What does it take for an engineering student to

[Indeedisuper]

Get good job offers coming straight out of college?

Hi,

I will be a Sophomore at Georgia Tech next year and I wanted to know what it takes to get the good job offers out there. I know academics are important but what other factors are there that makes a student valuable? Besides the co-op program and a good GPA and involvement in a Christian fellowship I feel like I won't have anything else.

I am also planning to go onto graduate school for engineering after working for a year or two. What does engineering graduate schools look for besides the GPA/GRE. Should I be looking for research positions in school?

And also I have not yet decided on what engineering discipline I want to do as a career so I've chosen two of the broadest ones that I want to major in either ME or EE. Which one is the more versatile one and the one that has the better future? (BTW I will be minoring in BME as well)

Thanks for the help!

 

[fss]

In loose order of importance:

-Connections
-Recommendations from professionals/people friendly with the boss of the company
-Serious work experience
-Internships/Co-ops
-Luck/finding the right opportunity at the right time
-Grades

What does engineering graduate schools look for besides the GPA/GRE. Should I be looking for research positions in school?

Yes.

And also I have not yet decided on what engineering discipline I want to do as a career so I've chosen two of the broadest ones that I want to major in either ME or EE. Which one is the more versatile one and the one that has the better future? (BTW I will be minoring in BME as well)

EE.

 

[Indeedisuper]

When I looked over the courses taken by ME compared to EE, ME seems to be broader and covers so much more.
ME GTECH:
http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/colleges/coe/me/ugrad/bsme/bsme.php

EE GTECH:
http://www.catalog.gatech.edu/colleges/coe/ece/ugrad/bsee/bsee.php

How would EE be a better choice? It seems to be very focused whereas it seems that ME is broader.

 

[fss]

How would EE be a better choice? It seems to be very focused whereas it seems that ME is broader.

What? The proposed EE curriculum is almost entirely electives your junior and senior year, while the ME curriculum is highly structured. I don't know why that would suggest "ME is broader."

 

[Ben Espen]

ME is often considered a broader field in that one standard curriculum can prepare an aspiring engineer for a wide variety of potential jobs.

 

[MECHster]

What? The proposed EE curriculum is almost entirely electives your junior and senior year, while the ME curriculum is highly structured. I don't know why that would suggest "ME is broader."

As far as I know MEs have much more versatility with their degrees, they can get jobs in mechanical, civil, environmental, aerospace etc. While EEs get more jobs specifically to do with electrical (obviously not strictly). I'm not saying an EE degree is not versatile, btw. Many professors at my school say that mechanical engineers are often the "generalists" or jack of all trades.

 

[Indeedisuper]

@Fss: To me it seems that ME curriculum includes an array of classes that are very different whereas EE curriculum is more focused even though there are electives they are EE electives.

Is ME so versatile to the point where if I decided to go to graduate school for an EE discipline like microelectronic it will work out?

 

[fss]

@Fss: To me it seems that ME curriculum includes an array of classes that are very different whereas EE curriculum is more focused even though there are electives they are EE electives.

I'm not sure which course plan you're looking at, but the GT course schedule you linked to has 9 engineering-related electives built into the schedule (10 if you count the senior design project). The ME program, by contrast, has 4.

Is ME so versatile to the point where if I decided to go to graduate school for an EE discipline like microelectronic it will work out?

No. You will most likely not get accepted to any graduate program in EE with an ME degree. They are usually not at all related, and you would be woefully unprepared.

 

[kote]

The single best thing you can do for yourself is get an internship. Where I work, 80% of new hires to our entry level leadership programs are former interns within the company, and very near 100% of all hires have had successful internship experiences somewhere. It's already late to be looking for an internship for next summer, but there should still be openings. Get with your career services office and start looking this year. During your internship, take control of your work and generate some real accomplishments for your resume.

Grades, a well thought out and put together resume and cover letter, and any leadership experience are also part of it.

 

[Indeedisuper]

Okay thanks fss.
Kote, isn't the Co-op program the same thing as an internship?

 

[kote]

Co-ops and internships are essentially the same thing... so yes, in your case you may already have a leg up.

You may also want to see if there are any recent alumni doing things that you may want to do after graduation. Talk to your professors or your career services office and see if you can get in touch with them.