M.S. Mechanical Engineering in Mechanics vs Robotics/Controls

[danny_91]

Hello fellow PF members,

I'm currently in my senior year in Mechanical Engineering at Oregon State University. I'm considering going on to get my Master's Degree to gain more knowledge (since I'm fascinating by them). I really like Math and have a Math Minor already. I am looking to go into a field which is mathematical challenging. I really want to do computational simulation and modeling and solve challenging problems.

Out of all the courses that I have taken, I really like Dynamics and the differential equations in Vibrations so I want to focus my study in a field like Acoustics. Unfortunately, there is not really a specialization in acoustics at my school (or any school around the Oregon area). So I have two options, either join the Mechanics/Materials or Robotics/Controls at OSU. Which one would you think is better suited to my intended field?

Currently, my "dream" place to work is Boeing, do you think there is opportunity for my field of interest? I would appreaciate any input.P/S: I'm limiting myself to Oregon and possibly Washington because I don't want to pay out-state tuition (which is expensive even if I have fellowships/assistantship) and they don't require GRE. I'm posting a link about grad courses at OSU. Please let me know what you think.

http://mime.oregonstate.edu/academics/grad/me/core-coursework
http://robotics.oregonstate.edu/masters-degrees-robotics

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Thanks for the post! Sorry you aren't generating responses at the moment. Do you have any further information, come to any new conclusions or is it possible to reword the post?

 

[OldEngr63]

I think you are limiting yourself too much with your two constraints regarding the GRE and in-state tuition.

The GRE is not that big a problem if you are a good student. You might plan to simply take it twice, and do your best on each time. I took it twice, and the results were good and much better, respectively. I was to graduate school based on my first scores, but taking it again, with no pressure at all, my scores shot up significantly.

The matter of in-state tuition may sound bad, but it is possible many schools can simply wave it, so why not look at them? Particularly private schools (Cornell, Northwestern, to name a couple of very good private schools).