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Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

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Combined Degree Program

WHAT IS THE COMBINED DEGREE PROGRAM?

The combined degree program provides exceptional OSU Undergraduate students an opportunity to double-count credit from their undergraduate studies towards a graduate degree in Mechanical, Aerospace, or Nuclear Engineering.

WHO CAN APPLY

Students who have earned at least 90 total semester hours in the Mechanical Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, or related engineering disciplines, and have a 3.5 cumulative grade-point average or better in all previous undergraduate courses taken at Ohio State, may apply. This program is only available to Ohio State undergraduates.

WHEN TO APPLY

Applicants should submit an application and the required supplemental documents to the MAE Graduate Advising office no later than the 10th Friday of the semester before they wish to start the combined degree program. Most applicants apply the semester before they start their final year of undergraduate study.

HOW THE BS/MS PROGRAM WORKS

Students can take classes that can be counted toward both their undergraduate and graduate degree.

  • Students applying to the Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering Graduate Program can double-count up to 6 hours towards their undergraduate and graduate degrees.
  • Students applying to the Mechanical Engineering Graduate Program can double-count up to 12 hours towards their undergraduate and graduate degrees.
  • Students applying to the Nuclear Engineering Graduate Program can double-count up to 12 hours towards their undergraduate and graduate degrees.

In order to receive graduate credit the courses must meet the following requirements:

  1. Technical elective courses taken at Ohio State after acceptance into the combined degree program.
  2. Only ME/AAE/NE courses 5000-level and above can be used as long as they meet the course requirements for the graduate degree being pursued.
  3. Relevant graduate courses in other subjects, such as Mathematics (as allowed by the ME/AAE technical electives program) may be included; refer to the technical electives program for guidelines.

Students can also take graduate level courses for graduate credit only once admitted to the combined degree program which can further reduce the time to a graduate degree.

Application Requirements for the combined degree program

  1. Complete the application for Graduate School, available online here.
  2. Submit a Combined Degree Information Sheet
  3. Submit a Statement of Purpose.
    1. For suggestions for writing your statement of purpose, click here.
  4. Submit a Resume
  5. Submit ANY and ALL post-secondary transcripts for credit received at any institution EXCEPT Ohio State. Any coursework you have completed at Ohio State will be obtained internally.
  6. Submit THREE letters of recommendation.
    1. For suggestions on how to go about getting recommendation letters, click here.
  7. GRE Scores are NOT REQUIRED for students applying to the combined degree program, however if you have ANY interest in possibly pursuing a PhD, students are strongly encouraged to take the GRE's as more funding opportunities become available if they do pursue a PhD.
  8. Mechanical and Aerospace applicants: MAE Research Areas of Interest form
  9. Nuclear Engineering applicants: NE Research Areas of Interest form
  10. Students interested in the NE program must meet the following criteria as well:
    1. Completion of NE 4505
    2. Completion of basic course work in Thermodynamics, Fluid Flow, Heat Transfer (i.e., ME 3501, 3503, 4510; or ME 3500; or Chem Eng 3508, 3521)
    3. Completion of Mathematics through differential equations (Math 2415 preferred)

Finally, students considering the combined degree program should have an advisor in mind before joining the program. Students who wish to complete their graduate degree in the shortest amount of time typically have an advisor in place by the semester they start the combined degree program.

Combined Degree Program Requirements

In addition to the standard requirements required of all students pursuing a graduate degree, combined degree students in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering have two additional requirements they must complete during their first semester of enrollment:

  1. Students must have identified an advisor by the 10th week of their first semester in the program via the Notice of Graduate Advisor form.
  2. Students pursuing the MS Thesis Option must submit a short abstract (less than 500 words) by the 10th week of their first semester in the program. You must submit a copy of your abstract to your advisor and have it signed by your advisor. Once it is signed by your advisor, submit that abstract to the MAE Graduate Advising Office. This abstract should address the following:
    1. the background on the student’s area of graduate research
    2. the specific purpose/question/hypothesis associated with the student’s research
    3. the preliminary methods the students will employ during their graduate research
    4. the impact of this research on the chosen field (in other words, “so what?”)

Students interested in the combined combined degree program should set up an appointment to speak with Nick Breckenridge to help answer any questions they may have about the program. Students can contact Nick via e-mail at breckenridge.17@osu.edu, via phone at (614) 292-7163, or stop by his office in N250H Scott Laboratory.