Undergrad in Math/Physics to Engineering?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

Hello everybody! I have a bit of dilemma on my hands and I’d really like some input. I was recently accepted to 2 liberal arts colleges, one in the US (Bates) and the other in Singapore (Yale-NUS). Now, neither have specific engineering programs and while I’m not 100% sure I want to be an engineer, that is probably the plan. From my Google searches, I’m getting mixed answers; while some people say that it is possible to go into an engineering career with a degree in physics/maths, others argue that such a combination isn’t recommended and that it would be better to get a proper engineering degree.

Now, Yale-NUS has something called a Physical Sciences w/ Engineering Focus major which has the following pathway apart from the general requirements:

“Engineering Focus: Applied Calculus, two introductory physical science courses, Classical Mechanics, Mathematical Methods for Physical Scientists, Quantum Mechanics, Statistical Thermodynamics, Experimental Methods in Physics, and Materials Engineering”.

On the other hand, at Bates, I was thinking of double majoring in Maths and Physics (they don’t have comp sci, unfortunately). Would this combination be better suited for an engineering career? Would I NEED to go to grad school or could I secure a job straight after undergrad with any of these major choices? Also, what is this ABET accreditation thing I’m hearing about? Would this matter when I search for jobs after my undergrad? Thank you for all your help!

2

ABET accredited programs in engineering are pretty much guaranteed to offer a good quality education. For physics degree, there is no such accreditation process and it is not really necessary. The physics curriculum as an undergraduate is pretty standard everywhere though.

With a physics degree it is possible to access engineering jobs but you need to develop some skills that are valuable to these employers and properly sell yourself as capable of doing the job. A good way of doing this is to take CS courses as electives if there is not a lot of scientific programming in your physics curriculum. Similarly, if you can get experience with 3D CAD software either in a course or internship, you will be able to use this as a skill on your resume.

If you want to get into a graduate program in engineering, a physics degree is an acceptable place to start but you will need to take some remedial courses. Similarly for CS.

3

Another option is a 3-2 program where you do 3 years at Bates and then go to a school for 2 years with Engineering like Case Western, Columbia, Dartmouth, RPI, and Washington University which are affiliated with Bates. You end up with 2 BS degrees…

https://www.bates.edu/physics-astronomy/academics/engineering/

“Since a firm decision to concentrate in engineering is not required until the junior year, the plans are especially beneficial to students who are interested in, but not yet completely sure about, a career in engineering.”