Qualified undergraduate students who plan to earn a M.S. in mechanical engineering may enroll in the Accelerated Master’s Entry Pathway, which enables students to begin working on the M.S. while still an undergraduate. Students apply to the program in the second semester of their junior year. Following acceptance by the Graduate College, students may take up to 6 graduate credits while still an undergraduate that can be counted toward both the B.S. and the M.S. degrees, subject to approval of the student's graduate advisor. Another 3 graduate credits can be counted towards the M.S. degree while an undergraduate but cannot count towards the B.S. degree. Students in the Accelerated Masters Pathway must follow either the non-thesis option or research thesis option M.S. degree requirements. For the thesis option, research counting toward the thesis must begin immediately in the summer following the completion of the bachelor's degree.
Learn more about our Accelerated Master's Program in Mechanical Engineering:
Accelerated Masters Programs in CEMS
Overview
Admission
Students apply for admission to the accelerated MS programs in the spring (March) of their junior year, and not later than August before their senior year (note that it is Graduate College policy that admission decisions must be made prior to the start of a new semester). Admission to the accelerated MS program (AMP) requires the following:
- A minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.2
- Completion of the online graduate admissions application
- Completion of theCEMS Accelerated Masters Permission Form
- Review by the appropriate Program, recommendation to the Graduate College, and review and decision by the Graduate College.
Following admission to the accelerated program, working with their advisor and the Graduate Program Coordinator, AMP students prepare and submit a Plan of Study, indicating which courses to be taken during the undergraduate studies will also count toward the MS degree. Eventual admission to the MS degree program is contingent upon satisfactory academic performance.
MS Studies
All accelerated MS degree students must meet the degree requirements for both the BS and MS degrees in full. The main consequence of admission to an accelerated MS degree program is a recognition on the part of both the faculty and the student that the student will continue for Master's thesis studies after conferral of the BS degree, thus allowing the student to start MS research early and to plan his/her academic program appropriately, including the possibility of taking courses for graduate credit before completion of all BS requirements. This accelerated program also enables students to further accelerate their degree by taking select courses that will count towards both the BS technical elective requirements and MS degree requirements.
Curriculum
Only students formally admitted to an accelerated MS program will have the option of taking courses for graduate credit before all requirements for the BS degree have been satisfied. Students may take up to 9 credit hours of graduate courses before the conferral of the BS degree. Of these, a maximum of 6 credit hours may be counted for both the BS and MS degrees. The other 3 credit hours will only count toward the MS degree.
All courses to be counted toward the MS degree must:
- Be completed after acceptance of the student in the accelerated MS program.
- Be 200- or 300-level engineering elective courses, and may not include courses that are required for the undergraduate degree program.
- Be relevant to the MS study objective, as determined by the MS advisor.
Graduate research credits cannot be taken by undergraduate students.
Learn more about our Accelerated Master's Curriculum in Mechanical Engineering:
Research and Teaching Assistantships
Assistantships (research or teaching) are only available to students fulfilling the requirements for the thesis option. Admission to an accelerated MS program does not imply financial support. Students in these programs will, however, be eligible for part-time support for teaching or research work while they are undergraduates and will be eligible for regular graduate student assistantship support after they have completed all requirements for the Bachelor's degree and are formally admitted to the MS degree program.
Students in the accelerated MS program will normally work on research toward their thesis objective during the summers of both their junior and senior years.
Academic Standards
Students in the accelerated MS degree program are expected to continue the high degree of academic performance that was evident when they were admitted into the program. A minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.2 is required for continuation in the accelerated MS program. Undergraduate students whose cumulative GPA at any time falls below this minimum for more than one semester will be removed from the accelerated MS program. After students in the accelerated MS program receive the BS degree and are admitted to the regular MS degree program, academic probation matters will be dealt with in the same manner as for other MS students.
