Opinions on obtaining a degree either BSEE or BSEET?

[testdepth]

I understand it should be regional and ABET. I have 20 years hands on experience working on electronic systems and I would like to obtain a degree. Are there any higher education institutions out there that are better than others? Has anyone out there been there done that and how?
Online degrees or traditional?

Thanks

JD:roll:

 

[wbalsam1]

http://www.allengineeringschools.com/featured/electrical-engineering/

:smile:

 

[mdshunk]

Stay away with BSEET. I can say that with authority, because that's what I went after first, and it's been totally worthless to me. The BSEE is the "real" degree. With a BSEET, you doom yourself to being an underling for all time.

 

[bbaumer]

Stay away with BSEET. I can say that with authority, because that's what I went after first, and it's been totally worthless to me. The BSEE is the "real" degree. With a BSEET, you doom yourself to being an underling for all time.

Agree 100%

 

[gar]

080709-2039 EST

The list in post #2 is quite lacking.

On-line degrees no way.

Consider a junior college with good transfer of credits to a major university.

Some of the top schools in the country are:
MIT, Penn State, Ohio State, U of Michigan, Purdue, etc. working west.
See
http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/eng/search

Your area of interest and home location may be a deciding factor. Different schools specialize in different areas.

For example:
Howard H. Aiken of Harvard conceived and was the driving force behind the development of the first working and useful digital computer.
At Lincoln Labs of MIT spread spectrum communication was created.
At the University of Michigan Willow Run Labs sidelooking radar was developed. Also the highest power laser has been developed at the U of M, and Michigan was a major part of the development of the Internet, and currently Internet 2.
Under Fred Terman at Stanford two guys by the name of Hewlett and Packard invented an RC phase shift oscillator that was the initial product of the Hewlett-Packard Company.

You can go all over the country and find good Universities. Look for ones that teach fundamentals. Everything is built upon basic knowledge.

.

 

[mivey]

Dude! You are in Georgia. You have one of the best right in Atlanta. Go Jackets!

 

[jbfan74]

Dude! You are in Georgia. You have one of the best right in Atlanta. Go Jackets!

Another Jackets fan!!! I can't wait for football to start.

Now to keep this OT so I don't get deleted.
It is a long way from Kingsland to Atlanta, and they do not offer much in the way of online classes.

 

[dereckbc]

agree BSEE is the better way to go. Stay away from online degrees like Phoenix and others, they are Red Flags for biz.

While I agree MIT, PSU are all great schools but you do not have to go to the best to get a good education. Just about every state in the union has good engineering schools.

If I had to do it all over again I would have probable gone the military route to pick up Secret Clearance as that would open many more doors to places like Lockhead, Sandia, Gruman, etc... where the really big bucks are.

 

[ed downey]

Be prepared to work long and hard for the BSEE degree. I complete a BS in Construction Science & Management then worked for an electrician and got my Masters. I then went to work for a GC and started back to school in the evening trying to get a BSEE well after 8 years of night school at UMKC I only have two years left. It has been a long hard road with lots of late nights.

Also you may want to look into a university with an Architectural Engineering Degree program. You will learn more about Electrical construction in that program. Most of the BSEE degrees today are geared towards the dual degree of Electrical & Computer Engineering with the emphasis on Electronics.

Good Luck in whatever you choose.

-Ed

 

[haskindm]

While I am "just an electrician" with a degree in English Literature, both of my sons got their EE degrees. As others have said, stay away from online degrees. Most of them are just a way to seperate you from your money. That said, most any reputable college will provide you with a fine education. In the end, most employers want to know if you have the degree and can do the job, it will make little difference what school name is on your diploma. My oldest son went to a VERY small school in the Boston area (900 students) and earned his EE. He now works on a NATO project for the US Navy as a civilian and travels all over the world supervising the testing and installation of this equipment. The younger son went the community college/transfer route and has a very good job working with a company that makes and sells data aquisition equipment.
Good luck.

 

[James@CHA]

I obtained my BSEET from a SUNY school.

Honestly, most employers dont know the difference. After college during the interview process most asked what the difference was. I told them the BSEET was more practice and less theory than the BSEE. While others didnt really pay any attention to it.

In my field of consulting, the BSEEE and BSEET are interchangeable. That being said, a large advantage of the BSEE is the 8 years of credit toward the PE. My BSEET got me 6 years "experience" towards my PE, a BSEE would have granted 8 years.

 

[bbaumer]

Been awhile since I checked but I believe in my state you cannot get a PE unless you have graduated from an ABET accredited college of Engineering. EET won't qualify. Also, the degree does not count for any years experience. You have to have 4 years after graduating working under engineering supervision. At least that is how it was in 1996.

I do know that many years ago you could get a PE in my state with a EET. Maybe even without a degree at all if you could pass the test but that was decades ago.

 

[bbaumer]

I just looked up the requirements in Indiana here:

http://www.in.gov/pla/files/ENGINEERS_Compilation_March_2008.pdf

It only refers to "approved engineering curriculum". Does not say EE or EET or similar. It does specifically detail number of semesters for each type of course which I don't believe most Technology degree programs will meet. I recently looked at Purdue's MET and ME degree programs with my nephew (who'll be a freshman there this fall) and I don't think the MET program has the calculus or the physics that are required to sit for the PE exam.

 

[petersonra]

Stay away with BSEET. I can say that with authority, because that's what I went after first, and it's been totally worthless to me. The BSEE is the "real" degree. With a BSEET, you doom yourself to being an underling for all time.

I am inclined to agree to some extent. I got a BSEET in 1981. Back then, most places considered them more or less equivalent, and many places preferred them. These days there is more of a focus on certifications and such, and a BSEET is not typically going to get you a PE due to the differing curriculum.

Go get a BSEE and sit for the FE/EIT test (or whatever it is called these days) while you are still in school and can remember the stuff.

Take the PE test first chance you get, or you will have forgotten it.

Keep in mind that in many states it is tough to get a PE because you often are required to work under the supervision of a PE and many working engineers are not PEs.

Used to be that virtally all the PEs I knew were actually salesmen and most had always been salesmen, so I am not sure just how they satisified the work experience requirement.