Going for a BS in Civil Engineering after MS in Urban Planning.

Submitted by ikemude on Wed, 06/03/2009 - 17:44.

Am wondering if any one out there can give input on this billion dollar dillema of mine. I had just graduated with a MASTER'S degree in urban planning worked for 5 months and decided to pursue an UNDERGRADUATE degree in civil engineering.
Is this a good move? As i have already been giving admission to civil engrg forthe fall 09, I know that many of you guy's will be wondering why. The answer is simple " JOB SECURITY"
Please advice.
N/B
I HAVE AN UNDERGRADUATE DEGREE IN APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY
I.k

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I'm going for a BS in Civil Engineering

Submitted by ajmichel on Wed, 09/16/2009 - 10:04.

I have been working as a Transportation Planner now for four years after receiving a Masters of Urban Planning, and just recently started going back to school for a BS in Civil Engineering. I have been taking all of my pre-reqs at the local community college and plan on transferring to a four-year university in about 1 to 1.5 years.

I too thought about going for a Masters in Civil Engineering, but when speaking with a guidance counselar at the local four-year university, they stated that it would be much more difficult trying to obtain a PE with only the Masters in Civil Engineering, and a bachelor's in a different field. Hence I started the bachelor's program and will wait till I am finished with this degree before considering pursueing a Master's in Civil Engineering. I have a number of credits that transfer over from my original undergraduate degree at UW-Madison so it works out very well for me.

My advice to you would be to speak with an advisor in your local university or college's Civil Engineering program and see what advice they have regarding prusueing a Bachelor's or Master's in Civil Engineering. Hope this helps!!!

AJM

Advice Please?!

Submitted by style4591 on Mon, 11/09/2009 - 21:04.

Dear AJMichel & All,

I found this thread to be very informative! I had a few follow up questions I was wondering if you could help me with? It'd be great to learn more before making the substantial time commitment towards a B.S. in Civil Engineering.
My background: B.A. in Urban Planning, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign_2007. 1 year private sector work experience in Development 7/07--8/08. M.B.A. in Planning & Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago_09/08--5/10. (expected)

- Do you think it would be easy to make a career transition into Engineering after having spent several years in Planning (While I am aged 24--28?) I assume you would have to go for an entry level position. (Also let's assume the economy is under normal conditions.)

- Do you think any type of employers will particularly value this combination? If so, any examples? Will there be a salary increase commensurate to justify the cost of the degree? I plan on completing it part-time evenings.

- I noticed that one poster on here said that Planning is very stable and it was pretty easy to get placed after graduation. Any advice on how to get succesfully placed in this economy? Any advice on the IL, IN, WI markets?

Thanks for all the help!

Sincerely,

AJ_email: anandwisc@yahoo.com

Going for a BS in Civil Engineering after MS in Urban Planning

Submitted by csl072574 on Thu, 09/03/2009 - 13:54.

I believe that one needs an undergraduate degree in engineering in order to become a P.E. (professionally licensed engineer) and this cannot be accomplished with only a master's degree. You also need four years of experience under a licensed engineer before oyu are eligible to take the P.E. exam.

Good question... I have also

Submitted by AdrianGreen on Thu, 09/03/2009 - 09:41.

Good question... I have also graduated with my master's in planning recently and have been looking at engineering programs. Along the way I have met a few others with planning degrees who want to pursue engineering degrees (all have had a focus in transportation though).

I talked with professionals and professors in my area who all supported the combination of planning and engineering (especially the private sector professionals that I spoke with). Have you asked any professionals in your community? After talking to professors, I learned that admission to a masters program could be given if a year to year-and-a-half of prerequisites were completed. After admissions to the master's program (rather than the undergrad) the time it would take to complete is estimated a 1 1/2 years (total prereqs and masters in engineering will take 3 years). I was reminded that this option requires a master's thesis. I suppose if you have already made up your mind to pursue engineering, you may consider whether or not the bachelors or masters is right for you. The bachelors certainly seems less demanding, but yes, the transition back to undergrad classes is a difficult one as the undergrads are little more careless. On the up-side, no thesis.

I believe that planning and engineering degrees are complementary and certainly will open the door to more job opportunities regardless. I don't think there is anyway the extra degree can hurt your future employment--the only drawback I see is financing another degree and time lost completing it that could be spent working and gaining experience. Good luck.

why not a M.S. Civil Engineering?

Submitted by mrod305 on Sun, 08/30/2009 - 08:19.

Your undergrad was in the life sciences, and thus I will assume you have an adequate math and science foundation.

Why waste 4 extra years getting only a B.S. when you could potentially gain admission into a graduate civil engineering program and earn an M.S. in civil in only two years (or so)?

I am a planner by trade, but knew many C.E. students. I'm not sure about each program, and their admissions requirements, but you should look into that. Here is University of Wisconsin - Madison's website for their civil engineering program. http://www.engr.wisc.edu/cee/prospective/grad/

It says, for example under the Transportation Engineering program, the following:
"To be eligible for admission to graduate work for the Master of Science (Civil Engineering) degree, an applicant must have a bachelor's degree in engineering from a school of recognized standing or have satisfactory course work in mathematics, statistics, and the natural sciences and receive approval of the Transportation and City Planning faculty. "

Having a Master's already, it seems that you would be severely wasting your time, and money, pursuing a second bachelor's. A huge waste of time and money in fact.

Additionally, why are you so insistant about the "job security" issue? I'm a planner, as are my friends who are recent graduates. Most of us have found jobs. You've only been at it for 5 months - I don't know where you're pulling this idea that planning lacks "job security" out of.

Anyways, bottom line: a bachelor's is a waste of time and rather infantile for someone in your situation. If you really want to do the Civil Eng. route, skip the B.S. and go straight to the M.S. I'm rather confident you would be eligible for admissions into a C.E. program, especially already having one master's degree. Though I don't know how strong your grades are overall, or how strong your math skills are. If they're up to par for C.E., go straight for the master's.

My two cents. Don't waste your time and money hanging out with 18-22 year-olds for four years at this point in your career.

Question

Submitted by hucky27 on Tue, 11/03/2009 - 05:13.

But would he be eligble to take the PE exam will the Masters without having the Bachelors?

Not a lot of job security

Submitted by connivingmole on Sun, 08/23/2009 - 20:25.

As a structural engineer with a BS in civil engineering, I can tell you that my field is not very secure right now. My company, based in NYC, has been cut in half after multiple rounds of layoffs. Nearly all of the engineers with less than 2 years experience were layed off over the past year. Of course, I can't speak for planning, maybe it was worse.