If your child wants to be a civil engineer right out of college, please attend an ABET accredited civil engineering program.

-licensed civil engineer

Anonymous wrote:I’ve never heard of a general engineering degree. Is that really a thing?

Yes. For the most part, it is what schools offer that are trying to break into engineering. Most general engineering degrees are "engineering physics" or very mechanical eng focused. Rarely is it offered at a school that offers the traditional Engineering degrees (MechE, CivilE, ChemE, BME, material science, aerospace, Environmental, Electrical, Comp Eng, etc).

I think of it as "engineering Light", as it's not really an engineering degree and would require specialization/masters for most kids to get employment. Note: Harvey Mudd is different, as their General engineering is intense.

Anonymous wrote:
Let's add schools to this discussion like Dartmouth, Brown, and even Boston College with their new engineering program.
I assume these would be classified as general engineering degrees.
What is the career or grad school pass for these graduates?

Brown offers degrees in specific engineering disciplines, not a general engineering degree. Dartmouth is general engineering although they call it "engineering sciences". Boston College offers "Human Centered Engineering" to be honest, I don't know what that is.

-- OP

Anonymous wrote:
Let's add schools to this discussion like Dartmouth, Brown, and even Boston College with their new engineering program.
I assume these would be classified as general engineering degrees.
What is the career or grad school pass for these graduates?

**path not pass

Let's add schools to this discussion like Dartmouth, Brown, and even Boston College with their new engineering program.
I assume these would be classified as general engineering degrees.
What is the career or grad school pass for these graduates?

I’ve never heard of a general engineering degree. Is that really a thing?

If your kid knows he wants to do civil engineering, he is better off going to a school that specifically offers civil engineering

I have looked closely at some “Engineering” programs at JMU and Randolph Macon. JMU is mostly mechanical engineering with a few classes in environmental engineering (normally an option in Civil Engineering). Randolph Macon is mechanical engineering. The PE exam is passed most easily by mechanical engineers. MEs are well positioned because they get it all, most notably some electronics, some fluids, some mechanics and dynamics, and some thermodynamics. Someone with one of these “Engineering” degrees should be able to work or go to graduate school in fields such as mechanical and maybe materials science. It might be possible to go into another engineering discipline, but this seems like a bigger ask. For example, mechanical engineers might take quickly to stress, strain, and truss design in civil engineering, but would probably be lost (and likely not that interested) in transportation and traffic engineering, or soils engineering.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Only if they're at the top of their class. If they're in the bottom 10%, they design HVAC systems for the targets.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I am not even sure what you are asking then. That sounds like a different question than your OP. Have him google "PE licensing requirements in (state name)." If that's not clear, have him call the state licensing board directly.