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Is anyone on PF a graduate of this program or familiar with it?

http://www.smu.edu/Lyle/Departments/EMI ... grams/BSMS

My son has recently been accepted to SMU with a decent sized scholarship from the University and an additional one from the Lyle School of Engineering, of which this program falls under. I notice that some schools house their Management Science program in the Economics department, but SMU has theirs in the Engineering School.

He's not exactly sure what he wants to major in (or where he is going to go to school) but is interested in both business and engineering, so this looks like it may be a compelling degree program for him.

I'd appreciate any feedback or opinions. Thank you.

Congratulations to your son!

Pretty new program? Or name change from industrial engineering? Cool career focus that involves optimizing operations and financial management while also setting one up for a CEO role years later.

Great list of hiring companies -- http://www.smu.edu/Lyle/Departments/EMI ... /Companies

Dean Christensen is innovative and dynamic. Your son will be in good hands. I've asked the Dean before why one should choose SMU over UT. Smaller classes, projects with hiring companies, internships, speakers, self-constructed majors, etc. Seems like SMU isn't just academic but very career-minded.

That is one of the major advantages of SMU. If you want to stay in Dallas you are exposed to the companies you may be working for early in your academic career. At a state school you would have to be in a very elite group to get that exposure.

Great feeder degree for management consulting work. As data becomes more available and prevalent in decision making, people that are highly skilled in building models will be in significant demand both at consulting firms and in corporate America.

It's curious that it's in the engineering school. I see it more as a business degree.

Get a full engineering degree. Minor in business.

whitwiki wrote:Get a full engineering degree. Minor in business.

Thought about that, but my engineering grades sucked. Switched to Accounting and everything fell into place.

whitwiki wrote:Get a full engineering degree. Minor in business.

If you want to be an engineer or manage a team of engineers, this is the path to go with. This management science thing is completely different and doesn't prepare one for a career in engineering (which is why I think it's weird that it is in the engineering school). It's really a business degree from what I can tell.

Thank you for the feedback. Even though he's been on campus literally over a hundred times for football and basketball games, he's taking the official SMU and Lyle tour later this month, so maybe that will help answer some questions, both general and specific.

Management Science = Industrial Engineering.

Far from a business school degree. Analytical classes have depth unlike the "math" classes offered in Cox.

Unfortunately, years ago, a certain professor in the E school fell in love with the word "management". Its a misnomer for this degree. Different than a traditional Engineering degree but very well respected as it requires a strong math background to do well.

Do your research on Industrial Engineering and you will be on the right track. Another option for your son to consider is majoring in something like EE or ME and then taking an MS in Operations Research (an applied mathematics degree).

CalallenStang wrote:Great feeder degree for management consulting work. As data becomes more available and prevalent in decision making, people that are highly skilled in building models will be in significant demand both at consulting firms and in corporate America.

It's curious that it's in the engineering school. I see it more as a business degree.

Most business school majors do not have the background to be true "financial engineers". It requires a strong background in subjects most B schools (the Ivy's excepted) do not teach.