How to Get a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering

Engineering relies on a broad base of general principles, but the practice of engineering increasingly involves intense specialization. Thus, while a bachelor's degree in engineering may give you a basic foundation of engineering knowledge to build upon, a master's degree might be the step that opens up more advanced areas of the profession to you. Thus, if chemical engineering is your chosen field, you might want to consider a master's in chemical engineering.

How do you decide to pursue a master's in chemical engineering? This guide was created to help you through the decision process. Just as any chemical engineering process has a series of discrete steps that are followed in a logical order, making decisions about a master's in chemical engineering is most effective if an orderly process is followed. Here are the steps in this decision process that this guide will detail:

1. Assessing the Need for a Master's in Chemical Engineering. This guide gives a quick review of areas of specialization within chemical engineering to help give you a feel for whether you have enough interest in any of those areas to pursue the advanced knowledge needed for a high-level career in that field.

2. Researching a Master's in Chemical Engineering. Whether you ultimately attend a prominent school or a lesser-known program, or whether you attend graduate school on campus or earn a master's degree online, you benefit from considering all the options before you make your choice of master's programs. This guide contains some resources you can use to find relevant master's programs and other helpful information related to continuing your education.

3. Evaluating Graduate Chemical Engineering Programs. This guide lists a series of criteria you can use to evaluate different programs offering an MS in chemical engineering. Think of this as the scientific method in action--the criteria are a series of tests you can apply to the different possibilities until you find out which one best meets the conditions you have set.

4. Applying to Graduate Schools in Chemical Engineering. Of course, making your choice is not the end of the process--you still need to be accepted by the program of your choice. This guide gives you some ideas of what to expect in the application process so you can present your qualifications to the fullest advantage.

5. Doing More with Your MS in Chemical Engineering. As important as it may be to earn your MS in chemical engineering, there are some other steps to take to complement your academic credentials, so you can ultimately present yourself as a fully-rounded candidate in the job market.

If you are ready to begin, the process starts with deciding whether you need a master's in chemical engineering.

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How to Get a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering

Engineering relies on a broad base of general principles, but the practice of engineering increasingly involves intense specialization. Thus, while a bachelor's degree in engineering may give you a basic foundation of engineering knowledge to build upon, a master's degree might be the step that opens up more advanced areas of the profession to you. Thus, if chemical engineering is your chosen field, you might want to consider a master's in chemical engineering.

How do you decide to pursue a master's in chemical engineering? This guide was created to help you through the decision process. Just as any chemical engineering process has a series of discrete steps that are followed in a logical order, making decisions about a master's in chemical engineering is most effective if an orderly process is followed. Here are the steps in this decision process that this guide will detail:

1. Assessing the Need for a Master's in Chemical Engineering. This guide gives a quick review of areas of specialization within chemical engineering to help give you a feel for whether you have enough interest in any of those areas to pursue the advanced knowledge needed for a high-level career in that field.

2. Researching a Master's in Chemical Engineering. Whether you ultimately attend a prominent school or a lesser-known program, or whether you attend graduate school on campus or earn a master's degree online, you benefit from considering all the options before you make your choice of master's programs. This guide contains some resources you can use to find relevant master's programs and other helpful information related to continuing your education.

3. Evaluating Graduate Chemical Engineering Programs. This guide lists a series of criteria you can use to evaluate different programs offering an MS in chemical engineering. Think of this as the scientific method in action--the criteria are a series of tests you can apply to the different possibilities until you find out which one best meets the conditions you have set.

4. Applying to Graduate Schools in Chemical Engineering. Of course, making your choice is not the end of the process--you still need to be accepted by the program of your choice. This guide gives you some ideas of what to expect in the application process so you can present your qualifications to the fullest advantage.

5. Doing More with Your MS in Chemical Engineering. As important as it may be to earn your MS in chemical engineering, there are some other steps to take to complement your academic credentials, so you can ultimately present yourself as a fully-rounded candidate in the job market.

If you are ready to begin, the process starts with deciding whether you need a master's in chemical engineering.

Assessing the Need for a Master's in Chemical Engineering

If your bachelor's degree has given you a solid background in engineering principles, and possibly even a working knowledge of chemical engineering, then why do you need a master's in chemical engineering? Well, a master's degree--most likely be an MS in chemical engineering--can do the following things for you:

• Increase your depth of knowledge. Given the highly-specialized applications of chemical engineering in the workplace, a general understanding of the field can be greatly enhanced with some advanced knowledge in particular aspects of chemical engineering.
• Update your knowledge. Chemical engineering, while a time-honored branch of engineering, is also a very dynamic area of science. New theoretical and practical developments are taking place all the time, so a master's degree can be an excellent way to refresh your knowledge base.
• Improve your credentials. Chemical engineering is a field which tends to attract very bright people, so an advanced degree might be a good way to make your credentials stand out in the competition for jobs and promotions.
• Lay the groundwork for a career in academia. If you have your sights on a career in teaching or research, an MS in chemical engineering can be a stepping stone to an eventual PhD in chemical engineering.

Specialized fields of study you might pursue in the course of earning an MS in chemical engineering include:

• Thermodynamics and molecular computation
• Transport processes
• Catalysis and chemical reaction engineering
• Polymers
• Materials
• Surfaces and nanostructures
• Biological engineering
• Energy and environmental engineering
• Systems design and simulation

These areas of specialization are applied in a variety of practical fields, including:

• Energy generation
• Environmental sciences
• Biomedicine
• Electronics materials and processes
• Food production
• Materials development and enhancement

If any of these fields interests you, then you could benefit from the advanced knowledge conveyed by a master's degree. In that case, you should move on to the next step of researching schools offering a master's in chemical engineering.

Researching a Master's in Chemical Engineering

According to the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, chemical engineering is one of the most widely-available curricular areas of engineering, with well over 100 accredited programs in the United States. Part-time programs and the ability to earn a master's degree online make some of these options even more accessible. The following are some resources that can help you consider all the opportunities available to you:

• Online college guides and directories. Online resources like WorldWideLearn.com can help you whether you plan to earn a master's degree online or attend an on-campus program. Besides helping you identify specific schools, WorldWideLearn.com can help you prepare to apply to master's programs with education resources on topics like accreditation and financial aid.
• National publications. Besides dedicated resources like WorldWideLearn.com, publications like Kiplinger's and U.S. News & World Report periodically print special features highlighting academic programs.
• The U.S. Department of Education. You can visit the Department of Education for a variety of information, including background on accreditation and instructions on applying for federal financial aid.
• Specific college and chemical engineering program Web sites. The more your search starts to focus on a handful of programs, the more you can turn to the Web sites associated with those programs for detailed information on curricula, admissions requirements, resources, costs, faculty, and campus characteristics.

These and other sources can give you the raw material to work with in your search process. The next step is to apply the analysis that can turn that raw material into a conclusion about where you want to apply to graduate school.

Evaluating Graduate Chemical Engineering Programs

Below is a list of evaluation criteria you can use in choosing a graduate school. You may want to weight some criteria more heavily than others, but working through an extensive list of factors like the one below can help you make sure you've considered the issue from every angle.

• Accreditation status. A degree only has full value if the program is properly accredited. The Department of Education Web site mentioned above is a good place to turn for information on the accreditation process and accrediting agencies.
• Location. If you don't have a suitable program nearby, you could face a tough decision about moving or living on campus while you pursue your master's degree. If you want to have your pick of programs without moving, one alternative is to earn a master's degree online.
• Scheduling compatibility. If you have work or family obligations, you'll want to make sure that the master's program you choose can be scheduled around those other commitments. Some schools offer evening or weekend sessions to help with these scheduling issues, and you may also find scheduling easier if you earn a master's degree online.
• Cost. Cost is a very important factor to consider. You don't want to get into a master's program only to have to drop out because you can't afford it. Set your sights on schools that fit your budget, and consider lower-cost options such as online master's degree programs. Be sure to consider any financial aid that is available to you before making a final decision based on cost.
• Admissions standards. Try to ascertain the range and average of test scores and undergraduate grades among people who were accepted to the program. This should allow you to compare your credentials and assess whether you have a realistic shot at being accepted.
• Reputation. Reputation can be measured subjectively by talking to people familiar with the chemical engineering profession, and you can also get more objective indicators of a program's standing by looking at placement statistics on its graduates.
• Faculty. It's important to know the size of the faculty relative to the number of students in the chemical engineering program. You should also consider what educational, professional, and publishing credentials the faculty members have.
• Campus environment. If you are planning to attend an on-campus master's program, the size and character of the campus might be very important to you. On the other hand, if you earn a master's degree online you won't have to worry about potential distractions from the campus environment.

By running through such an extensive list of selection criteria, you should be readily able to narrow your list of potential schools down to just two or three finalists. This can help you focus effectively on the application process.

Applying to Graduate Schools in Chemical Engineering

As you get ready to begin the application process, review each school's requirements carefully, and don't assume that the process is the same from one school to the next. Each school might have slightly different requirements or procedures, and this application process is an important opportunity to demonstrate your ability to follow directions precisely.

Some of the requirements you are likely to find include:

• Prior academic transcripts. Be sure to allow plenty of turnaround time when you request these, and review your transcripts for accuracy and completeness before making them available to graduate schools.
• Standardized test scores. If any of the schools you are applying to require that you take a standardized test, be sure to check out the testing schedule as early as possible to make sure you have an opportunity to take the test by the school's deadline. If you do this early enough, you might even be able to take a test a second time if you feel this would improve your score.
• Application forms. Whether you complete paper or online versions of a school's application form, be sure you have followed the instructions carefully and proofread your responses.
• Financial aid applications. Since the availability of financial aid may have an impact on your decisions about graduate school, you should try to secure financial aid commitments as early as possible.
• Letters of recommendation. When you ask someone to write you a letter of recommendation, it is helpful if you make suggestions about what aspects of your background should be included in the letter. Also, make sure you give the letter writers as much time as possible, and confirm that they understand what the deadline is.

Handling these tasks, especially if you are applying to multiple schools, all comes down to time management. Make a note of all the relevant deadlines early on, and schedule your work so that you have ample time to complete each task before its due date.

Doing More with Your MS in Chemical Engineering

Earning your master's degree is a great way to advance your career in chemical engineering, but there are other constructive steps you can take, both while you are in school and beyond. Here are some things to consider:

• Become a regular reader of relevant scientific journals. This can not only keep you up to date on scientific developments, but reading about how that science is being applied can give you career ideas as well.
• Write or assist with articles for publication in scientific journals. This can help you establish a reputation and give you some impressive lines to add to your resume.
• Gain relevant experience while you are in school. Finding part-time work or an internship that is related to chemical engineering can make you a much more attractive employment prospect once you get your degree.
• Join a professional society of chemical engineers. Becoming a member of a group like the American Institute of Chemical Engineers can give you access to career tips and updates on what is going in the field of chemical engineering.

By taking these steps and earning a master's in chemical engineering, you'll be gaining access to a body of knowledge that can pay off for years to come in the form of a career that is both financially and intellectually rewarding.

Sources

• Statistics. Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology
• Careers Quick Facts. American Institute of Chemical Engineers
• Chemical Engineers in Action.
• Chemical Engineering. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Engineers. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• The Database of Accredited Postsecondary Institutions and Programs. U.S. Department of Education
• Best Engineering Schools. U.S. News and World Report.

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