Physics-Engineering
Dual Degree Program
McMurry University has several Physics and Engineering programs available
for our students. If you are considering engineering, then it may help to
read over the Differences
Between Physics and Engineering section of the Welcome Incoming
Students webpage. All of the Physics/Engineering options will start
you in the same set of classes. It is not until your sophomore or junior
year that the schedules will diverge. We have Bachelor-Bachelor programs
available currently, but we encourage you to consider the Bachelor-Masters options.
Development of the Dual-Degree Idea
A Professional Degree: Back in the '50s and '60s, a Bachelor's of Science in Engineering was a 150 credit-hour degree. This was the professional degree with which an engineer was considered qualified to work in the industry. Since most degree programs were 125 credit-hours, universities pressured the schools of engineering to reduce their requirements and they did. However, the Bachelors has remained the traditional professional degree. Recently, there has begun a push towards making the Masters of Engineering the professional degree because, when counted with the bachelors, it is back to the 150 credit-hour degree scale.Engineering Physics Programs: Engineers typically try to answer the question "How can I make this work in the real world?" and therefore tend to focus on the application of technology. Physicists typically try to answer the question "Why does this work at all?" and therefore tend to focus on fundamental science. Physics is in some sense the "liberal arts" of engineering. With a degree in physics, one may not know enough (yet) to be able to do the details that the engineers do, but a physicist should be able to talk at a technical level with an engineer from any engineering field with a minimum of catching up. Engineers and physicists use different notation and focus on different aspects of the various fields, but because physics is more general, covering ideas related to all of the engineering disciplines, a physicist should be able to transition into an engineering field. In addition, an engineer who was trained in physics should be able to connect their discipline to other engineering disciplines.
The Dual BS Idea: This idea is sometimes called a 3-2 program; but this name is a little awkward because it is also used in other contexts to refer to a different idea. This dual Bachelor's degree refers to a student who starts as a physics undergraduate at a school with no engineering program, takes their general education and intro physics courses, and then transfers to an engineering school to take nearly 3-years worth of engineering courses (and no general education). McMurry currently has a dual degree agreement with Texas A&M University in which a student who majors in physics for three years and takes at least 90 credit hours (average 15 hrs per term, but we recommend a little more) can transfer up to A&M and finish off their engineering bachelors degree in two more years. The university agrees that the courses taken at McMurry will satisfy the general education and pre-requisite courses for Engineering at Teaxs A&M and that the Engineering courses taken at Texas A&M will count as advanced Physics courses for the McMurry University degree. After successful completion of the coursework at both schools (in a minimum of 5 years), you will receive two degrees: a Bachelor of Science from McMurry and a Bachelor of Engineering from A&M.
There are three cautions that I will put with this: First,
you should notice that this does not give you the 150-credit-hour
master's degree, but it does get you a well-rounded Bachelor's degree, which is
the professional degree with which you can get a job.
Second, you will be taking
3-5 engineering courses per term after you transfer and a student who is not motivated might
spend more than two years finishing the engineering degree.
Third, primarily for students from smaller high schools
who are considering McMurry because they are uncertain about being at a large engineering school,
you should be aware that graduate programs (even at large engineering schools) have a small feel
to them even if the undergraduate programs do not. The undergraduate engineering programs
are lockstep and all the students take the same set of courses and form communities.
You are likely to be more comfortable either starting at the engineering school as a freshman undergraduate
or finishing a physics degree and then transferring to an engineering graduate program
rather than starting at one school and trying to transfer into a big school where students
have already formed their friendships.
The Other 3-2 Idea: The phrase "a 3-2 program" at an
engineering school may instead refer to an engineering student who is academically
strong and motivated enough to finish a sufficient amount of their undergraduate
coursework in a specific engineering discipline to begin their graduate work in
the same engineering discipline while technically still an undergraduate. Some
engineering schools developed these 3-2 programs for their students because of
the situation regarding the professional degree (mentioned above). This would
allow a student to finish their masters in 5 years instead the usual 6.
Of course, it is necessary for these students to be continuing on in the
same discipline that they studied as an undergraduate.
Changing Fields: If an engineer wishes to change fields
from undergraduate to graduate school, then they need what are sometimes called "Leveling
Courses" to get up to speed in the new field. (These are also called "post-bachelaureate courses.")
Typically after a student
takes their bachelors in one field, they can spend their first year of graduate
work taking the leveling classes in a new field and then move into the coursework
of the new discipline. The number of leveling courses that are needed
depends on which discipline one transfers from as well as which discipline
one goes to, but these courses generally do exist and there is a demand for
them.
A New Idea: For a variety of reasons, it would be advantageous
to develop a smooth transition from a physics bachelors degree to an engineering
masters degree. Because of the differences in perspective between the
fields one cannot reasonably expect to get a jump on graduate engineering courses
while working on an undergraduate physics major. However, McMurry faculty
are currently working with Texas Tech (and possibly others) to develop opportunities
to smooth the transition into various engineering graduate programs. The idea
is to make use of the leveling courses that exist for engineers who are switching
fields, use these as the physics electives during senior undergraduate year, and allow
a student who graduates with a BS in physics from McMurry and who has had
these classes to enter directly into the engineering graduate program with
a minimal amount of leveling. See below for the latest developments in this regard.
Summary of what is currently available
Bachelor-Bachelor Programs: McMurry currently has a
dual degree agreement with Texas A&M University
in which a student who majors in physics for three years and takes at least
90 credit hours (average 15 hrs per term, but we recommend a little more)
can transfer up and finish off their engineering bachelors
degree in two more years. (Caution: You will be taking 3-5 engineering
courses per term and a student who is not motivated might spend more than
two years finishing the engineering degree.) The university agrees
that the courses taken at McMurry will satisfy the general education and
pre-requisite courses for Engineering
at Teaxs A&M and that the Engineering courses taken at Texas A&M will count as advanced Physics courses for the McMurry University
degree. After successful completion of the coursework at both schools
(in a minimum of 5 years), you will receive two degrees: a Bachelor of Science
from McMurry and a Bachelor of Engineering from A&M.
Bachelor-Masters Programs: Because it is not uncommon for students to transition from undergraduate physics or math into engineering graduate programs, there is no formal agreement of acceptance at this time. However, after extensive discussions with Texas Tech School of Engineering there are recommended class lists for undergraduate physics majors to consider as electives if they are planning to go to graduate school in engineering. We have recommendations for students who are considering Civil Engineering (structural or environmental), Mechanical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering (hardware, not software), and Chemical Engineering. (Obviously, for a transition into Chemical Engineering, one should major in Chemistry not Physics.)
Updates: 1/28/08 Removed 3/2 program with Texas Tech. WK. 8/17/07 Update format. WK. 6/13/05 Rearranged the page due to the number of inquiries recently received; added recommendations. 6/13/03 Completely rework the page due to the number of inquiries recently received.
1/12/00 Fixed three typos (upper division requirements, and "three years") by JC. 10/16/00 Degree Plan added by JC. 9/22/00 Incoming and Brochure added by JC. 3/14/00 Page Created by Joseph Christensen.
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