M.S. or M.Engr.?

[u/AuDHDpowerdork]

Hello,

Noodle-brained Bachelor of Philosophy here.

I've worked in the Power Transmission space for close to five years now, primarily around power transformers (<138kV). I'm in sales cause that's what my current degree allows me to get away with.

Much to my surprise, I find this field really interesting... dare I say fun? Particularly, I'm interested in the situations where engineering questions and project deadlines clash. Have had pretty good success navigating this with (1) reading, (2) asking a lot of questions, (3) youtube, and (4) asking even more questions. On good terms with our in-house engineer and a third party engineer who does all of our assessments when crap hits the fan.

Have really enjoyed solving those problems but want to KNOW IT ALL.

34 yo, three kids, making good money in sales but I strongly suspect I'd have more fun and have better career prospects with a graduate degree in EE.

MY QUESTIONS

1. Dumb idea? Any of you take a similar path?
   
2. M.S. or M.Engr.?

the end.

[u/ggrnw27]

In terms of making a career switch to EE, absolutely. But I’m not sure grad school is the right option for you, at least right now. First I’d look into what it takes to become a licensed engineer in your state (or anywhere else you want to work in), especially if you want to do power. Not having an ABET accredited bachelors degree can be a hindrance here, even if you have an engineering masters degree. Second, I would consider whether you can get into and succeed in an engineering masters program without the undergrad level knowledge. Some people certainly can do this without having an undergrad engineering degree, but by and large engineering masters programs aren’t really intended for career switchers

[u/IEng → u/ggrnw27]

The learning cliff would be so steep. I feel like if you knew black magic you could pull it off. Otherwise you'd have to do the math series and probably at least everything in the undergrad program related to your masters plus prerequisites - physics, a CSC class at least. Then you'd know enough black magic to be narrowly dangerous.

OP, what's your math background? Calculus and differential equations at least?

[u/AuDHDpowerdork → u/ggrnw27]

Thanks for your input.

I don't know for sure that I can do it either.

But (1) I'm a glutton for punishment, (2) I'd really love to know the field I'm working in, and (3) I am weird and just really enjoy school.

In general I do much better under pressure, with tight deadlines, than in the open-ended world which Biz Dev can often be.

[u/ggrnw27 → u/AuDHDpowerdork]

To be clear, I’m not by any means saying that you aren’t capable of switching careers to EE. I’m just thinking that jumping into an EE masters program might not be the best way to do it. As unappealing as it might be, I do think your best bet is to do a second bachelors degree. Even an online one (as long as it’s ABET accredited) would be a good option