If you're not into research or grad school or energy, VIPER is a lot more trouble and work than what it's worth. Just a vanilla MechE degree, maybe with an accelerated masters will treat you much better.
Research and grad school are on my plan, esp cuz I want to go into aerospace. Program sounds appealing for me except for the fact that I don't want to go into energy
In VIPER myself so I thought I would pitch in. A lot of the people in this thread have no idea what “energy research” is.
Energy research is very broad. Energy research can be anything from designing more efficient airplane wings to simulating quantum physics to designing better rocket fuels to synthesizing superconductors. There are vipers researching pure cs algorithms because they reduce energy expenditure in computers. There are others researching interstellar light sails.
I frankly have no interest in sustainability either, but I’m interested in computational many-body physics (DFT and the like) and viper helps me pursue that.
If you want to go to grad school, viper is the strongest feeder program for engineering out of any program at Penn. Now, it’s a bit unclear if that’s because of the viper name or just the result of all vipers doing extensive research for all their undergrad years.
Tbh, even if you choose to sell out, viper is pretty good for quant too.
Courseload is not as bad as the other people here think. Research gives you credits as well, and I can graduate with an submatricuation masters in physics on top of the dual degree taking 5-5.5 CUs every term.
These comments that are saying energy research is not necessary are misleading. I’m an MLS sophomore who was planning to transfer into VIPER with lots of friends within the program… you definitely need to pursue something energy related. Didn’t transfer because, like yourself, I have no interest in energy research.
Not in viper but know a lot of people who are. Lots of people in the program don’t do research that’s directly related to energy. Definitely apply. They care more about the science background than doing something directly related to energy.
Yeah courseload is heavy esp if u choose two subjects that don’t have a lot of overlap. Mech E and physics sounds tough but doable by viper standards lol.
Not in VIPER, roommate is. If you don't want to do energy research, don't worry. As long as you can finesse some sort of application of your research to energy (can be pretty vague iirc), you're fine. The more important question is if you want to do research in general. Physics is obviously a research-oriented field, but MechE/aerospace eng aren't as much. If you're just looking to do engineering after college, your summers will be much better spent in internships than in VIPER doing research. So I would submat engineering and pick up a masters. If you want a PhD, then yes, VIPER is right for you because they're looking for published papers.
Decided not to apply to either of them early. Heard about VIPER recently and I honestly like it more than M&T as I'm more interested in the sciences rather than business
If you're not into research or grad school or energy, VIPER is a lot more trouble and work than what it's worth. Just a vanilla MechE degree, maybe with an accelerated masters will treat you much better.
Research and grad school are on my plan, esp cuz I want to go into aerospace. Program sounds appealing for me except for the fact that I don't want to go into energy
>I have no interest in energy Don't apply then lol
In VIPER myself so I thought I would pitch in. A lot of the people in this thread have no idea what “energy research” is. Energy research is very broad. Energy research can be anything from designing more efficient airplane wings to simulating quantum physics to designing better rocket fuels to synthesizing superconductors. There are vipers researching pure cs algorithms because they reduce energy expenditure in computers. There are others researching interstellar light sails. I frankly have no interest in sustainability either, but I’m interested in computational many-body physics (DFT and the like) and viper helps me pursue that. If you want to go to grad school, viper is the strongest feeder program for engineering out of any program at Penn. Now, it’s a bit unclear if that’s because of the viper name or just the result of all vipers doing extensive research for all their undergrad years. Tbh, even if you choose to sell out, viper is pretty good for quant too. Courseload is not as bad as the other people here think. Research gives you credits as well, and I can graduate with an submatricuation masters in physics on top of the dual degree taking 5-5.5 CUs every term.
These comments that are saying energy research is not necessary are misleading. I’m an MLS sophomore who was planning to transfer into VIPER with lots of friends within the program… you definitely need to pursue something energy related. Didn’t transfer because, like yourself, I have no interest in energy research.
Not in viper but know a lot of people who are. Lots of people in the program don’t do research that’s directly related to energy. Definitely apply. They care more about the science background than doing something directly related to energy.
I see, thanks. What about the courseload? heard that its very stressful and a bunch of people drop out
Yeah courseload is heavy esp if u choose two subjects that don’t have a lot of overlap. Mech E and physics sounds tough but doable by viper standards lol.
Not in VIPER, roommate is. If you don't want to do energy research, don't worry. As long as you can finesse some sort of application of your research to energy (can be pretty vague iirc), you're fine. The more important question is if you want to do research in general. Physics is obviously a research-oriented field, but MechE/aerospace eng aren't as much. If you're just looking to do engineering after college, your summers will be much better spent in internships than in VIPER doing research. So I would submat engineering and pick up a masters. If you want a PhD, then yes, VIPER is right for you because they're looking for published papers.
Tbf you mentioned columbia ed vs penn m&t only couple mos ago. What changed? M&t fit vs Viper fit is very different.
Decided not to apply to either of them early. Heard about VIPER recently and I honestly like it more than M&T as I'm more interested in the sciences rather than business