Is a Masters needed to be a Sturctural Engineer 4

[CorporalToe]

Do you think it is worth it spend 2 years to get a Masters after graduating to become a Structural Engineer?

 

[hokie66]

It helped me, but it only took an extra year.

 

[Lomarandil]

Fit it into a year, ideally as a coursework program (non-thesis) unless you can get it fully funded by research/thesis.

Otherwise, come back to it part-time after a few years working experience.

 

[SWComposites]

Depends on the specific field and type/size of company you want to work for. Give us more info.
Recommend working a bit first, then get a masters if desired. That way you can focus your courses on your interests and needs. Plus larger companies often pay the tuition if you go part time.
If you don’t plan to go into academia or a heavy r3search area, look for a masters program 5hat does not require a thesis.

 

[Eng16080]

At least in my particular geographic area, it's certainly not needed to get a job. I think it would have the greatest benefit if you were to work for a few years first and then get it later.

Also, if you could get a job at a really good design firm with a great mentor who is able to dedicate some of their time to your development, I think that would probably be a better use of the 2 years than at school. This would have the added benefit of not increasing your financial debt. Of course, it's somewhat unrealistic to end up in this type of work environment with a great mentor who isn't also so busy that they actually have time to help you.

Overall, if your goal is to become better at the profession, whether you get a masters or not, you should expect to spend a lot of time self-studying. Get good at figuring stuff out on your own, and ask knowledgeable people questions when you're stuck. Study design guides and example problems. Go to this site and others like it where you get to discuss and learn about real world problems, not the friendly, sugar-coated problems you tend to get in a classroom setting.

 

[CorporalToe]

Currently I am looking at thesis based only for the reason my GPA might not be good enough for a course based, I'm just above minimum. Where as with the thesis route, I have a professor that ensured me he can wave whatever requirement if I go about it the thesis based route, also schooling is free and I get paid like 3.3k a month which isn't great but better then nothing. About my career, I am fairly passionate about structural engineering, and want to hopefully work on complex projects, I don't have experience in structural engineering all my internships were in other fields of civil. I am from Canada, but I do want to work in the states, cause COL in Canada is insane plus I want work complex projects which are more rare in Canada. I plan to try and get a job there after I can get my PE. Also I feel scared if I start working right away I may never want to do school again.

 

[Celt83]

“.., also schooling is free and I get paid like 3.3k a month..”

Get your masters

 

[haynewp]

Go back soon after you get a PE license and you will have a lot better insight into what’s going on and get a lot more out of it. You will ask questions that are more practically useful as well.

Or you can be a good salesman and not even pass the PE exam and get promoted above all the engineers in your company. Entertain clients, etc.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

...after I can get my PE.

Take (and pass) the FE exam before starting a masters program. In many USA states obtaining a masters degree in engineering will count as one year of experience toward a PE license.

 

[hokie66]

If your thesis advisor is a good mentor, and you don't have to pay for your education, go for it. Easy decision.

 

[SWComposites]

Free tuition plus getting paid. Get the masters now.

But look into the requirements for immigration to US and for getting a PE license in a US state. Don’t know if you can take the FE exam in Canada.

 

[CorporalToe]

As some of you mentioned I do plan on doing my FE this summer, you can take the exam here in Canada but it costs a few hundred dollars more here. The professor I will be doing it under is fairly new, he is just becoming a PEng (Canadian Equivalent of a PE) and my co-supervisor is fairly experienced I hope to gain some mentorship under him. But I do feel that the mentorship I will be more research related then anything else.

I could try course based but it’s a risk because I might not get into that program. People that have done a masters, has it actually benefitted you at work? Did you get jobs/projects that you might have no gotten otherwise?

 

[Enable]

Hey, hey, hey in Canada we have complex projects too!

I agree with others that if you have a fully funded M.Sc. then go for it. Rarely is a course based M.Eng funded and it is certainly better if taken a few years out of school.

 

[JStephen]

I was able to get a master's degree right after the bachelor's. Had I tried to wait a few years, it'd doubtful I would have ever done that, due to time constraints, family, etc. So I'd so go for it while you can.
On the "complex projects", don't worry about that so much. My observation is that everyone wants to do the cooler projects, but there's more people wanting to do it than there are openings. So in ME, everyone wants to design the latest racing engine but somebody's got to design the door handles, too.

 

[JAE]

I got a BS degree in the US - then worked for 2 years - then came back and got my Masters.

People that have done a masters, has it actually benefitted you at work?

After my Masters, light bulbs went off all over my head. I truly understood what I was doing compared to before the Masters. So yes - it helped me enormously.

By the time I was about 10 years into my career I was in a position to hire younger engineers and after a while ONLY looked at MS degreed structural engineering students.
I hired some that only had the BS degree, and did OK, but could tell the difference for sure - there were exceptions but for structural - the MS degree is pretty important.

 

[Eng16080]

Considering you would get paid to get the degree, that changes my answer above in favor of getting it now.

I had incorrectly assumed you were in the US and would have borderline crippling debt at the end of the two years.

 

[Rabbit12]

I'd say it's not required, and I've hired employees without one. So much of what you need to know in practice is taught once you are hired. With that being said I went to grad school and I found it beneficial. I was able to take some more advanced structural classes that have helped me in my career.

One semi regret I do have is I never actually got my degree. I took all the course work but left to work before my thesis was finished. Once I was working finding time to complete that wasn't in the cards for me.

 

[StrEng007]

Right out of the gate, a Masters would be beneficial as many have mentioned. I've found the curriculum to obtain a BS doesn't really prepare you for the design world. An MS gives you that competitive edge, but still a majority of what you're going to learn about being a structural engineer will occur in your working career. That's where you learn to actually practice our profession.

Once you're at a level to obtain licensure, it can become a mute point... unless you're trying to land at one of those few companies that only designs landmark structures.

Although, I would say that licensure isn't the end all. I've met plenty of PE's who left me wondering how they ever became licensed in the first place.

 

[mtu1972]

I graduated in 1972 during a poor job market, so I decided to stay and go for a non-thesis MS degree. I chose to be a Teaching Assistant and was then limited to 9 credits per term. The degree would take 5 terms. Over the summer term (1973), the main-frame computer was replaced and my Finite Element Project, which was over two boxes of Fortran punch cards, quit working.

During the fall term (my fifth term), even the computer geeks could not help me as they were all having problems with their own programs. So I decided to leave without completing my degree. None the less, the advanced structural classes gave me an advantage over my peers throughout my career. I only knew of two other engineers with MS degrees as contemporaries. Some of my supervisors did have advanced degrees.

Thirty plus years later I completed a MS degree through the University of Idaho Engineering Outreach Program.

gjc

 

[JoshPlumSE]

It's certainly not required. I'd say that you'll learn more while working your first couple of years than you learn in a master's degree program.

That being said, if you could BOTH work on your master's degree AND work part time at a structural engineering firm, you will get the best of both worlds. It will be more of a challenge. But, you'll get more out of both your degree and your first work experience.