Should I Finish My Astrophysics Degree Before Pursuing Aerospace Engineering?

[KaiserBrandon]

hello friends. I am currently in my third year of my bachelors of science in honors astrophysics, and after some consideration, I have decided that I want to go into aerospace engineering. Up until recently, my plan was to eventually get a Ph.D and go into a career of research. However, I've come to the decision that I want to do something a bit more practical, yet still be involved in a space related field. Would it be beneficial to complete my final year and obtain a degree in astrophysics, and then go on to get a degree in engineering (I'd probably aim for a masters eventually), or should I just start towards engineering next year and forget about the B.Sc. (I'm pretty sure a lot of the credit for the math and physics courses I've already taken would transfer over to an engineering degree, but beginning right away next year will mean an engineering degree in a shorter amount of time, but will forfeit the astrophysics degree). Any input would be great, thanks in advance.

 

[fss]

What kind of time frame are we talking about here? How long is it going to take you to get your engineering degree? Bachelor's degrees are not worth spending more than 4 or in some cases 5 years on, especially in a professionally-oriented field like engineering. I'd probably get the astrophysics degree and then look to do aerospace engineering in graduate school.

 

[eXorikos]

For a bachelor in astrophysics I'm sure it won't take another 4 years to get a bachelor in engineering... My best guess is 1 to 2 years, the first 2 years of classes are (here at least) more basic science than real engineering and that basis should be covered.

But as you say I would also apply for graduate school in aerospace engineering.