probably the only double or dual major that would not make employers wonder would be Math/Computer Science…and that is mainly because one can basically complete both majors within 4 years without any additional credits because many courses cover both majors.</p>
<p>To continue the theme: </p>
<p>My son, as it seems is typical, took 5 years to graduate from CalPolySLO in ME. He was short two prerequisites to start his senior project which could only be started in the fall term, hence the fifth year. He filled his schedule with upper division ME classes (rather than have an easy schedule). It was those extra classes that made him attractive to potential employers when he (finally) decided to join the real world.</p>
<p>Thank you all!
Some more background information: I am a sophomore and I have taken a lot of physics. I have a 4.0 GPA in physics and will only need four additional courses to fulfill the minimum requirement for a degree. I plan to spend all the rest of my time on Mechanical Engineering. Is this a good idea? I really like mechanical engineering more than physics.</p>
<p>sarandia - I’m a MechE. I’d advise taking more MechE electives. That will give an opportunity to get a better feel for what areas most interests you. </p>
<p>Another option would be adding a non-STEM minor. I did a Technical Communications concentration, highly encouraged at my engineering college. More recently I’ve heard of a few engineers doing econ minors.</p>
<p>@sarandia - as a physics professor, I would recommend that you just go for the ME degree and either an MS in the extra time or simply take more ME electives. From what you say, you already have enough physics completed to give you any broadening aspect to your curriculum. Since you state repeatedly that ME is your future, then just go for that.</p>