Mechanical Engineering & Business Adm: Exploring Career Options

[Arcadia]

Hey guys!

I'm currently a senior in high school who will be moving onto college next year. I've always had a strong point in math, it's something I want to continue studying. In high school I didn't really push myself to the limit so I haven't studied Physics yet. I'm currently in Pre-Calculus/Trigonometry. Thinking about my future and the possibility of going into the wrong field cause my a lot of stress. I want to make sure what I study will be meaningful. Of course my goal is to get a well paying job, but I really want to make an impact and help develop technologies for human advancement.

After talking to a counselor at the college I will be attending next year, she made Mechanical Engineering & Business Administration degrees sound really good. However, does an Engineer typically go after a Business degree? Would those two degrees even go together? Would these two degrees open up a lot of options for me in life? Could I make more money with these two degrees?

I've read a few topics and a lot of the members on here study math, and just math. I really want to get deep into math and have a career based on that. I'm thinking that studying business would not allow me to study math deeply, as my focus would change primarily to Business after getting my bachelors in Engineering. What do you guys think about this?

Also, I'm not entirely sure on which discipline of Engineering I want to study. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Astronomy (I wouldn't want to base my career on Astronomy this early in my life however for several reasons) and was thinking about Aeronautical Engineering. I've heard that Aeronautical Engineering doesn't have as many job opportunities and it's extremely competitive, especially for NASA. I know there are several types of engineering disciplines, but I want to study something that would advance the human race, so things like Petroleum Engineering are out of the question. Mechanical Engineering sounds really interesting to me as well. Which type of Engineers would the economy need most in 10 years?

How/When did you guys find out which discipline of engineering you wanted to focus on? Should I focus just on engineering, or get a degree in engineering and business administration? Which do you guys think would yield better results in the long run?

Thanks for all the help. I'd appreciate it if you guys would give me some guidance and answer most/all of the questions I've asked. I'm a kid who gets little to no guidance at home, I've pretty much put myself on the path to success by myself, no parents or other people to guide me.

 

[hotvette]

Engineering and business do go well together, especially if you see yourself getting into management. I know many engineers that got MBA's because they were or wanted to be managers and move up the chain.

My older brother was a corporate executive and got a Mech Eng degree before his MBA specifically because he wanted to be able to talk with engineers and have a good technical understanding of product development and manufacturing as a way to be a more effective corporate executive.

One of my classmates in engineering school (ME) told me one day he wanted to be in sales. I was shocked that he didn't want to be an 'real' engineer but later realized it was a great background for what he really wanted to do.

When I was in graduate school (MS ME), I met a guy getting an M.S. Petroleum Engineering degree. He was also taking classes in the business school becuase he wanted to be the CEO of his own company.

In the end it depends on what you envision doing. Follow your heart.

 

[Arcadia]

That sounds great, thanks for the reply. I'm open to hear any and all advice.

 

[away22]

Maybe I just didn't understand from your original post, but why do you want a degree in business? It seems like you really want to go into engineering, so I really don't see how much a business degree would help, but then again, I'm not an engineer. If anything, I think it would make sense to go work for a few years, and then go back for an MBA.

Now if you want to get a business degree because you're thinking about going into finance or business after graduation, it may be a bit of a different story. But honestly, I would still probably go ahead and major in engineering or straight math. Most firms don't really care if you majored in anything business related, and some places actually prefer a more quantitative degree to a business degree. I actually majored in physics in undergrad, and was able to get a job in finance after I graduated, so your major really won't hold you back.

So I guess the major question you need to figure out is what you want to do after graduation. But then again, you haven't even started college yet, so you have plenty of time to figure all this out. When I first started college, I think I wanted to go to med school or something, and by the time I graduated, I was doing something completely different. So don't worry about all this too much right now; just keep your gpa up, no matter what you major in, and have some fun.

 

[Arcadia]

Would it be worth it more to become get a Masters in Engineering or go with the Mechanical Engineering MBA route? What about a Masters in Mechanical Engineering with an MBA? How long do you think it would take to get a Masters in ME w/ an MBA? Would it be worth it?

 

[ehilge]

to echo what was said before, whether it is worth it or not depends on what you decide you want to do. If your goal is to get into management, then I think it would definitely be worth it to get the MBA as well as the engineering degree. However, if you're more into the research/design components of engineering, the MBA isn't exactly necessary.

I think my advice to you would be to just take a few different classes your freshman year and see what you like the best. You say you haven't taken physics, but that's a big part of engineering and it may turn out you don't like physics. Maybe try to take one or two business classes too, see if you enjoy those and same with math. Maybe a math major is better for you? I don't know and I know it can be frustrating, but you've got plenty of time to figure out what you want to do.

Hope that helps!

 

[away22]

Would it be worth it more to become get a Masters in Engineering or go with the Mechanical Engineering MBA route? What about a Masters in Mechanical Engineering with an MBA? How long do you think it would take to get a Masters in ME w/ an MBA? Would it be worth it?

It it way too early to start thinking about this. First step is to start college and see if you can even handle it. Who knows, you may end up hating intro physics, or you may end up loving it so much that you want to go to physics grad school. Take a few intro business or economics courses too, hell, take whatever classes you can... you never know what you'll end up enjoying or being good at.

Most important thing though, and I can't stress this enough, is to keep your gpa up. This will help you no matter what you decide to do in a few years.

Best of luck dude.

 

[Arcadia]

Yeah it might be a little early for me to be so stressed out about it, I just want to get into a field that I'm passionate about and can make really good money doing.

 

[kote]

You can get business type jobs with just the engineering major. I'm really not sure a business major adds anything. Engineering for undergrad then an MBA later can be a good path, and it is very common.

As an engineering major, with the right type of internships or other experience, you can get a job doing almost anything. If you want to do engineering I'd recommend going for it and then just taking whatever other classes you're interested in (which may or may not add to a second major). Engineering is plenty of work on its own.

 

[WhoWee]

It's not unusual for an engineer or a chemist to find themselves in sales or product development situations. A general understanding of business would be helpful, an MBA may not be necessary.