Aero/Mechanical Engineering Double Major

RunningMoose

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Jan 19, 2017
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How feasible is a double major in Aeronautical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering? I want to study Aeronautical Engineering but am worried that it is too specialized. I think a broader base would be provided from Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering, but I'm not sure if that would be a crazy amount of work. I think Mechanical would be a better choice because it is more closely related to Aeronautical. Any advice?
 
How many classes do you anticipate to validate/transfer once you get to the academy?

Go to this website: https://www.usafa.edu/academics/registrar/curriculum/
Download the Curriculum Handbook and then cross reference the two majors for overlapping classes.

I've never heard of anyone doing a MechE and Aero double major, but you could be the first.
 
I anticipate validating an English credit from AP Literature and Composition- as well as taking English 121 at a local community college, a Math credit from the AP Calculus class, and potentially an AP Physics credit.
 
FYI - you can validate English 111 at the Academy but NOT English 211. Hope to save you some time.
 
I'm assuming that is the second level English course, which translates to English 211 at the Academy. The Academy does not allow transfer credit for this course.
 
I'm assuming that is the second level English course, which translates to English 211 at the Academy. The Academy does not allow transfer credit for this course.

Thanks for the info! Do you think they would validate a first level English course for taking a second level class?
 
Thinking ahead is always a good idea, but I would caution you to not put too much time into thoughts of your major or double major at this time. My DS started last year and for years was certain he would major in Astro. Academics are his strong suit at USAFA. The Class of 2020 had an average of validating 1 to 2 classes. My DS validated 7 and 9 was the highest number he heard in the class.

He ended up majoring in Computer and Network Security which is the newest major at the academy. He is minoring in Japanese (which I found strange since he took AP French and AP Spanish in high school). Once he got to USAFA and started learning more about careers in the USAF it affected his decisions.

Best of luck to you.
 
RunningMoose, Here is an excerpt from the 2019 "Instructions to Appointees" handbook that details how you may be able to validate English:

English Placement.
Your score on either an AP or IB test or your grade in a college-level writing course will determine whether you will receive validation or transfer credit for English 111, Introductory Composition and Research.
Validation. You may validate English 111 by taking: 1) the College Board's AP exam in literature/composition or language/composition (you must score a five on either test) or 2) the IB exam in literature (you must score at least a five). Send the record of your official score to HQ USAFA/DFENG, 2354 Fairchild Dr, Suite 2G13, USAF Academy CO 80840.
Transfer. You may qualify for transfer credit if you earned an A- or higher in a freshman English composition course at an accredited four-year college or university. You may also qualify for transfer credit if you earned an A- or higher in an English composition course at an accredited two-year college AND also scored exceptionally well on the verbal component of the SAT or ACT exam (700+ SAT or 30+ ACT). College courses that are taught in a high school and given concurrent high school credit do not qualify for transfer credit. We only award transfer credit for courses that include numerous writing assignments, instruction in argumentation, and a significant research paper. We will check transcripts submitted to USAFA to determine whether you meet these requirements.
 
How feasible is a double major in Aeronautical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering? I want to study Aeronautical Engineering but am worried that it is too specialized. I think a broader base would be provided from Mechanical Engineering or Electrical Engineering, but I'm not sure if that would be a crazy amount of work. I think Mechanical would be a better choice because it is more closely related to Aeronautical. Any advice?
I do not see any advantage in having a dual Mech & Aero Engineering degree. In my mind Aero is just a more specialized Mechanical Engineering degree, and I would advocate the broader based Mech undergraduate degree. Most if not all job requirement would accept either degree and the actual engineering degree will have less importance after your 4-5 years of work experience. Graduate degree opportunities would not be impacted either.
 
Future AFROTC cadet here. I wanted to major in aerospace engineering since I was in 8th grade, but my dream school did not offer it. I have talked to several aviation/aerospace professionals at job shadows, EAA AirVenture (largest aviation gathering in the world), and online inquiries, and the only case where they would not hire a mechanical engineer for an aerospace engineer position is if aerodynamics was the principal concern of the role, in which case the aerospace engineer would generally need a MS or PhD. Most aerodynamic tasks are executed via computational fluid dynamics anyways. I bring up the private sector not because this is your ultimate goal, but instead it's where I could procure the most information on this issue.

Besides, in the AF, a 62E (if you are considering developmental engineering as your AFSC) is more concerned with project management than design/testing in most cases. Those responsibilities are usually contracted out, negating any specificity in majors. I would also recommend looking at the flowcharts for each major. I'm not sure how engineering programs are structured at USAFA, but mechanical and aero engineering are usually extremely similar up until the final year, and that discrepancy in fluid dynamics/aerodynamics/astrodynamics courses can be remedied with technical electives.

Other posters, please point out any misconceptions I may have made. Hope this helped!
 
My school didn't allow an aero/meche double major. So I did mechanical to get the breadth and then did all my electives in aero/Astro and got a minor in aerospace.
 
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