What about California State University, Sacramento

[CHOCTICK]

I am going to graduate school for structural engineering next year. With regard to quality, what are the opinions of the California State University system in general and the Sacramento campus in particular? I know San Louis Obispo and San Jose State are good. Thanks for all replies.

[UnlikelyGrad]

I had good experiences with the CSU system (CSLA, SJSU). I'm not familiar with structural engineering depts, but both seemed to be excellent schools in terms of teaching quality overall as well as the chem department in general.

However, let me tell you that the CSU system is really, really hurting now (financially). If you don't live in CA you have no idea. Even if you do live in CA, if you don't go on campus at all you might not know just how bad it really is. You might think this has no impact on you, but it does--broken equipment might not be fixed, professors may not be able to pay you to do research, etc. When I was at SJSU last year my PI had problems getting maintenance to do anything!! They took four months to clear out the room that was supposed to be his office and then told him that it would be another year until he got a phone line installed!! (The jack was there, they just had to flip a few switches somewhere...) Personally, I wouldn't attend a CA state school right now if I could avoid it.

[CHOCTICK]

I live in Sacramento right now; I was not aware that the situation was so bad. When you say you would not attend a CA. state school right now, does this include those within the UC system also?

I will not be entering until next fall; maybe their finances will improve before then. I would be willing to do research for free--whatever it takes to get a quality education.... Thanks

[s1u8n]

I'm a student at CSU Fresno, I'm also gonna be applying to Structural Engineering programs. I did some research, and I think it's to your benefit to do graduate work at a research University, ones that grant PhD degrees. Cal Poly is a wonderful school, but if you want to get your MS, you might as well do it at Sac State. my 2 cents.

[CHOCTICK]

Sac State is not a research university; is it?

I most likely will receive a conditional admit to a graduate program in civil engineering since I have a degree in math and no engineering background. Ideally, I would only be at Sac State long enough to take my upper division pre. req. courses; then I would transfer to a more renowned program. I am thinking maybe three semesters at sac state then off to UCD or UCSD or the Ohio State University. Ohio State lets all veterans pay in state tuition. What do you think. Thanks.

[s1u8n]

UCD and UCSD are wonderful schools. I don't think you need three semester of pre-req classes. good luck

[CHOCTICK]

What do you all see the market for structural engineers(SEs) being like in say 4 years. To my surprise, I have been surprised to hear it is pretty competitive landing a SE job. I am hoping by obtaining a masters I will be more competitive. Is it difficult obtaining your PE licensure? I have heard it is very important for job growth but I have read only 10% of engineers has it. ??????

[zilch]

With structural engineering, there are relatively few new advancements (the ones I can think of off the top of my head are those related to earthquake proofing and efficiency) so it only really needs new blood to replace the retiring professionals where with some of the other engineering fields that need new people constantly because new areas of expertise keep popping up. You'd have to make a pretty clever argument to say that we need a better building than the sears tower (or whatever it's called now).

As for the PE license, The requirements are 4-fold. First, graduate from an accredited university. Second, pass the FE exam (relatively easy). Third, have a few years of work experience deemed appropriate by the state (the number of years and what not will vary by state, generally 3-4). Fourth, pass the PE exam.

As a PE, you are allowed to sign off and seal plans and engineering documents (basically you gain the power to approve plans as safe, workable, etc). You are also allowed to start a company with the word 'engineer' in the name, among other things.

The reason that so few engineers are PEs is because only the traditional engineering disciplines really require the approval of plans (Civil is about the only one I can think of where it's pretty much required, Mechanical is another field where it's a good idea but may not be necessary depending on what you do). For a computer engineer or bio-engineer for instance the license is almost completely moot so most don't bother.