<p>I am a recent graduate of the College of William & Mary with a B.S. in Neuroscience (a blend of biology and psychology). My initial goal was to go on to medical school, but I have decided I'm much more interested in invention and discovery of new technology, which has always been my passion. </p>
<p>I want to find an engineering program that will provide me with the tools necessary to design and manufacture new forms of alternative energy collection, both in terms of radically new technologies and the ways in which current technologies are packaged and manufactured. </p>
<p>So my question is: what type of engineering program should I be looking for? Most Environmental programs seem focused on the Civil side of things, and Electrical seems a little too narrow. An older friend suggested Systems, but that seems too broad. </p>
<p>What do you think? I will be applying for the 2010-2011 school year or later, so no hurry, I'm just exploring preliminary options.</p>
<p>I’d recommend Materials Science & Engineering for you if you’re interested in making new materials for the systems to do these sorts of jobs. You might have a harder time getting into engineering programs since you don’t have too large of a background in engineering or physics. Perhaps look into polymer programs where you could work on polymer-based technologies (they’re being used in photovoltaics, electrolytes, and tons of other things in modern energy needs).</p>
<p>I know I will have some makeup work to do, and I intend on taking the requisite classes upon deciding on a program. Like I said, I’m in no hurry. However, I think I’m looking less at the research side of things (such as polymer science) and more towards the practical side of things. I’d eventually like to go into business for myself building and marketing new and innovative products.</p>
<p>I agree with Racin - matsci sounds like a good match for you, especially since you have presumably already studied some chemistry.</p>
<p>In the field of power generation, the major fields are Mechanical (for systems from oil and gas to hydroelectric), Nuclear (for producing Terawatts with no side effects whatsoever!!!), Materials (for transforming motion or radiant energy), and Electrical (for any at all).</p>
<p>You just need to pick what you want to study and go for it. While you said Electrical was “too narrow”, it is the only one that will let you switch from one source to another, and may be the most versatile bet.</p>
<p>You will need to do a lot of make-up work. Coming from Neuroscience, they may even expect you to do a 2nd BS instead of diving right into the MS. I am not sure, it just seems like there is a lot of ground to make up.</p>
<p>seems like you have quite detail vision of what you what to do, in that case don’t need to take abroad ones like System or Industrial</p>
<p>I agree with MSE, or my field–Chemical Engineering (today’s MSE and ChE are highly integrated), a great deal of our faculty members are working on energy related areas, and if you are talking about “energy collection/storage”, most likely it will be in the chemical form.
but if you are talking about energy production/generation, then it’s different story, the recently reheated field Nuclear Engineering is top choice, it is the future (after we used all the coal and realizing renewable energy is not enough to produce the energy we need)</p>
<p>EE is about how to **use **energy, not how to produce/improve them.</p>
<p>Yes, I know the makeup work is going to be the biggest obstacle for me. I came out with a good GPA (3.5, 3.5 in my major as well), but I only took through Calculus II, and that was in high school. Math is easy for me, so I could double or triple up on that in a semester. I have a year of physics, but without calculus (for Pre-Med), so that’d be another double-up. I took 4 semesters of Chemistry, 2 of organic and 2 of general, so perhaps a semester of brush-up would do it. I have a good mind for concepts and theory, so I’m truly not worried about grasping things, it’s just finding the time while still making ends meet that worries me.</p>
<p>I’m currently emailing professors at Stanford and MIT to get suggestions. No, I don’t necessarily think I’ll even apply there, but they’re the best and I assume they know the most…Although Stanford does have a to-die-for environmental/civil program that absolutely fits the bill… </p>
<p>Strangely enough, Berkeley Engineering says you DONT need to complete another B.S. and will accept any B.S. as long as they have the coursework, and sometimes even if they don’t (provided you prove you know your stuff).</p>
<p>So does it make sense to start taking courses at a community college or local university while I make up my mind? I can always put those credits towards another major if it turns out I need to complete another degree.</p>
<p>I disagree with the comment that EE’s only “use” energy. Most of the power production research programs I have seen have EE’s all through them. For example, in solar energy you have MatSci and ChemE trying to turn photons into electrons, but once they have surface currents on the panel it is up to the EE’s to get them out.</p>
<p>Plus, a large chunk of the improvements possible over the next century are in efficiency improvements - something EE’s are good at.</p>
<p>I would avoid Public Policy unless it is your intent to go into the government / regulatory side. I have never heard of some with a Public Policy degree doing any significant design work post-degree.</p>
<p>If you are interested in your own business, you may want to investigate one of the MS/MBA programs. That will give you a technical start plus provide you the business skills.</p>
<p>tx2000: that was actually the program I was looking at. I emailed the head of the department and he said basically the same thing, that my application would be considered as thoroughly as anyone’s with an engineering background. That said, I still want to take some math and physics to brush up so I’ll be at my best if/when I get in. In your experience, would a GPA of 3.5 cut it for that program? I have research experience in field biology, microbiology with clinical applications as well as psychology research with rodents. Barring terrible GRE scores and recommendations, what do you think? </p>
<p>The frustrating thing is that this program is one-of-a-kind, meaning I want to make the best of this opportunity and not blow it.</p>
<p>CosmicFish: I agree that an MBA would be useful given my interests, although I have some moral aversions to the degree which I would have to get over (and perhaps need to get over if I want to achieve my goals). I think it would have to be a separate degree though given the nature of the Stanford program.</p>
<p>A 3.5 GPA would be fine if you’re applying for an MS. It would probably be a little iffy for the PhD program. When I was at the recruiting weekend, I was told that the acceptance rate to the PhD program from outside the school is about 10%. But I was also told nearly everyone that applied for a PhD after getting their MS in the program was accepted. Be aware that this program only has enough money to give fellowships to about two MS students per year, so be ready to pay $37k/yr for tuition plus living expenses unless you get an outside fellowship. The PhDs are fully funded though.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, Stanford also has spots on the application for the GPA of your last two years and major GPA, so that can possibly help you out. Just make sure you can clearly and passionately explain why you want to pursue alternative energy in your SOP, and I think you have a good shot.</p>