Mechanical Engineering Quick Start, B.S./M.S.

Quick Start BS/MS Program

Through judicious choice of undergraduate electives, this program allows double-counting up to two 5000-level courses from the B.S. program toward M.S. degree requirements, thus reducing the time requirement for completing an M.S. degree. Students can apply for admission to the B.S./M.S. program by achieving junior status and meeting the following requirements for admission:

• completion of the four core ME courses (listed below)
• a minimum overall GPA of 3.250,
• a minimum GPA of 3.250 in ME courses, and
• a minimum of three letters of recommendation (at least two must be from ME faculty at UW).
• Contact Department for application process.

Students must maintain a GPA of at least 3.250 in their undergraduate and at least 3.000 in their graduate coursework in order to remain in good standing in the program. Not meeting the GPA requirement places a student on probation for one semester. If the GPA requirement is not met after that semester, the student will be dismissed from the Quick Start program. Transfer students must have taken courses equivalent to the ME core courses. Transfer students must have also completed at least 15 credit hours of courses at UW in order to be eligible for admission.

Until a student in this program has completed a total of 131 credit hours of courses applicable to the BS or MS degree in Mechanical Engineering, he/she will be governed by the regulations applicable to undergraduate students in the Department. After a student has accumulated a total of 131 applicable credit hours, he/she will be governed by the regulations applicable to any graduate student in the ME department. These regulations include the requirement that every student must take the GRE general examination. It is the intention of the department that, to the degree possible, a student in this program is treated on the same basis as any other student in the department at a comparable stage of his/her academic career.

With the recommendation of the student’s academic advisor and the approval of the ME Graduate Affairs Committee, as many as 6 credit hours of ME department courses at the 5000 level may be counted towards both the undergraduate degree requirements and the requirements for the MS degree. In principle, therefore, the minimum number of course credit hours required for the BS/MS degrees will be 151 (for Plan A students + 4 additional hours of thesis research) or 156 (for Plan B students - non-thesis option).