<p>Hey I was thinking about a major in OR at Cornell/CMU/NU. I love math and economics, but I'm not a huge fan of physics (electricity/magnetism, I'm good with mechanics), would OR be alright for me?
Is it very physics heavy?
Is it very hands-on, or very computer sciencey? As in more work on the computer or on projects
Are there plenty of [good] job offerings after a bachelor? Masters? MBA + Masters (Cornell 6 year MBA + MEng program for instance)?
Also I'm interested in working in business on like Wall St. or soemthing of that nature (quantitative analyses if possible) and I don't want to study management/business strategy in undergrad.</p>
<p>Also to add the schools I put are just examples of some schools I am going to apply to, I have no idea if I will get in (obviously) but this helps me clarify my application.</p>
<p>If you are looking at Wall St then Cornell has a program in Finantial Engineering as part of their OR program. You will have to take the basic engineering classes like physics and chemistry, but the actual OR classes have little science. OR has lots or math and computer skills and is all about application of these to real world problems.</p>
<p>Another option for Wall Street may be the M.S. Engineering at Princeton which consists of almost all O.R. courses. I would think Princeton would be a “target school” for Wall Street and you probably would not need an additional MBA with “Princeton” on your resume.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot guys, that sounds like something right up my alley, I’m not a huge fan of the sciences (although mechanics and chem do interest me) but I love math and computers, as well as the mathematical side to business and finance. </p>
<p>Princeton would look great on my resume (as would Cornell) but getting into the ORFE/ORIE programs is a different animal lol.</p>
<p>If any of you (or anyone else) has graduated from Operations research at any school, what is it like? What are the hardest/easiest parts? Are the core classes like physics or chem the hardest, or the requirements for the major like optimization, supply chain management etc.?</p>
<p>Financial engineering also greatly intrigues me, so if I ever get to a masters, I will most definitely look into that as well!</p>
<p>I am a Cornell OR grad from a while ago. I personnally found most of the OR classes easy, but I did learn alot. For me the easiest was the statistics and probability classes. The class I worked hardest at were simulation because of the amount of programming and writting required. OR did allow for a good number of electives so you can a good bit of flexibility in your program. I took some transportation and water resources management classes and higher level optimization and probability classes and avoided the classical industrial engineering courses. Just ermember we are all different so what I found easy and fun may not be the same for you too.</p>
<p>Thanks Boonsboro, did you continue on to a masters or PhD or something like that after graduating?</p>
<p>OR sounds like a great program, did you need to take a lot of sciences? Also what do you mean by a lot of writing?</p>
<p>I did stay at Cornell for a 5th years Masters degree. Many of my peers got jobs wth a BS. A good number of us stayed for the Master of Engineering degree and some for the 6th year to pick up an MBA. </p>
<p>The simulation class had several class projects. For each you had to complete the programs and anaylsis and then write a paper on your methodology and analysis of results.</p>
<p>Bump, I just read another post that this major has less job opportunities than other majors. Is this true?
Boonsbro also did you stay for an MBA?</p>
<p>I did not stay for the MBA. I started a part time MBA several years later at another university, but dropped it since I didn’t fell as was getting enough value for the time and money invested.</p>
<p>My understanding is there is a good job market for Ops Research grads. See [Operations</a> Research Analysts](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos044.htm]Operations”>http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos044.htm) – the government expects excellent opportunities.</p>
<p>That site is great thank you so much!</p>