<p>I had no idea that this option was even available until recently. Can anybody give me recommendations or a general idea of what that's like. Will be in classes with undergraduate kids? What if I completed the Calculus/Differential Equations/Physics sequence in undergraduate school but decided to do something else? (Probably the most likely scenario)</p>
<p>Can I ask WHY you want to start engineering at the grad school level? </p>
<p>Yeah, I mean I imagine you'd take some undergrad courses to get up to speed, same as a grad student going to a grad school where they're weak in some areas of math and need extra coursework.</p>
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Can I ask WHY you want to start engineering at the grad school level?
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<p>Many physics or applied physics majors do this. My advisor did this, actually.</p>
<p>Since the OP implies he has not yet chosen his course of study, be sure to at least be in a STEM field or it will be an uphill battle in grad school. I wouldn't go more "soft" than say Biology.</p>
<p>It depends on how you do it (certificate program, bridge program, going straight to a grad degree program based on having satisfied prereqs in undergrad) and what engineering field you are in.</p>
<p>I can give you a personal perspective on this one, and/or a couple of recommendations for programs, but until you provide more info I have no idea if what I have to say is relevant.</p>
<p>Yeah, sorry I wasn't more specific. In high school, I was never that strong in mathematics/science but I thought I could pull off the med school track. Unfortunately, I never had exposure to Physics. But taking AP Biology opened up eyes... I really don't want anything to do with the health sciences anymore. And I've realized that I took the hard sciences for granted. But I guess the more rational thing to do would be to jump right into engineering and figure out if it's for me rather than start at it the grad school level. </p>
<p>Honestly though, I'm a humanities kind of guy. Any foray into the sciences is pretty much a uphill fight for me. But well, I've kind of abandoned studying humanities because I would rather not end up like an idealistic starving artist of sorts. Coming from that, I would like people take me a little more seriously. I had med school for that, but now that's fallen out, I started to look into engineering. But the consensus seems to be that I should be pretty serious about this even as a high school senior and my foundation in hard math and science should be strong.</p>
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Honestly though, I'm a humanities kind of guy. Any foray into the sciences is pretty much a uphill fight for me. But well, I've kind of abandoned studying humanities because I would rather not end up like an idealistic starving artist of sorts. Coming from that, I would like people take me a little more seriously. I had med school for that, but now that's fallen out, I started to look into engineering. But the consensus seems to be that I should be pretty serious about this even as a high school senior and my foundation in hard math and science should be strong.
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<p>If you struggle in science than engineering is going to be pretty tough. That's pretty much what engineering is, applied science. If you go into engineering you will have to take it seriously. It is not a major that you can breeze through.</p>
<p>dropping pre-med and getting onto eng-track because you hated science makes zero sense to me.</p>
<p>why don't you try pre-law instead?</p>
<p>be a lawyer or an accountant.</p>
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f you struggle in science than engineering is going to be pretty tough. That's pretty much what engineering is, applied science. If you go into engineering you will have to take it seriously. It is not a major that you can breeze through.
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<p>I didn't struggle in science. I did rather well in Chemistry, lower level Biology and conceptual Physics (non-computational). I can get a B in AP Biology but that takes nightmarish effort and tolerance that I never want to give again. And I guess you could argue engineering requires nightmarish effort but at least it would fulfill me. In my terms, I think learning how to construct buildings and make machines is infinitely more fulfilling than learning about pathway signals and enzymes. </p>
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dropping pre-med and getting onto eng-track because you hated science makes zero sense to me.
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<p>No, I've separated hard science and soft science. Interestingly enough, my dad studied under an Asian school system, doesn't even consider biology as a science as far as his experience goes. My AP Bio teacher says her class is not skill based and is more of rote memorization than anything (although she admits they are trying to get away from that).</p>
<p>I thought AP Bio would be easy going into it, because I've had such success with rote memorization - hence my successes in history. But I neglected to take any skill based classes this year - nothing in the Calculus or Physics track. And you know what? Physics is kind of interesting to me. A lot more than Biology anyways. I feel like I took hard science for granted and that is why I want to try it before I make up my mind again.</p>
<p>Some graduate schools admit students to their programs who don't have undergraduate engineering degrees. However, they usually require that these students satisfy upper-division undergraduate engineering degree requirements. So, one could find oneself in classes with undergrads.</p>
<p>well, i think you can go for it then.</p>
<p>although im still curious if you really liked humanities alot, you could've aimed for pre-law instead of thinking it would only end you up "like an idealistic starving artist of sorts"... last time i checked, graduates from top law schools made decent amount of money.</p>
<p>Or business school, maybe concentrating in marketing. Or you could go into entrepreneurship. Or you could've been a starving artist anyhow; it's really not that bad. I'm married to a musician and while there were times when he'd have had to stock up on the ramen a little if it hadn't been for my stable engineering career, he'd have done just fine, and now has a tenure-track position that enables him to do what he loves to do. When you factor in the part where he gets summer vacations and is only on a nine-month contract, our salaries aren't that much different. Plus: vacations! He has today off, but I have to work.</p>
<p>You're probably not going to be happy doing calcs all day if it's just something you think you'll find interesting.</p>
<p>Law intrigues me but I don't think it intrigues me enough that I'd be willing to work 50 hour work weeks for it. I've consulted a couple lawyers and they tell me the market is rather bad for them now too. It's just too unstable for me. That's my undoing - I'm a humanities person who craves security. </p>
<p>I don't know if I'd be happy being unsuccessful in my humanities career though. I figure if I'm going to be unsuccessful, I might as well make a decent living while I'm at it. Sorry, I'm one of those realistic people turned pessimistic types.</p>
<p>What's your passion? What do you enjoy doing and working with?</p>
<p>Could you stand having a schedule that is all or mostly math, sciences, and engineering classes? If you like your English and History classes, then could you stand not having them in your schoolwork? </p>
<p>Engineering and liberal arts are different. You will never get the same type of exposure to critical reading, intensive writing, and deep discussion as you would in a liberal arts curriculumn if you did Engineering. If you love the humanities, and attend an engineering school, you may miss those classes. Even though I have one humanities class, which is pretty good, by the end of next year, I'll be taking all engineering courses, and that will be it for the rest of college. Is that the choice you want to make? Usually, when I ask other Engineering students about humanities, they say they hated that stuff in high school. They hated writing and never liked class discussions, so don't think you'll find that type of passsion in your peers if you go to an Engineering school, either. You would be in the minority. </p>
<p>I feel grad school would be the same way. If a masters engineering degree is not really what inspires you, then why do it? Job security and prestige matter, but enjoying and being good at what you do matter, too. You won't start working on those cool projects until a few years out, anyways. In the meantime, would you still enjoy your job? </p>
<p>What you need to do is be honest with yourself. Don't waste years out of your life sticking to something that isn't what you want. Match your goals to your opportunities and talents, and see what you can make of them. You might be surprised.</p>