General engineering vs. specific engineering discipline

[Anonymous]

Can someone talk about the difference between a general engineering degree and one in a specific discipline, and how that translates into grad school or licensing etc . . . ?

Harvey Mudd is an example of a school that offers only a general education degree. It doesn't seem to hamper their graduates, who see to do very well professionally, but I'm not sure exactly how it works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can someone talk about the difference between a general engineering degree and one in a specific discipline, and how that translates into grad school or licensing etc . . . ?

Harvey Mudd is an example of a school that offers only a general education degree. It doesn't seem to hamper their graduates, who see to do very well professionally, but I'm not sure exactly how it works.

First, Harvey Mudd is one of the TOP engineering schools in the country (very small but rigorous program). So a GE degree from HM will get you places. However, from almost any other unversity, I would not recommend a general engineering degree. Pick a school where you can get a degree in an area of choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone talk about the difference between a general engineering degree and one in a specific discipline, and how that translates into grad school or licensing etc . . . ?

Harvey Mudd is an example of a school that offers only a general education degree. It doesn't seem to hamper their graduates, who see to do very well professionally, but I'm not sure exactly how it works.

First, Harvey Mudd is one of the TOP engineering schools in the country (very small but rigorous program). So a GE degree from HM will get you places. However, from almost any other unversity, I would not recommend a general engineering degree. Pick a school where you can get a degree in an area of choice.

I get that, although you could ask the same question about Swarthmore or Tulane for example. My question is how does it work logistically. Can my kid get a GE degree at Mudd and go straight into a civil engineering job and work up to a professional engineer qualification, or does he need a civil degree for that? Can he go from Mudd to grad school in any discipline or are there some where that path won’t work?

And yes, I know odds of HM admissions are low, but if he’s considering using his ED choice for Mudd then he needs to sort this out before applying.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, just do mechanical. It's about as general as you can get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, just do mechanical. It's about as general as you can get.

So, you're saying to avoid Harvey Mudd?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, just do mechanical. It's about as general as you can get.

Also, can you work in another discipline if your degree is in mechanical engineering? Can you get a professional engineer license as another type of engineer with at Mech E degree?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, just do mechanical. It's about as general as you can get.

So, you're saying to avoid Harvey Mudd?

No, Harvey Mudd is Harvey Mudd. Whatever you do there will be fine.
But at other universities, maybe consider mechanical instead of general.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, just do mechanical. It's about as general as you can get.

So, you're saying to avoid Harvey Mudd?

No, Harvey Mudd is Harvey Mudd. Whatever you do there will be fine.
But at other universities, maybe consider mechanical instead of general.

If he goes to a college that has disciplines, he'll do civil. He wants to be a civil engineer.

So, he's asking whether he can become a civil engineer without a civil engineering degree. How does that work. Can he become a PE without a degree in that discipline? Can he get into grad school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, just do mechanical. It's about as general as you can get.

So, you're saying to avoid Harvey Mudd?

No, Harvey Mudd is Harvey Mudd. Whatever you do there will be fine.
But at other universities, maybe consider mechanical instead of general.

Ah, I see you added further info about your child further down. Hopefully someone can chime in about those specifics.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t worry about the discipline. Once you’re in to an engineering school, it’s very easy to switch sub-majors. Getting in to an engineering school from an arts and science school within the same university is very difficult. Civil engineers make targets. Mechanical engineers make bombs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, just do mechanical. It's about as general as you can get.

I don't think this is true. I am not sure what PP is basing this on.

- ME

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, just do mechanical. It's about as general as you can get.

I don't think this is true. I am not sure what PP is basing this on.

- ME

Would you hire someone straight out of college with a GE degree, assuming schools with similar selectiveness (e.g. GE from Harvey Mudd or Swarthmore, vs. ME from Hopkins)?

Do you know if you can licensed in a specific discipline with a GE degree?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone talk about the difference between a general engineering degree and one in a specific discipline, and how that translates into grad school or licensing etc . . . ?

Harvey Mudd is an example of a school that offers only a general education degree. It doesn't seem to hamper their graduates, who see to do very well professionally, but I'm not sure exactly how it works.

First, Harvey Mudd is one of the TOP engineering schools in the country (very small but rigorous program). So a GE degree from HM will get you places. However, from almost any other unversity, I would not recommend a general engineering degree. Pick a school where you can get a degree in an area of choice.

I get that, although you could ask the same question about Swarthmore or Tulane for example. My question is how does it work logistically. Can my kid get a GE degree at Mudd and go straight into a civil engineering job and work up to a professional engineer qualification, or does he need a civil degree for that? Can he go from Mudd to grad school in any discipline or are there some where that path won’t work?

And yes, I know odds of HM admissions are low, but if he’s considering using his ED choice for Mudd then he needs to sort this out before applying.

Yes, I would not pick a Tulane or swathmore if your kid ultimately wants Civil engineering. I'd find a school with a more broad range of engineering majors available. Why pick a school that doesn't have your kid's intended major?
However, for Harvey Mudd, the General Eng major is just fine, because well, it's Harvey Mudd. It's an elite school and that's how they do engineering. However, I'd first look at what percent of their grads go onto the workforce versus onto grad school.

[Anonymous]

Op, you should really ask your kid to call the school directly and talk with someone from engineering department. I mean that sincerely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op, you should really ask your kid to call the school directly and talk with someone from engineering department. I mean that sincerely.

I don’t know why you assume he hasn’t.

But since licensing is a state issue and at this point he says he wants to return to this area after graduation, it seems sensible to have multiple sources.