March 20, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR LYNN FRASER IN NEVADA
Most standard engineering programs are 4 years. However there are some 5
year programs out there - many of these are longer programs because they
include an internship semester which can be very valuable, nothing beats
real-world work experience to teach you about engineering. Some programs
also allow you to take an extra year after your Bachelor's degree to get
your Master's degree - my college allowed this at a reduced tuition for
students with a GPA of a certain level or higher.
You can also choose to take extra time in any program to get more out of
your courseload - taking fewer classes at a time will allow you to really
focus on the classes you have, and reduce your stress level at the same
time. Although I finished my undergraduate degree in 4 years, I chose to
take an extra year to finish my Master's degree which made a significant
difference in what I got out of it.
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March 18, 2003
A: FROM MENTOR BARB KONTOGIANNIS IN CO
You can get an engineering degree at most colleges in 4 years, just like
other degrees. Sometimes, depending on course sequences and how many
electives you want to take, it can take 4.5 to 5 years. As you are applying
to various colleges, you should look for that kind of information - they
should have statistics available on how long it takes students to get
engineering degrees, and what percentage complete them in 4 years.
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A: FROM MENTOR BRENDA WOLFE
Rosana,
I believe that it is still possible to get a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering in 4 years. Most ABET accredited engineering curriculms are still designed as 4 year programs. I, myself, graduated in 4.5 years as I played a varsity sport for 4 years, and often ended up taking a lighter load durinng the season due to some travel.
Hope this helps.
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A: FROM MENTOR DIANA DIONISIO IN CA
A lot of my friends are engineer majors and they have a lot more requirements than most majors and the classes are very challenging. My friend works on programs for 9 hours sometimes so he is opting to balance out the work load and go to school for 5 yrs. It can take only four years for a bachelors too. It takes a lot of work, study management, and scheduling, but it can be done!
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A: FROM MENTOR KRIS MOODY IN NH
You can get a Bachelors Degree (in Science) in engineering with 4 years
of college. You can begin work right away after you graduate. You do not
need an advanced degree. However, in my experience, many engineers have
gone on to graduate school and gotten their Masters Degree. Some do this
immediately after their undergrad work. I think though that most do it
after they have started working. If you wait until you have a job as an
engineer, usually your company will pay for your classes. You can wait a
while until you are ready to study again, or you can jump right in. I
think that it also gives you a stronger foundation to grasp the practical
aspects of your studies after having some experience putting your
engineering education into action in a real job, and actually designing things.