So...I'm a year away from a BSME. I don't think I am all that ready to say goodbye to school just yet. Have any of you heard of graduate certificates? I'm looking at VT's graduate certificate in FEA (Certificate in Computational Engineering Science and Mechanics). How do you think HR people will view a grad certificate from VT? I would do a masters but I dont really care for doing a thesis. Plus I love Blacksburg. Thought? Thanks.

7/31/2011 4:40:23 PM

as best as i can tell, a graduate certificate just looks like a partial degree...which probably means that it wouldn't be of any professional benefit to you (except for the part about having learned more in school).

you do you realize that there are non-thesis master's degrees out there, right?

7/31/2011 4:55:36 PM

get to work

7/31/2011 9:06:34 PM

Do the certificate after you have a job.

Or do a full MS. But probably not, if you are waffling now.

^++

7/31/2011 10:17:54 PM

Quote :

"you do you realize that there are non-thesis master's degrees out there, right?"

8/1/2011 7:38:50 AM

Yeh, you can do a non-thesis masters, if you want to. However, I recommend you look into an MS (thesis based)... any reason you say you don't care to do a thesis? Do you want your education paid for? Do you want to do something meaningful? Do you want to do more than just classes?

8/1/2011 10:36:47 AM

First and foremost, what do you want to DO with your degree when you get out of school. Just being honest, but for a lot of engineering jobs masters degrees really don't add a ton of value to your resume.

There certainly are jobs and career paths where that helps though, so I am not trying to make a blanket statement, just something to think about.

8/1/2011 2:13:43 PM

I'm willing to bet than an internship in a relevant field would get you in more doors than a graduate certificate

8/2/2011 10:44:02 AM

agreed 100%. That's why I was wondering what they wanted to actually do with the degree (if they know yet).

8/2/2011 9:04:49 PM

AFAIK, NC States Engineering Online offers non-thesis Masters degrees.

8/4/2011 10:55:05 PM