I did something very similar to this a few years ago. Graduated with a BA in International Relations, worked for a bit, and then decided to go back to school for civil engineering. What I ended up doing was applying for a graduate program (since my undergraduate experience taught me that a graduate program was the way to go after undergraduate!), and started taking classes as a non-degree student. Since there were significant prerequisites for the master's program, I ended up taking some community college courses to fulfill those while working part-time. Meanwhile, as I did more research, I decided to enroll in an undergraduate civil engineering program, since I had to do so many prerequisites anyway and I wanted to be able to sit for the PE in the minimum amount of years. So a few years later, I'm done with my undergraduate degree in civil engineering, and am working full-time at an engineering firm while I am finishing up my master's part-time.
Things I wish I had known:
- A master's isn't really that valued going entry-level into a job. That trajectory might give you a little bit more of a pay bump when you go in, but I wasn't hired for my master's, I was hired for my undergraduate and internship experience.
- It's really hard to stay focused in a master's program when you're working full-time, especially when the work may be not directly-related to my work. I have had the opportunity to do some school projects that were helpful to share at work, and use work to inform some of my school projects, etc. but my thesis is not directly related to my work (I started the thesis work before I started FT work) and I'm having a hard time "selling" that batch of unique skills with my current employer.
Things I'm glad I did:
- Getting an undergraduate civil engineering degree. My knowledge is so much more well-rounded as a result, and I don't have to worry about extra recommendations, etc. to be able to qualify for the PE. It's nice to have an EIT after my name too.
What I wish I would have done / might recommend to you:
- As others have suggested, start working. Get experience, even as a field tech or a CAD tech or something. It's a skill that will apply directly to your engineering experience and will make you stand out against other engineers.
- I think I would have just started working full-time (or even part-time, if that works better for you, although typically tuition reimbursement is only available to FT employees) at an engineering firm and work really hard (part-time) at an undergraduate program to finish off the civil engineering. I think it would be okay to do a master's too (especially if you have most of the prereqs), since the coursework-only track is just a glorified, more specialized undergraduate degree in my opinion (i.e. can be very broad and has easy-to-reach requirements to graduate). Ideally, though, to take full advantage of the master's experience, I probably would have only done a master's thesis that was directly related to my work so they can feed into each other.
Those are my 2 cents! I will also say I have a co-worker who completed a master's degree without an undergraduate in civil and is currently working at an engineering firm, although he doesn't have an EIT. It believe it was was a hard sell for a firm to hire him, though, and he had a short career in teaching high school before getting picked up by a firm.
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Kristine Mosuela EIT, S.M.ASCE
Water Resources Engineer
Centreville VA
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Original Message:
Sent: 08-25-2019 15:22
From: Raul Gil
Subject: Non-engineer looking to enter the Civil Engineering profession
Hello all,
My background is in eology and will be graduating soon. At this point in my academic career it is perhaps in my best interest to simply finish up my undergraduate education in geology, essentially finish what I started. Last semester I was in my college's civil department, but due to the financial stresses that cloud my path I had to go back to geology so that I can finish that up and start working to get a hold on my situation, which I luckily do have professional experience in as far as internships go. I have looked and applied to scholarships, for example ones such as those offered by ASCE, but have received nothing, nor from my university application as well. If it means anything, I am completing a minor in environmental engineering.
I have been an active participant of my university's ASCE student chapter for about a year, and will continue to do so. I participated in representing my university in the local conference, giving a presentation. As one might be able to tell I am dedicated to the Civil Engineering profession, just that I need to access it.
I have spoken to my mentors and they say that this is not it. What is an option is going back and completing a masters program they tell me. My only concern is this really going to get me into civil, since masters programs essentially have you specialize and not cover a breadth of disciplines like you do in an undergraduate program? For some context, the areas of civil that interested me were water, geotech, and environmental.
Best,
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Raul Gil S.M.ASCE
Las Cruces NM
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