I would appreciate any EE major's advice as well as others:?

Question

Do you think it's relevant or helpful to complete a B.S. or higher degree in math before entering EE?

Answer 1

If you want two degrees, then go for it. But you asked if it's relevant or helpful. The answer is no. Engineering math is never going to be as "hard" as pure math. If you do a math degree first, the engineering math would be very easy, but then again if you like math, it's not going to make a big difference.

And regarding the different engineering disciplines, I can't say any involves harder math than another. Mechanical, civil, and electrical all involve roughly the same difficulty level of math.

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Yes Bekki is right. Numerical methods are huge in engineering. And a BS in math makes you a mathematician not an engineer.

Answer 2

Obviously, you like math.  Pursue math as high as you want.  But most engineering, you don't need anything beyond calc, differential equations, computer programming and statistics.

What you need to do is have the course work on your resume which looks good to someone in the ee department that will review your resume.  Talk to some profs at your school.  Look at the prereq for upper division and grad level ee courses.  I'd recommend that, at minimum, you have all of your lower division physics done.  You might even take a few upper division ee courses.  Good luck.

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Fluency in math is always good in engineering.  In ee, you might be dealing with quantum mechanic so some of your added math would be specifically helpful there and I'm sure in other areas too.

Where math applies in engineering is in constructing a model to predict physical actions.  The better you are with math -- and the better you are in imagining interactions, the better.

Answer 3

I took a double major in math and physics.  I'm glad I did, because I enjoyed it, not so much because it gave me a whole lot that I use today.  The math major courses teach you to think.  So if you have time to do so, take some, not so much because the math per se is valuable, but because it will make you smarter.  For example, one of the courses math majors take is real analysis.  This consists of learning calculus all over again, but proving every last little thing--dotting all the i's and crossing the t's.  I can't see how that's going to help an engineer except for the mental discipline it provides.  One thing any engineer or scientist should consider is cherry-picking some of the math major's elective courses.  Two of the most valuable courses I took as an undergrad were math electives--complex analysis and numerical solutions to differential equations.  Both of those have helped me directly.  The latter should be required for engineers and scientists.  Dr. D will probably agree.

And Abdullah is wrong--you can go straight to heart's desire after Koran.  Only if your heart's desire is math is it the will of Allah that you pursue it.

Answer 4

Yes, BS in math makes one an engineer, as opposed to a technician passing as engineer.

My advice would be studying the holy Koran first, then mathematics, and then whatever your heart desires.

Answer 5

It depends on which type of EE you are talking about, but I'm going to assume Electrical Engineering.

If that is what you are talking about then you should know that at my school, [Missouri University of Science and Technology] which is known for its engineering program, the prerequisite math courses for many EE classes [even basic ones] is Calc 2 or possibly enrollment in Calc 3 ate the same time as the introductory class for EE majors.

So depending on your background in math, you might be near graduation age before you can even take the EE courses.  In that case you migth comsider the math degree.

Other than that, I believe I have heard that if you don't have to the the double major, then it is really neither here nor there as far as employers are concerned.  A certain amount of math background is just assumed.

My boyfriend is an EE major right now, so I could ask him more if you'd like.

I also added the website for my school if you want to look for information there.

http://www.mst.edu

Answer 6

In general, engineering curricula include all the math you will require. Typically, you do not require a math degree.

A specific answer depends on what you would like to do with an EE degree. If you are planning to go into research, you can take extra math classes relevant to the field of research.