Engineering

You need to at least have a general direction in undergraduate. at least by your Sophmore year. That seems to be where most engineering disciplines start to diverge. If you wanted to be a Chemical Engineer, then you need to take the required chemistry courses. There is very little need for a course in Reinforced Concrete Design, or Principles of Ground Modification. However, if you wanted to a degree in Civil engineering, then you do need those two courses.

You can get further specialization in Grad School, but you really need to have your broad engineering field in place with your Undergraduate. I have my B.S. in Civil Engineering, and I took a variety of courses pertinent to that subject - many of which were required. Courses in hydrology, fluid mechanics, soil mechanics, concrete design, steel design, mechanics of materials, urban plannning, and construction management. When I went to Grad School, I further concentrated my focus. I would say 60% of my courses involved construction engineering management, 30% were geotechnical engineering courses, and the rest were on other subjects (if I recall there was a wastewater management course, and a course on hydrological modeling). My graduate professor was specialized in Construction Engineering Management, and I did my Masters Project on pile driving efficiency (combining both management and soils).

I went this route because the construction management end of it interested me, and I was working for a geotech engineering company at the time I was in Grad School. As things tend to work out, I am in telecommunications now (have been for the last 20 years) but I have used both the construction managment and geotechnical engineering skill sets a number of times in this career. I pretty much use the construction management skills on a daily basis.

So, as you can see, I had to choose my general branch of engineering (Civil) pretty much in my Freshman year (I think there was one specialized Civil engineering course I took freshman year, so I could have switched to an other area pretty easly). By Sophmore year I was pretty much locked into Civil engineering, but I further specialized in Graduate School.

-dave

Tristian:

To directly answer your question, I will give you my own opinion. Your Undergraduate years should give you a broad understanding of a variety of engineering disciplines and a good understanding of your engineering major. Remember that you only have 4 years to accomplish this plus other graduation rqts. for the college that you attend. After graduating, I think it best to work a few years to gain some perspective and experience in your chosen field. You are then in a good position to pursue a specialty area (s) in your chosen Field or to pursue an advanced degree in another engineering field it that suits you. This is the way my education proceeded and it turned out very well for me.

Good Luck, Pete Sturtevant , PE