<p>He's a very smart junior but he tries not to act like a genius (preppy, outgoing, etc). He said he is going to triple major in electrical engineering, computer science engineering, and mechanical engineering because he wants to build cars. Is this actually possible? I was just very curious about this because I thought one engineering major was already extremly difficult; is he just naiive, and not really understanding of how many courses he'd have to take? I'm just curious, not bashing him or anything; I just highly doubt anybody can pull this off. Thoughts?</p>
<p>sorry but impossible!!</p>
<p>No unless he can figure out how to have more than 24 hrs in one day.</p>
<p>Well technically, I think it would probably be possible if he's not planning on graduating in 4 years. It really seems unnecessary to major in all three though...</p>
<p>yes its possible in 6 years</p>
<p>every school has one of these...most of these guys I have met were usually in my programming classes. They would ask these incredibly ridiculuous theoretical questions which had nothing to do with the subject at hand....they only meant to show everyone how "smart" they were</p>
<p>Well this kid's not exactly valedictorian; he has a 96 in Precalculus, 98 in Chemistry, 100 in AP Java, 98 in C++, etc.. he doesn't try to act smart, but he is an amazing programmer; he told me he knows a whole bunch of languages like cobalt/c++/java/visual basic, and I'm sure he knows those very proficiently. He talked about how he never took easy classes, and he really does seem like a smart guy. Not valedictorian, but he doesn't try for that high of an achievement. I think he did mention graduating in 6 years though.. which seems pointless, but I guess it's his passion..</p>
<p>Possible? Sure. Practical? Not really.</p>
<p>EE and CPE have significant overlap in terms of some upper level classes, and of course all three share the same base classes. The reasons I doubt this is practical is these three don't exactly compliment each other - you're not going to do both EE and ME, so might as well focus on one or perhaps add another major that would be relevant to the particular displine (e.g. perhaps physics).</p>
<p>I love people that know a ton of languages but do bad in CS classes because they don't teach exactly what they know (so many programs have tiny variations). It is possible in more than 4 years but stupid. It's better to go to one and take upper-level technical electives in a related area in the other. ECE is a major but double major I don't think is possible (at U of I) because they are so closely related (like chemE & biomolecularE at my school, same program so it can't be a double major). And meche has a ton of little classes to take. He is very naive but most freshmen are. You can always tell the freshmen.</p>
<p>I don't think he is going to finish college in 4 years while meeting the major requirements for these three disciplines.</p>
<p>I think he can accomplish a double major if he is willing to sacrifice some summers and take 21 credits per semester during the school year. It's going to be extremely difficult to double major engineering.</p>
<p>However, if he has plans to do a Master's program in a different engineering discipline, I think he is could take the basic courses for each discipline.</p>
<p>Actually, double majoring in both EE and ME is somewhat feasible. There's a field (for lack of a better word) called mechatronics where electronics are integrated into mechanical systems.</p>
<p>Maybe mechatronics exists, but there's no university that offers a degree in it, that I'm aware of. Just because there's a field that covers it doesn't mean that it's feasible to double-major in it... For example, the field of electronic music composition is essentially the hybridization of music composition and electrical engineering, but I really wouldn't recommend double-majoring in music comp and EE.</p>
<p>The dude talks a big game, but I don't think it'll pan out how he thinks it will. Once he gets to college and starts taking classes, he'll figure out that he doesn't need to triple-major in all those fields in order to be a highly qualified car designer, he'll get over it.</p>
<p>i think EE and material science majors compliment each other in terms of double majors, berkeley offers it, i just don't know what jobs are available for it out there @_@</p>
<p>Mechatronics is offered at Cornell.</p>
<p>Well, he could major in EECS (getting the EE and the comp sci out in one shot), then go to grad school in mechE.</p>
<p>Mechatronics is also offered at the University of Waterloo (the best engineering University in Canada).</p>
<p>Maybe electronic music composition is not a widespread application and maybe there will be difficulty finding work in that area, but I don't see why someone shouldn't double major in music composition and electrical engineering if these two are his interests.</p>
<p>BTW, I meant that I used the term "field" in lieu of a better word. "Mechatronics" is a term that's already been coined.</p>
<p>One of the faculty members at my daughter's college has a music/EE background: Ph.D in EE/CE from MIT, and a MFA in music from Mills College.</p>
<p>A little more on mechatronics: I've been told by mechatronics students at Waterloo that it's mostly based on ME, with some ECE incorporated into it. The amount of ECE is still significant enough to make it distinct from ME, although I do not know the exact numbers.</p>
<p>Right, there are exceptions, but my point still stands... it's a little bit nuts to go out and get two bachelors degrees in areas that don't overlap in order to be qualified for a certain field when just one bachelors degree will be more than adequate. It's overkill. You just don't need two bachelors degrees. Going for a different masters or PhD is a bit different than going for more than one bachelors degree.</p>
<p>As to mechatronics, hey: if Waterloo offers it and that's what floats your boat, then it's a really good idea to pursue that. It's a single degree, not double-the-work.</p>
<p>Bottom line is, evaluate why you're wanting to get numerous bachelors degrees. I can only think of three reasons why a person would triple-major in engineering: 1) they're truly masochistic and a little bit insane, 2) they want to be highly qualified for a specific field that incorporates facets of all three engineering disciplines, or 3) they think they're the bee's knees and want to prove their academic bad-assedness to the world.</p>
<p>As to reason number one, well... if that's your thing, then there's not much that anyone can do to convince you that it's not a good idea to triple major. Just don't buy any hatchets and stay on your meds.</p>
<p>As for the second reason, it's simply not worth it. There are much faster, cheaper, and more effective methods out there for attracting the attention of potential employers. Certainly, a less painful method for attracting attention would be to set oneself on fire. You're never going to know <em>everything</em> going into your first job. In fact, you're probably going to know next to <em>nothing</em> going into your first job, no matter <em>how</em> many degrees you've got, so there's no point in busting your hump to try to learn everything before you graduate.</p>
<p>As for the third reason, well, it's just not a good reason. Again, with the tremendous amount of time and effort wasted. Spend that extra energy curing cancer or something, so you can get your badly craved academic kudos in meaningful accolades. That many diplomas just take up wallspace, and it cost me over 250 bucks to get my diploma matted and framed... Times three would be 750 bucks. Best to just get one bachelors degree and then go on to get your Nobel or your Pulitzer, then you've got fewer things to frame.</p>
<p>Anyhow, the benefit-to-pain/money/time ratio is just too low to warrant going through a ton of engineering undergrad programs.</p>