Integrated Degrees - Are they worth it?

[Hercuflea]

I was just looking at PhD. programs and I came across this:
http://www.cseprograms.gatech.edu/

I was wondering if "integrated" degree programs like the above one are worth the time? Apparently you can pick an area of concentration, but say if you chose chemistry or biology, could you actually call yourself a chemist or a biologist after completing the Ph.D.? Seeing as the Ph.D isn't actually in Chemistry, would you be able to get a job as a university professor of Chemistry if you chose the Chemistry concentration (or whatever other concentration)?

Or say if you chose an engineering concentration would you be qualified to take the engineering license exams and for certification as an engineer?

 

[tygerdawg]

Many moons ago I got my Master's from something similar, it was an "Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering" mix of Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial Engineering, plus Computer Science and Business.

It suited my personality very well. The alternative (at that university) was to pursue a MSME which under that administration was nothing more than an applied mathematics degree. I hated that. The degree I earned has been quite useful in my career because it was very broad. I never wanted to be narrowly-scoped in any job.

But industry DID NOT beat a path to my door because the degree was unusual and ahead of its time. I had to present myself, my qualifications, and sell my potential to future employers. If you don't have good self-promotion & sales skills, you may not reap the full benefit of a broader course of training.

 

[Hercuflea]

Many moons ago I got my Master's from something similar, it was an "Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering" mix of Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial Engineering, plus Computer Science and Business.

It suited my personality very well. The alternative (at that university) was to pursue a MSME which under that administration was nothing more than an applied mathematics degree. I hated that. The degree I earned has been quite useful in my career because it was very broad. I never wanted to be narrowly-scoped in any job.

But industry DID NOT beat a path to my door because the degree was unusual and ahead of its time. I had to present myself, my qualifications, and sell my potential to future employers. If you don't have good self-promotion & sales skills, you may not reap the full benefit of a broader course of training.

How about professorships? It seems like it would be hard to tell what the graduate really is. The PhD. is called Computational Science and Engineering, so would the graduate be a computer scientist, an engineer, a mathemetician, or something else? Or would he/she be qualified to be a professor in any of these areas?

 

[FalseVaccum89]

How about professorships? It seems like it would be hard to tell what the graduate really is. The PhD. is called Computational Science and Engineering, so would the graduate be a computer scientist, an engineer, a mathemetician, or something else? Or would he/she be qualified to be a professor in any of these areas?

I poured over the contents of that site earlier, and--from what I can tell--you get enough content knowledge to be a professor in the area of the "home unit" you choose to go into the program through.