Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

Well I've alreayd enrolled in Amherst college and no doubt about it, I love it there and picked it over other schools that made engineering a possible option. I would like to know after I recieve a BS in Chem/Physics/Math (not all but one or two at most..if even) what schools would take me as an undergrad to get an engineering degree. I don't know if its possible for me to go after that and get into a phD. or masters program in an engineering with only a BS in a science. What options are available? So far I'am going to look into:
Brown
Cornell
Colombia
Stanford
Cal Berk

Does anybody know the steps I have to go through to make it possible for a transition?

I learned my lesson in highschool and being prepared and knowing what you have to do is overall the best tool in goal setting and making it in the top schools. So I just want to prepared. Thank you all for the input.

By Subtrunks (Subtrunks) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 06:45 am: Edit

oops Columbia ...my bad

By Lordmandean (Lordmandean) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 11:15 am: Edit

I am also keen on studying for a second degree cos my first degree in a so called 'world-class university' in UK was a hoax. Throughout the course of my research only a selected respectable universities offer second bachelors. They are:

Rice
University of Southern California
University of Michigan
UC Irvine
Whitman
Bates
Middlebury
University of Pittsburgh
Indiana University
Purdue
and a few others

Out of all these Unis Rice and USC seem to have the most respectable engineering program

By Subtrunks (Subtrunks) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 01:04 pm: Edit

Well thank you. Gettign a second major like that is unconventional here so thats the difficulty of the matter. Rice is a greta university and I will look into it. Good Luck

By Mikemac (Mikemac) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 02:03 pm: Edit

an uncle of mine did this a few years back so I can pass along a little info. Forget about stanford, they admit few students for 2nd degrees and all of them had their 1st degree from stanford. All UC schools have a program where you can get a 2nd degree but it has to be in an area substantially different from your 1st degree; you should call or write to make sure they will let you do it with your proposed 1st degree. Also engineering is an in-demand major at UC schools so since admitting 2nd degree students is as the school's option they may not be letting anyone do it in engineering anymore -- call and check.

In CA there is a back-door that my uncle used. At the Cal-state schools (northridge, cal-poly, etc) the requirements for being admitted as a *masters* student are essentially having a warm breathing body. So even though they won't let you in as an undergrad pursuing a 2nd bachelor, it turned out all you have to do is fill out the forms and you're in as a MS candidate (at least this was true about a decade ago when he did it). A MS in engineering takes about 1 year past the BS degree, and as a MS candidate you can take all the undergrad courses you need to remedy any "deficiencies" in your study -- namely all the engineering courses you never took. The downside is that these aren't the top schools in the country like the ones you listed.

By Jab93 (Jab93) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 02:21 pm: Edit

The vast majority of top schools will NOT accept you for a second degree. But...

(1) I was an undergrad at Harvard, I majored in physics and astro... I had many close friends who majored in physics, but went to top schools (e.g. for M.S. and PhD's in Egineering at schools like MIT, Stanford, etc) even though they did not major in engineering as an undergrad.
YOU DO NOT NEED to major in engineering as an undergrad to get into grad school in engineering... Another example is the wife of my PhD advisor: she majored in math as an undergrad, but went to Stanford for M.S. in Civil Engineering.

(2) If you REALLY want to get an undergrad engineering degree, why not do a 3-2 program? 3 years at Amherst doing liberal arts, then switch to another school for 2 years to complete engineering requirements... this way, you get 2 degrees from 2 schools in 5 years...

here's info for Columbia's Fu School of Engineering:

http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/students/academics/combinedplan.php

They have a 3-2 program... I noticed Williams College was on their list, but I didn't see Amherst... maybe you can make some inquiries about that...

By Alongfortheride (Alongfortheride) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 02:56 pm: Edit

Ditto on what Jab 93 said. My son looked into 3-2 programs. Look at Amherst first to see if they offer it. The other possibility if that doesn't work for you is to transfer as a sophomore to a school that offers engineering.

By Subtrunks (Subtrunks) on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 03:29 pm: Edit

Well the options that jab93 laid out for me, work. Thank you. I will definately look into getting an MS in something. I've been advised agaisnt it (MS degree) because the programs are expensive and a ph.D most of the time will pay for itself by having a position in the school. But for the most part I find the ph.D somewhat superflous when one only wants to practice engineering but who knows I might be wrong. Thank you all for the input.