UK vs North America

[tulum]

I have been looking at grad school.

Can anyone enlighten me on how a Msc in the UK compares to that of a Canadian/US one? Is it equivalent?

Regards,
TULUM

 

[nad3ooo]

uhm, whats a Msc?


-nadz(american)

 

[ScottyUK]

Should be M.Sc: abbreviation for Master of Science. Also B.Sc: Bachelor of Science; M.Eng: Master of Engineering; B.Eng Bachelor of Engineering.

The terms 'bachelor' and 'master' amuse me. Bachelor seems an odd term for a field which is trying to attract more female entrants. Master is a bit optimistic for someone who has just graduated.



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If we learn from our mistakes,
I'm getting a great education!

 

[tulum]

ScottyUK,

From your definitions I guess I am pretty safe to say that the M.Sc. in the UK has the same meaning as North America.

Regards,
TULUM

 

[jmw]

Same meaning, but are they equivalent?

JMW

http://www.ViscoAnalyser.com

 

[ScottyUK]

Tulum,

The M.Sc or M.Eng is now the base requirement for meeting the academic element of professional registration as a Chartered Engineer (C.Eng) in the UK. C.Eng is broadly the same as your PE, although it is assessed differently and over a much longer period.

Historically the academic requirement for C.Eng was a B.Sc or B.Eng, but the standard was 'raised' a few years ago by the IEE and IMechE. Whether the C.Eng standard is any higher as a result of the change or whether the new requirement for a Master's degree is to compensate for a fall in the quality of graduates from the Bachelor's degree courses is open to interpretation. You can probably guess from the tone what my interpretation is.



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If we learn from our mistakes,
I'm getting a great education!

 

[tygerdawg]

In US, engineering schools are accredited by an organization called ABET (forget what it means...maybe American Board of Engineering & Technology?). To get accreditation, the school must pass certain standards for curriculum, facilities, enrollment, research activities, faculty, etc. There are lots of lesser schools (some people call them "Tech Schools" or otherwise) that produce diplomas in "Engineering Technology" programs (2-year or 4-year programs). Useful degrees and training, but does not meet the rigorous definition of "engineering curriculum". Certainly by saying this I'll get yelled at by the folks that actually have those types of degrees, but the truth is the truth.

Having editorialized all of THAT, then it can be said:

US Bachelor of Science degree: 4 years ABET accredited engineering curriculum. Look up any engineering school on the internet and you'll see a roughly equivalent curriculum.

US Master of Science degree: 2 additional years after the BS of ABET yadda yadda yadda, etc., includes a requirement of professor-directed research and defense of a thesis in front of a committee.

Then you have other variations like Master of Engineering ( I have one of those) which is identical to MS except no thesis (even though I had to do the research).

TygerDawg