Admission to Upper Division
Students pursuing the B.S.M.E. must be admitted to upper division by the mechanical engineering program faculty before they are permitted to participate in any 300- or 400-level mechanical engineering courses. Application for upper-division admission is normally made at the beginning of the fourth semester of full-time study. The application process consists of submitting an application form for review by the mechanical engineering faculty prior to the review period, which is the third week in the semester. The requirements for admission are the following:
- Students must have completed a minimum of 45 credit hours with a minimum GPA of 2.5 and received a letter grade of C- or better in each of the following courses:
- Mathematics 221
- Mathematics 222 (or 212)
- Mathematics 323
- Chemistry 118
- Engineering 101
- Engineering 212
- Mechanical Engineering 197
- At the time of application students must be enrolled in, or have received credit for, three of the following five courses:
- Mathematics 324
- Physics 210
- Engineering 213
- Engineering 232
- Mechanical Engineering 297
- Students must either have passed the writing proficiency exam or obtained a C- or better in both First-Year Seminar 111 and First-Year Seminar 112. Transfer students must meet the University catalog requirements for writing proficiency.
Following the review period, conditional acceptance will be granted to students successfully completing the listed requirements. Conditional acceptance allows the student to pre-register for 300-level Mechanical Engineering classes. Full acceptance is granted after the student completes 60 credit hours with a minimum GPA of 2.5, and receives a letter grade of C- or better in all of the classes listed above.
Transfer students must also apply for admission to upper division. Transfer students may request a one semester probationary period in order to establish the requirements listed above. The request must be made in writing, and submitted no later than the end of the first week in the semester.
After completing the mechanical engineering curriculum students will have had 25 to 40 percent of their course work in mathematics and basic science, and 44 to 49 percent in engineering topics, depending on the electives chosen in the senior year. The engineering topics are divided as 2/3 engineering science and 1/3 engineering design. The allocation between engineering science and design is typically carried throughout the selection of mechanical engineering technical electives. This philosophy prepares graduates to enter the professional practice of engineering or to further their education in graduate school.