<p>Can a person that receives a degree in mechanical engineering at a top engineering school go on to receive a master's degree in computer engineering from a top engineering school?</p>
<p>yes, as a matter of fact, you can have a BS in physics, math, and go to engineering in grad school. I know a physics major who went to grad school in psychology too. It's not a big deal (even tho he might have lifted up the average for the admitted math GRE scores).</p>
<p>You will have to take extra classes in grad school. From Georgia Tech's website:</p>
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Most students who are accepted into ECE's graduate program have a degree in electrical and/or computer engineering. Applicants with degrees in other engineering disciplines, computer science, or physics are eligible to apply. Qualified applicants with degrees in disciplines other than electrical and/or computer engineering should expect to take undergraduate ECE courses as prerequisites before enrolling in ECE graduate courses. Persons with engineering technology (EET) degrees or degrees or persons with non-engineering degrees not mentioned above must first earn a B.S.E.E. or B.S.Cmp.E. before applying to our graduate program.
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Can a person that receives a degree in mechanical engineering at a top engineering school go on to receive a master's degree in computer engineering from a top engineering school?
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<p>I know one person got his bachelor's in ME at MIT, and then went back to MIT to get his master's in EECS. I know another guy who did the exact opposite: got his bachelor's in EECS from Berkeley, and then got his master's (and then his PhD) in ME from Berkeley. I think we can agree that MIT and Berkeley are both 'top' engineering schools. </p>
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yes, as a matter of fact, you can have a BS in physics, math, and go to engineering in grad school. I know a physics major who went to grad school in psychology too. It's not a big deal (even tho he might have lifted up the average for the admitted math GRE scores).
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<p>Vernon Smith got his BS in EE from Caltech, and then got a PhD in economics from Harvard. He then later won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002, for his work on behavioral economics. It's not clear to me what EE has to do with behavioral economics, but it just shows you that people can and do switch academic fields. </p>
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You will have to take extra classes in grad school. From Georgia Tech's website:
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<p>I think we should not generalize too much. Some schools require extra coursework, but others don't. The guy I know who switched from ME to EECS at MIT didn't have to take any extra classes. The Master's of Science program at MIT is clear - you have to pass 66 units of coursework,with 42 units of them being "H-level" graduate courses. You also have to write an acceptable thesis. However, there is no requirement that you take additional courses if you don't have a BS in EECS. In theory, you could have a bachelor's degree in underwater basketweaving, and if you can somehow manage to get admitted into the MIT EECS graduate program, all you have to do is fulfill the same coursework and thesis requirements that the other master's degree students fulfill, and you'll get the master's degree. The trick, of course, is to get admitted in the first place, but once you're in, there are no extra requirements just because you don't have a particular type of bachelor's degree.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.eecs.mit.edu/grad/degrees.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.eecs.mit.edu/grad/degrees.html</a></p>
<p>If anything, it means that MIT is an excellent deal for switchers. Frankly, ceteris parabus, why go to Georgia Tech and have to take extra coursework, if you can go to MIT and not have to take extra coursework?</p>
<p>Even if some schools do not have such a requirement, it is still in my opinion for the student's own good to take the extra courses. The ME and CmpE curriculum diverge sharply after the first two years or so. Thus it is recommended for a student to take junior and senior level CmpE courses before tackling graduate level courses, as they are often built on lower level ones.</p>