# Eureka!



## BadJuju270 (Dec 24, 2009)

I have a B.A. in mathematics and plan on starting grad. school for structural engineering in the fall of 2010; I am working on foundation courses now. I am a veteran and will be using the new post 9/11 gi bill. I plan on ultimately graduating from a top 20 program.

I've sought answers on the web to the questions I ask here--I want more opinions. Please CONFIRM or DEBUNK the following assumptions. Share your life experiences and make me a more educated person.

1) With a masters in structural engineering, I am not limited to inspecting plans for buildings, designing runoff systems for highways, or anything else that is ho hum. With my masters I expect to be able to find exciting work in the aircraft manufacturing industry, federal government, state government, or private industry. I will be designing bridges, nuclear reactors, overpasses, beautiful buildings, planes, space craft, etc....A starting salary of $60,000 is not unreasonable.

2) Not having a bachelors in engineering will not pose serious problems to me getting my PE--I know this is true for California--unless I misinterpreted the web site dealing with engineering licensure.

3) I will receive a highly competitive SMART scholarship (federal government pays for college and in return you commit to work for the DOD for a couple of years)--being a veteran will give me a leg up.
Thanks


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## Fluvial (Dec 24, 2009)

BadJuju270 said:


> 1) With a masters in structural engineering, I am not limited to inspecting plans for buildings, designing runoff systems for highways, or anything else that is ho hum.


With a master's in structural engineering, I certainly hope you're not designing runoff for highways ! 

By that I mean, you wouldn't be expected to practice outside of your realm of expertise (structures).

That being said, I think that the work you do would depend entirely upon your employer. I've got a master's degree and yes, sometimes I design mundane and ho-hum things. That's because I choose to work in a geographic area that doesn't have so many high profile, sexy projects. In other areas you may find engineers with bachelor's degrees being involved in innovative, exciting projects.


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## picusld (Dec 30, 2009)

BadJuju270 said:


> I have a B.A. in mathematics and plan on starting grad. school for structural engineering in the fall of 2010; I am working on foundation courses now. I am a veteran and will be using the new post 9/11 gi bill. I plan on ultimately graduating from a top 20 program.
> I've sought answers on the web to the questions I ask here--I want more opinions. Please CONFIRM or DEBUNK the following assumptions. Share your life experiences and make me a more educated person.
> 
> 1) With a masters in structural engineering, I am not limited to inspecting plans for buildings, designing runoff systems for highways, or anything else that is ho hum. With my masters I expect to be able to find exciting work in the aircraft manufacturing industry, federal government, state government, or private industry. I will be designing bridges, nuclear reactors, overpasses, beautiful buildings, planes, space craft, etc....A starting salary of $60,000 is not unreasonable.
> ...


The more that I am in the business, the more I realize the imprortance of social skills and relationships. Education is only a piece of the puzzel when it comes to being succesful and getting the projects that you really want.

As for exciting...You are going into engineering right?

If you are looking for excitement, then I would pursue a fighter pilot position in the military or something in the service where you jump out of planes. Unless you got into demolition. That could be exciting.


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