CorporalToe
Civil/Environmental
Do you think it is worth it spend 2 years to get a Masters after graduating to become a Structural Engineer?
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Is a Masters needed to be a Sturctural Engineer 4
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It probably depends on how many structural engineering classes you could take during your BS program.
I've known people who got their BS and only had a class in analysis and one that covered steel and concrete. That's not much of a foundation to build on.
I've also known people who had most of the critical structural engineering classes (analysis class beyond the basics, steel, concrete, wood) during their BS program. They would be OK without going to grad school.
Colleges are shrinking the number of credit hours required for a BS. Also, they're requiring more non-technical classes. From that, it seems like the importance of an MS is probably increasing.
I've known people who got their BS and only had a class in analysis and one that covered steel and concrete. That's not much of a foundation to build on.
I've also known people who had most of the critical structural engineering classes (analysis class beyond the basics, steel, concrete, wood) during their BS program. They would be OK without going to grad school.
Colleges are shrinking the number of credit hours required for a BS. Also, they're requiring more non-technical classes. From that, it seems like the importance of an MS is probably increasing.
msquared48
Structural
A masters did not really help me progress toward the Structural license that much, but four years of practical experience and the tutoring of senior structural engineers did.
Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)
Mike McCann, PE, SE (WA)
JedClampett
Structural
Similar to mtu1972, in 1975 the job market was kaka. I had a wall of rejection letters (that's what we did in those days) and a good assistantship (dorm advisor), so I just kept going to school. In a year I had a masters. It got me a dollar more an hour (remember this was 1976) and a lot more confidence.
My current firm had a goal of hiring masters engineers, so it checked a box when I applied. But things have loosened up and we can't afford to be picky anymore. I'd rather hire a curious engineer with no drama than a basket case with a masters.
However, a few years back, there was a push to require a master's for licensure. I think it was beaten down, because I haven't heard about it recently. But it might just be sleeping and it could come back.
In your situation, getting it paid for, seems tempting, especially if you like an academic type of environment.
My current firm had a goal of hiring masters engineers, so it checked a box when I applied. But things have loosened up and we can't afford to be picky anymore. I'd rather hire a curious engineer with no drama than a basket case with a masters.
However, a few years back, there was a push to require a master's for licensure. I think it was beaten down, because I haven't heard about it recently. But it might just be sleeping and it could come back.
In your situation, getting it paid for, seems tempting, especially if you like an academic type of environment.
I think THIS is a critical piece of advice, especially if income and career advancement is your priority.msquared48 said:
Around here in Kangaroo land a Masters degree on top of your Bachelor degree in a vocational profession, particularly immediately after, often sends a negative message. It suggests you lacked employment marketable skills so you went back to study to try to get ahead.
Also in general in most vocational professions further full time beyond bachelor study does not compensate for the opportunity cost of the time spent. Exceptions might be an MBA in some industries, but even these are being devalued.
Yeah it does sound like a great deal, though as above I doubt it is if you are prioritising a quick and lucrative career path. But that isn't everything.Celt83 said:
![[cheers]](/data/assets/smilies/cheers.gif "[cheers] [cheers]")
If you are enthusiastic about continuing a student life of freedom, fun and semi-poverty then go right ahead. Plenty of wage slaves spend the rest of their lives reminiscing about the fun times they had as students!
{BTW, for background on my comments. I got my Masters as I returned to study as a mature age student and it was the quickest path to engineering with my BSc undergrad. I found it 80% a waste of time, I already had the skills but I needed the recognised Engineering qualification. Having the Master has never got me anything that a graduate degree wouldn't have done. All my success has been from hard work AFTER completing my degree.}
I went out and practiced for four years. I had already started taking a few courses for fun. But once I got my PE, I decided I wanted to stat my own consulting practice. I also knew I had some holes in my education. More specifically I wanted to learn masonry design properly and also cold formed steel design properly. So I ended up getting my masters.
I know a lot of people will say this wasn't the way to go. But I found going back later made the masters easier and more helpful than if I had gone straight through. For starters I knew what questions to ask, and I knew which things were unlikely to be used. So I didn't stress out about certain things. But I think what really helped was that I knew how to draft, I knew how things went together, I knew about having a proper load path, etc... So again I think I was able to ask practical questions to my professors on how to apply what they were teaching into the real world of design.
So I don't regret going back later one bit. I was also more mature. I really recommend it for engineers that feel like their are things they would like to learn more comprehensively.
John Southard, M.S., P.E.
I know a lot of people will say this wasn't the way to go. But I found going back later made the masters easier and more helpful than if I had gone straight through. For starters I knew what questions to ask, and I knew which things were unlikely to be used. So I didn't stress out about certain things. But I think what really helped was that I knew how to draft, I knew how things went together, I knew about having a proper load path, etc... So again I think I was able to ask practical questions to my professors on how to apply what they were teaching into the real world of design.
So I don't regret going back later one bit. I was also more mature. I really recommend it for engineers that feel like their are things they would like to learn more comprehensively.
John Southard, M.S., P.E.
Studying a master's degree is considered one of the most important engineering subjects, especially in the field of structural engineering. Studying these courses will raise your academic level very significantly. Studying for a master’s degree qualifies you to study for a doctorate in a logical and sequential manner. It also qualifies you to occupy one of the important specializations in civil engineering. For example, engineering designs for tall buildings, including resistance to winds and earthquakes. Also the issue of isolating the foundations against vibrations. It will certainly be very beneficial for your career, but it will also be costly in terms of material and time!
Not needed to become a structural engineer at all.
If you want to become an actual practicing engineer, experience in the work is probably the most valuable. But a masters probably helps you fight the analysis paralysis of the common problem better.
If you want to become an actual practicing engineer, experience in the work is probably the most valuable. But a masters probably helps you fight the analysis paralysis of the common problem better.
I got a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MS in Mechanical with emphasis on Signal Processing.
I took the PE in Mechanical and then went back and took it in Structural and I do mostly residential work.
If i were in your shoes, I would def. get the MS.
I took the PE in Mechanical and then went back and took it in Structural and I do mostly residential work.
If i were in your shoes, I would def. get the MS.
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JoshPlumSE
Structural
ALK2415 said:
I was going to flame you for these totally contradictory comments. PhD research is almost completely unrelated to real world engineering. A master's degree is absolutely necessary if you want to continue on towards a PhD, certainly. But, a PhD has VERY little to do with 98% of the structural engineering work done in the country. That work can be done quite easily without it. It can be done without a master's degree as well.
Then I read the last half of your post:
Tall buildings, building isolation, vibrations, structural dynamics. Yes, a master's degree will help with that. So, will a PhD. I sometimes regret not getting a master's degree when I was young. But, mostly just because I'd like to have the MS after my name, not because I think I would know more now than I would if I had gotten it 25 years ago.
That being said, I have worked extensively with structural dynamics and vibrations. Worked on lots of earthquake design. And, feel like I have an excellent understanding of all of that. Heck, I used to teach classes on the subjects to other engineers.
I've taken plenty of Master's degree level classes (or seminars) along the way..... when there was a subject I wanted to know more about. I find those classes meant a lot more when they were taken with a real world grasp of the engineering involved in the projects and how it will be used.
But, the reality is if you don't get your MS now, you'll probably end up like me.... satisfied with your career and knowledge, but with only a BS and SE after your name.
I don't feel as though my masters helped me much at all. But, then:
1) I had my PE/P.Eng prior to completing my MSc so it didn't make a tangible difference to my employment prospects.
2) I'm a staunch autodidact so I've relished rounding out my education via learning outside of a classroom setting.
3) I did my undergraduate work in Canada where there aren't very many terrible programs that one might pass through and, as a result, be woefully deficient in the fundamentals.
Frankly, I think that I -- and many people -- would be better off with an MBA.
There are some firms that prefer candidates with masters degrees, particularly for new grads. And a disproportionate number of those firms will be the ones doing the big, sexy projects that interest you. So that may prove a limitation. At the same time, it is my perception that those firms also tend to be the ones where business training carries the most weight. Mega projects desperately need capable project managers to ensure that they don't become mega fee gobblers.
Plenty of MSc's and PhD's wind up spending their careers trying to prove their worth to their B.Eng/MBA overlords.
But, yeah, if you're bound and determined to be a dedicated computational modeler of wind damping systems at Thornton Tomasetti, Magnusson Klemencic, etc, back to school you go.
1) I had my PE/P.Eng prior to completing my MSc so it didn't make a tangible difference to my employment prospects.
2) I'm a staunch autodidact so I've relished rounding out my education via learning outside of a classroom setting.
3) I did my undergraduate work in Canada where there aren't very many terrible programs that one might pass through and, as a result, be woefully deficient in the fundamentals.
Frankly, I think that I -- and many people -- would be better off with an MBA.
There are some firms that prefer candidates with masters degrees, particularly for new grads. And a disproportionate number of those firms will be the ones doing the big, sexy projects that interest you. So that may prove a limitation. At the same time, it is my perception that those firms also tend to be the ones where business training carries the most weight. Mega projects desperately need capable project managers to ensure that they don't become mega fee gobblers.
Plenty of MSc's and PhD's wind up spending their careers trying to prove their worth to their B.Eng/MBA overlords.
But, yeah, if you're bound and determined to be a dedicated computational modeler of wind damping systems at Thornton Tomasetti, Magnusson Klemencic, etc, back to school you go.
plausibly_civil
Civil/Environmental
I pursued a Master's at the end of the 2010's and completed it in a year. I completed it at a top 10 civil engineering university according to US News rankings. It helped me get my first job (it was a preferred qualification/soft requirement) but I think it was absolutely a waste of time and money if the goal was to make me better at structural engineering. A key thing to research even for a top university is the availability of courses and actual course requirements. My university was a heavy research based university and while my degree was course-based, it just wasn't very practical.
The most difficult class I took was an advanced math class that I was forced to take that had absolutely nothing to do with structural engineering. None of the other five courses accepted for that requirement were actually taught that year, which was certainly a surprise to me. Also the professor that taught masonry took a sabbatical (no replacement) and the concrete professor broke his wrist (concrete courses cancelled for a semester). Plastic analysis of steel went from taught every winter to taught every other winter in the year I would have taken it. The most practical class I took was a wood design course taken through the architecture school. It was a struggle to even find available courses.
Like I said the degree did help me get my first job, but that was more for the piece of paper than the actual education.
The most difficult class I took was an advanced math class that I was forced to take that had absolutely nothing to do with structural engineering. None of the other five courses accepted for that requirement were actually taught that year, which was certainly a surprise to me. Also the professor that taught masonry took a sabbatical (no replacement) and the concrete professor broke his wrist (concrete courses cancelled for a semester). Plastic analysis of steel went from taught every winter to taught every other winter in the year I would have taken it. The most practical class I took was a wood design course taken through the architecture school. It was a struggle to even find available courses.
Like I said the degree did help me get my first job, but that was more for the piece of paper than the actual education.
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