Switch from Chemistry B.Sc. to ChemE M.Sc.

[u/Big-Lead-9864]

Hello everyone,

I am currently thinking of starting a Bachelor's in chemistry and then switching to ChemE for my Master's and I have a few questions about this and maybe you guys can help me here. (Living in Germany btw, this post might be primarily for Germans and people from the Nordic countries, if there are any here)

First off, I will probably start my Bachlor's degree in Chemistry this fall in a Uni close to my hometown; I am really interested in chemistry and was pretty good in chemistry and physics in school so I think this is not a bad thing. I am also kind of interested in ChemE, but the universities close to me don't offer a ChemE program and I currently don't want to move (long story but I really don't want to move right now). Since the job opportunities and the industry in general are better in ChemE I am thinking about doing a Master's in ChemE after, and according to the internet (I did some research) this should be possible; apparently a lot of people switch to ChemE after a bachelor's in chemistry, although this is not the norm. The chemistry program that I am going to take has a lot of physics (of course) like thermodynamics etc, maths and stuff that goes in the engineering direction such as reaction engineering. I am not super good in maths, although I think I can pass everything fairly well, that's also part of the reason why I am unsure of doing a B.Sc. in ChemE. So this is basically the backstory here, I am just going to throw a few questions at you, feel free to answer as many as you can/want, I would greatly appreciate it!

Do you guys think it is possible / even likely that I can switch to ChemE after a B.Sc. in chemistry? Especially with a lot of coursework in relevant areas? (As far as I know my uni has more of these engineering-like courses than others) I am generally interested in studying in Germany or the Nordic countries (N, S, Fi, DK), are there places where it is explicitly possible to switch? Maybe specific universities? Does anyone have personal experience with this or knows someone who switched? Of course a decent gpa will probably raise my chances but maybe also industry internships etc might be useful?

As you may realize, I am really unsure about this and, again, I would greatly appreciate any help and advice I can get.

[u/ginganinja709]

I know a bunch of people who did a masters in chemE after doing a bachelors in chemistry, one thing id look out for though is licensure requirements for engineers where you are or where you would like to work. Where i am in canada and some states in order to become a licensed professional engineer you need a bachelors in engineering, they dont consider a masters equivalent since its missing a lot of the core competencies you learn in an undergraduate engineering degree.

[u/korath95]

Without knowing specifics of requirements in your location it's definately possible. We had a MS CHME student in our BS CHME classes who had a chemistry degree. He had to take 3-4 semesters worth of catchup classes to prepare himself for his masters coursework but it can be done. There certainly is carryover between the degrees but a lot less than you might expect.

I would recommend you earn your bachelor's degree in whichever interests you the most.

[u/corgibestie]

BS Chem here, not ChE, but I don't see any reason why this wouldn't be possible. My only recommendation really is get some work exp before doing an MS, but aside from that doing BS Chem then eventually MS ChE is a decent combination (I'd even argue that this is a better combination than BS-MS Chem).

Double check some universities for MS ChE that you're interested in if they have requirement courses that you may need to take during your BS. Good luck!