<p>D is a freshman engineering student who did well in high school. She has just completed her first semester at college and has done well. She intends to major in Chemical Engineering. As a result of her AP classes and testing out of language courses she currently has 62 college credit hours and has completed all of her general education requirements and most of her first year engineering requirements. Since she cannot declare a major until after her freshman year she will be taking Chem 2 over again in the spring since they require a lab course taken at the university for her to get into their major. She just finished Multi variable calculus and will be taking Linear Algebra her 2nd semester. </p>
<p>Assuming all continues to go well she will need to augment her engineering classes with some additional courses in the coming three years. I am assuming most classes will be sequential so it may not be too possible to shorten her degree period especially since she intends to coop. Would it be best for her to pick up a minor, such as chemistry, CS or math or perhaps would it be better for her to pick up some business courses with the idea of pursuing an MBA, or just take random courses to make her life easier? I realize this is early, however, she is officially a junior according to her transcripts.</p>
<p>I don’t know about chemical engineering, but in my area (structural engineering), I would advise students to take more elective classes in engineering. For example, wood design was not required to graduate, but it’s a great elective because so much is designed in wood, and the wood design code can be confusing. I would advise she take electives in her area and not get a minor. If there are no electives in her area that would help, I would tell her to study something she’s interested in. For me, that was history!</p>
<p>Getting a “minor” is unnecessary. Whenever I looked over a college applicant, I would also review their college transcripts to see what classes were taken. What it said at the top with regards to the major and minor degrees was just a title. It was what knowledge gained in the classes that is important and what I was interested in.</p>
<p>If one’s college makes having a minor an avenue to a scheduling priority in that field, then it may be worth it.</p>
<p>Taking additional classes in engineering is the best thing to do. Adding breadth to any program makes one much more desirable from a hiring managers point of view. </p>
<p>The knowledge that one gains in an MBA program (or even an undergraduate business degree) is not the same business knowledge that an engineer needs unless one wants to get out of engineering and move over to the dark side. An engineering manager needs first and foremost a good background in the engineering field his group does. International finance, banking, etc. are not needed. He/she also needs good people skills, budgeting and scheduling skills. Some classes in the dark side that address these areas would help but are definitely a second priority to just getting that engineering knowledge. The National Management Association (NMA) has a program for working engineers that leads to a certificate in management is useful to engineers wanting to move into engineering management. (My company required that certificate before they would consider one for engineering management. An MBA did not substitute for that certificate because of the differences in content.)</p>
<p>You also need some fun classes (I enjoyed photography) to balance the workload that comes with an engineering program. It also helps keep you grounded.</p>
<p>By the way: IMHO Chem E is a hard major, harder than other branches of engineering. I’ve known about equal number to have problems with it and those that have done well in it. There is a lot more to it than what is going on in just a chemistry class (be it high school or college).</p>
<p>Most engineers I know are “visual-spatial” learners. A structural engineer (as I was) can easily envision what he is working on. You can reach out and touch it. Not so with Chem E. Yes, you can touch the elements of it but you can’t really see with your own eyes what is going on at the molecular level.</p>
<p>If this is what your DD wants, then go for it. Just be aware and if she starts to have problems with it, you have to make the call whether to continue or to just stop digging. </p>
<p>Hopefully she will be one of the successful ones at it.</p>
<p>The school allows AP chemistry credit to cover both general chemistry 1 and 2?</p>
<p>If so, she should try to find the general chemistry 1 and 2 final exams and try them to see how well she knows the material from the college’s point of view. This can allow her to determine more accurately if she should take general chemistry 1 or 2 or a more advanced course like organic chemistry that may be required for her major.</p>
<p>Also, wouldn’t a lab course like organic chemistry or physics (which are typically required for chemical engineering majors) fulfill the lab requirement, if she finds that she knows the general chemistry 1 and 2 stuff well enough to skip them?</p>
<p>As far as electives or minors go, a minor is not generally necessary. She should consider elective courses that she has interest in, which may include more chemical engineering courses or related engineering courses (materials engineering is commonly seen as a related subject). In terms of usefulness in general life, statistics (if not required for her major) and the social studies subjects like economics, sociology, and psychology can be helpful in understanding how people behave amongst each other (as they do in workplaces and society in general); she will have humanities and social studies breadth requirements anyway. Business courses are typically applied versions of these subjects.</p>
<p>Thank you all. This is exactly the type of advice I was seeking. UCBAlumnus, she goes to Purdue. She took AP Chem 2 as a high school sophomore and did score a 5 on her AP exam. The ChemE dept at Purdue requires she complete at least 1 science lab at Purdue her freshman year. Since she hasn’t had a chemistry class for nearly 3 years she decided to retake Chem 2. It was not available to her 1st semester as all the classes were full. They did give her credit for the course but I think her Purdue class will replace that one.</p>
<p>She might also consider picking up some research credits. Some professors will be hesitant to have freshman and even sophomore working in their lab, but there are always a few who will. If it’s something she’s interested in, the earlier you start research the better (get to know more people, form better/longer working relationships etc). I was in a similar situation this year where I had some schedule space (also a chemE although I skipped physics instead of chem) and I found it to be a nice break from coursework while still filling out my schedule.</p>
<p>Also, it isn’t the worst thing to take only 12-15 credits some semester. I understand the desire to get the most out of each semester, but for some of them there is no shame in acknowledging the difficult. In the second year of chemE, students have to take orgo (which requires a lot of time and practice/memorization) and an intro to chemE type of class (which will likely involve more work than one is used to in an effort to weed out students they don’t think will/should graduate). It doesn’t get any easier in junior/senior year as you take on p-chem, fluids, thermo, kinetics, transport operations, unit ops, etc. The point is at a certain point it’s a psychological battle, and having one less class per semester can make a big difference in terms of what you get out of college. There’s the obvious GPA boost, but you’ll also have the chance to make more meaningful connections to faculty and peers because you’ll have those couple extra hours of sleep each night.</p>
<p>Taking electives is a good option if your school offers them. I can’t say much to that as unfortunately my school doesn’t have many. I also agree that you shouldn’t push for a minor unless it’s something you’re legitimately interested in. Chances are you won’t use the knowledge after you complete the courses, so it’s mostly just to explore topics in your free time.</p>
<p>Thanks again ucbalumnus. She took AP Physics C in college and got a 5 on both the Mechanical and E@M portion of the test. That is part of her 62 hours. She will be very pleased to have the Chemistry information. Thank you again. It seems I’m getting a consensus on not pursuing a minor and rather augmenting the schedule with either engineering electives or just courses she might be interested in. </p>
<p>It looks like the main advantage might be to have fewer 18 hour semesters than most. In my book that would be a huge advantage if she can keep it.</p>