MS Engineering Management vs MS Systems Engineering

Graduate School
1

I am about to graduate with my BS in Mechanical Engineering this spring semester. I am once again confused about what I should think about doing for further education, to be better set for the future. I am interested in the field of robotics, mechanical control systems which is something that I could achieve more educational experience with under the MS Systems Engineering, while getting SOME engineering management courses - but I am not sure how applicable the other classes are. On the other hand, Engineering Management was identified to me as a highly sought after degree, but I am not 100% convinced about having a completely non-technical degree to help me by my current employer. My end goal has been to work in the aerospace field for a long time.

I was wondering if anyone had anything to say about which could possibly be a better fit for me.

P.S.: All the people who reply here are rockstars :slight_smile: . I was at the same place 4 years ago and y’all really helped me out.

2

Avoid the engineering management degree! For most people, an engineering management degree serves little purpose. This is especially true at this stage of your career. A management degree signals to employers that you’re looking to get away from technical work and go into management–however, a fresh graduate with no technical experience and no management experience is simply not going to be given a management role. Most people who go into engineering management roles do so after spending a significant amount of time in an engineering capacity.

Your instinct about having a non-technical degree is spot-on. You sound like you want to do technical work, and a management degree will not only not help you, it will actively hurt you. Definitely opt for the technical degree. If you decide you want to go into management later on, after getting more technical experience, that option will be open to you, and you won’t need an engineering management degree to do so.