I am considering starting a Bachelor's Program from Excelsior College.

They are ABET certified and regionally accredited. They are a private, non-profit, regionally accredited and military subsidized.

I am currently Active Duty Air Force who works in the Biomedical Equipment Technology field. I currently hold an A.A. in Liberal Arts, A. A. S. in Clinical Engineering, a Bachelor's in Cybersecurity and will be finishing my MBA in a short time. When that transpires, I will have exhausted my Tuition Assistance and will have to begin to use my Post 9/11 GI Bill.

I originally wanted to get a Master's in Mechanical Engineering, but obviously, they require a background in Math, Science, or Engineering. I want to get this degree to bridge the gap between my Bachelor's and my current trade. I will be taking this degree at a slow pace and not accelerated as my other two degrees were. I have four and a half years in Active Duty and plan to do a full 20. I was hoping to get a Commission in the next FY18 set of OTS (Officer) boards, but we shall see how that pans out. I am a self-described lifelong learner, so if I am not going to school, I get antsy.

The degree plan is online and offers three concentrations; Electronics, Nanotechnology, and Power Systems. The best part about this degree is it really does bridge the gap I mentioned but still, builds on my current job skills. My experience could be applied to certain certifications, so I have read. Such as engineering certs as well as Project Management Professional. I am really enjoying my MBA, and I feel that my education really helps build my confidence to take on new challenges.

Is there any advice for those that might have some introspect on these matters? Thanks.

BSEE and MBA always make an awesome combo in todays high tech world. Your cybersecurity focus is also in demand and a good choice.  Its a sure fire way to land a management position if thats what you seek.  I applaud your ability to pursue so many educational endeavors. Just be sure to keep your knowledge timely and relevant if you stay in the military for your full 20 so you can compete when you get out.

How do you get an EE degree online?

I don't see how you can get an electrical engineering degree without math or science.  Online education for electronics is laughable.  Without any hands on, you will never get it.  

You should get some imaging training in MRI, CT or Nucmed and then job hop to a new hospital for an appropriate pay raise.  This will probably be quicker than spinning your wheels.  

I have been doing electronics since I was a freshman in high school.  Along the way, I have seen that many, many people try to wing it, that are poor in math in science and end up scrubbing baseboards at McDonalds.  Are you loving it?  

I understand your skepticism about an online degree. But I am Active Duty and it is the only option. It is pretty much the future as well, whether we like it or not. People buy food, guns, cars, and stocks online. Why would we not buy information online? It is an ABET certified program. One of two currently offered online. The other is with Arizona State and it is extremely expensive. I want to stay in school to keep a constant learning environment in order to stay relevant.

I have over 79 hours in electronic theory as that is what my current job is. I work in Biomedical Equipment technology. I was taught to troubleshoot on the component level.

As far as the lack of math or science. It is in the degree curriculum. I do not understand how that was not addressed.

But I started this discussion for candor, so please keep it coming.

I'm not knocking an online degree as I did my Aviation Safety BS (online and in class) while I was in and started my MA (all online) while I was in as well. Once I gout and joined the guard I finished my MA online and am now over half done with my MBA online. I was just asking because it would seem like doing a EE degree online would not let you get a lot of the hands on experience you would need.

I inferred from the OP's post that he was weak in math.  If so, he should get started on this.

Electrical Engineering requires the use of various higher level mathematical techniques.  You will need algebra, trigonometry, calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, matrix math,... even probability and statistics.  I'm sure I've forgotten a few, too.

Your OP did make it sound like you were avoiding the Mechanical Degree due to the pre reqs, math being one of those you listed. Perhaps that is where the confusion came from.

I am in the last stretch of my Mechanical Engineering degree. Are your questions concerning actual courses or what? Despite whatever experience you have, you will still need to complete all required math/science classes for an actual Engineering degree.

EE math is rarely taught outside the EE department.

Laplace Transforms are the workhorse.

Engineering Probability classes (especially for EE in signal analysis) are a foreign language to math departments.

I went around and around with a Math Professor that poked int by PhD in EE.

Luckily the EE PhD on the committees 'set him right' on how you make statistics work when you have zero failures in an experiment (you assign a failure to to the results that could have occurred in the next time interval of testing).

10,000 hours of failure free testing is treated as 10,000 hours of testing with ONE failure.  No more dividing by zero required.

It does then often require a factor of ten increase in the hours based on the activation energy, Ea,  of the mechanism under test.

Looks like it's EE Technology instead of EE.  Surprised it wouldn't still have a substantial amount of math.

This is a great point that I want to bring up. How far off is the "technology" aspect from a real engineering degree. I have searched this, but I would like to know what real people might have to say about this.

At the moment, EE technology is what is offered by Excelsior. I wanted to get into the Mechanical Engineering program but the math requirements prevent me from immediately entering. However, I am not trying to avoid this fact at all. I actually want to take math courses as it is a weak point that I need to work on. Noticing how much math was involved made me realize that accomplishing these courses would get me very far into a Bachelor's degree in the mentioned Electrical Engineering Technology program.

I cannot directly enter a Master's in Engineering.

Here is the link of ABET accredited online programs.  

http://www.abet.org/accreditation/new-to-accreditation/online-programs/

Here is the link to Excelsior's EE(T) program

http://www.excelsior.edu/programs/technology/electrical-engineering-technology-electronics-bachelor-degree

Electrical Engineering has great applicability to my current military career as mentioned earlier. But more importantly, it seems to be very versatile on the outside and bridges the gap between my IT degree and what I currently do.

Here is the Arizona State University. It is very expensive however and would have to be a long endeavor if I were to consider going. It is twice the cost. I can go, but I will have to use scholarships and other methods to fund this, as I do not want to exhaust my GI Bill for my daughter's sake.

http://asuonline.asu.edu/online-degree-programs/undergraduate/bachelor-science-engineering-electrical-engineering

Another option, but not ABET accredited just yet. My supervisor is currently in this program and mentions that they are currently undergoing the accreditation process.

http://www.amu.apus.edu/academic/schools/science-technology-engineering-and-math/bachelors/electrical-engineering.html

If non of these are a good option, then I am actually considering an online Bachelor's in Mathematics and will then later pursue a Master's in Mechanical Engineering. I am trying to diversify myself.

Thanks again for the feedback. I really appreciate your time.

EET is way off from EE, you don't even touch EM Wave Theory.

Wow, this is great feedback. So basically what kind of real world jobs do Engineering Technology degrees apply to?

http://www.abet.org/accreditation/new-to-accreditation/engineering-vs-engineering-technology/

This link is sort of contradictory as it says they may design, but not at the same time.

Snooping around they definitely appear to be pretty frequent.

At the end of the day, the degree will not make you an Engineer or eligible for apprenticeship or PE eligible, the way I gather it.

Correct. At a quick glance, it looks like the tech degree does not include Calc 3 as a requirement, but any actual Bachelor in engineering degree would require it. Not really a big deal since you will likely find it easier than calc 2 and/or dif eq. As far as any other course differences I cannot say since it does not appear, at least for UCF (where I am enrolled), that EE majors are required to take Dynamics, Thermo Dynamics, Fluids, Heat Transfer etc.

Okay, well I am currently enrolling for the October mid-semester in Electrical Engineering with Arizona State University. If for some reason the situation changes and I cannot afford this (I have another child on the way), I am going to end up with a Mathematics degree from AMU or Thomas Edison.

If I get picked up for a Commission before then, I suppose I will readdress the situation based on my new AFSC.

Thanks for your help everyone.

BSEE should have 3 full years of math in it.
The third year is Sturm-Liouville theory (Second order differential equation systems) and Boundary Value Problems, Complex math and conformal mapping, and then Z-transform to move into digital filtering.

Calc 1 (full year) covered differential, integral, and vector.
Calc 2 (full year) covered Linear calculus, differential equations, and Fourier and Laplace transforms.
In EE Laplace was also covered in the EE department since it is the circuit analysis workhorse.

EET is generally given the solution equations for a device and taught how to plug in numbers.
EE is shown how to analyze from nothing but a schematic.

The hardest most PITA math classes I ever took were called EE Networks 1 and Networks 2 and that was for my EE sequence* with my CS degree.

If you are getting an EE without a ton of difficult math, it's not a real EE degree and you will fail in the field.



Why are you not looking at a BME degree with you current experience?





* sort of a minor degree, but University of Texas College of Natural Sciences doesn't call it that.

I hate to burst your bubble but they are not BSEE ABET accredited.

An online ABET accredited B.S. of engineering degree doesn't exist.

Without ABET accreditation a engineering degree is a worthless piece of paper, even MIT finally caved and became ABET accredited.

I know a lot on this subject if want some advice, send me an email.

This school only has BSEET, not the even close to the same as BSEE.

Also just a masters in engineering will not get you a job, you must have an ABET accredited B.S. of engineering degree first for the masters degree to mean anything to an employer.

Attached File

Took it as an elective could have totally skipped it.
Along those lines I did skip thermo.  Yeah it was an ME course bit it seems like everyone takes it.

EE is really "Electrical Math". Even on the EET side, you can't really avoid it.

EET will impair your ability to advance to management in a EE-style career.

If you just want to work or go entrepreneurial, it won't impact you.

Email sent.

Having that 'T' on a degree means you are NOT an Engineer.

I worked with a guy with an MET degree.

That letter (by his own admission) cost him thousands of dollars a year in salary.

After about 20 years it finally did not matter.

Yeah, I am trying to get into programming in my spare time and am currently setting a goal to develop a few apps before I finish my Masters. I figured it was a great way to get my feet wet. But since it seems all but impossible can anyone recommend an online math program? As mentioned earlier I am looking at AMU or Thomas Edison State.

It looks like the ASU online program actually does have ABET surprisingly.  That said, the cost for their online stuff looks terribly high.  You'd be spending 30k+ per year and not even have labs or professors that you could interact with when stuff gets deep.  Only you can know if that's something that would work out.  In regards to Math, I'd say just find a local community college and take some courses for credit if you are planning on engineering.

I defer to your experience, but a light googling seems to say otherwise:

http://www.abet.org/accreditation/new-to-accreditation/online-programs/


no?

OP - I forgot to add, what do academics say about all the degrees you currently have? Seems like there's a natural progression, then there's degree collectors. Does that hurt you?

I just realized we have this forum lol. I just transferred my EET w/ Math / Science Concentration Associate's degree from my local Community College to ASU. Still working full time so I'm doing Linear Algebra the first half of this semester, and Diff Eq (maybe with a humanities elective) the second half.

Since ASU basically extends their in-state rate to everyone online, with any .mil money you might have + Pell Grant and fed / private loans it's pretty darn affordable. Surprisingly so actually. I'm also enjoying how their lectures and online format fit in so nicely with my busy schedule. I've had some huge lecture hall courses at a university and almost my entire AAS degree was in person, but I feel like I'm getting just as much if not more out of the online math class since I can re-watch lectures as much as I want.

I'm new to ASU myself but pm me if you have any questions.

Look into the philosophy department.

The lower level courses in logic are useful in EE.

The higher level courses are at least entertaining and many engineering programs require some 3000/4000 humanities courses.

Getting the prerequisites for the upper courses can be a PITA.

What level of math?  Are you comfortable with self-paced stuff or do you need an instructor/class setting?  Do you need credits?

I know.  I had almost all of that before I finished high school.  Muh National Honor Societys and stuff.  Fucking wizard and shit.  

Fourier transforms (time to frequency domain), Laplace transforms (time to s-domain), Z-transforms (time to z-domain), complex mapping & conformal mapping, Sturm–Liouville theory,
systems of second order differential equations (like systems of linear equations on steroids).

A classic problem is the two part pendulum.
One pendulum hanging from another.
Derive the equations of motion for both.

I came out of the NAVY with 6 years experience troubleshooting to component level. I had the idea that folks would be lining up to take me and pay me large sums of money to work on computers etc. Man was I wrong! The first rejection letter (of many) for me came from NASA. The FIRST sentence was, "thank you for your interest however, NASA does not employ anyone with a background in electronics engineering technology." It was a kick in the balls but it was what a I needed.
I enrolled at The University of Alabama in their electrical engineering school. My plan was to get my BS in EE and then go into sales like my brother in law who was making bank. It was a wonderful plan until I got to my FIRST test in Calculus Based Physics. I made an A in Calculus so applying it to physics should be a breeze, right? Ummm, hell no! I made a 36..... out of 100 and I studied all week for that test. I realized quickly that I am NOT an engineer. I believe you are either born as one or your not, and I'm not. I dropped out of the engineering school with a 3.8 GPA because I saw the writing on the wall and the curriculum damn sure wasn't going to get easier. I switched my major to accounting and finished my BS.
The moral of this story can be summed up in a quote by Mike Tyson of all people....
"Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the moufff"

One more thing OP, if you have to explain where your degree is from then it probably isn't worth getting it from there. Pay the extra $$$ and get it from Arizona State.

Good luck.

When I started in freshman engineering is was AKA as 'pre business.'

Only one third of each freshmen engineering class had an engineering degree in four years.

Freshmen 5 hour calculus was the first 'wash out' course.

We ran on 3 quarters of ten weeks each per year then.
Nine weeks of classes, a week for exams.

The introduction for the text said it was organized on semesters.
The book was designed to cover 4 semesters.
Two years.

We covered it in three quarters.
Five hour classes met for 1-1/2 hours five days a week.

Made for a nice big block on your class schedule.

My AP-BC calculus placed me out of the first two quarters.
I started in the vector calculus quarter.
It touched on Tensors by the end of the quarter.

It does look like Excelsior's online BEET is ABET accredited, so maybe things have changed substantially.  When I was attending the BMES program through NC State, that was set up through a local community college, they had to work very hard to get the program ABET accredited by setting up the proper labs and meeting a certain number, a very high number, of actual in-person courses.

Prior to that, I had earned an Associates In Applied Sciences, Nuclear Maintenance Technology, at another community college.  One of the guys I graduated with continued his education through Excelsior for a Bachelors in Nuclear Engineering Technology.  I know he spent a tremendous amount of money and I think he only had to take up to Calculus 2.  Once he earned the degree, he applied for a Masters at NC State because he had moved to the Raleigh area, and they basically told him to get a real 4 year degree and he could try applying with them again.