B.S/M.S. Program - School of Engineering

Accelerate Your Master's Degree

The School of Engineering's B.S/M.S. Program allows current SCU undergraduate engineering students to begin taking graduate-level courses towards a Masters degree while completing their Bachelors degree. Most students are able to complete their Masters degree within one year of earning their Bachelors.

The B.S/M.S. Program is offered for the following majors:

Eligibility and Enrollment Process

Students in their junior or senior year may begin taking graduate level courses by submitting the Permission To Take Grad Courses form.

The form must be signed by the faculty advisor and department chair. Please check the box confirming that the student is being added to the B.S./M.S. cohort and has a 3.0 GPA in their major.

A maximum of 20 units can be transferred into the MS program. These courses must be at a graduate level and will have a course number of 200 or above associated with them.

Steps to Take Graduate Courses:

Complete the Permission to Take Graduate Courses Form or at the Graduate Engineering Services Office (Heafey 241).
Obtain signatures from your faculty advisor and department chair.
If you are just starting to take courses for the BS/MS program, make sure you check the box that you should be added to the program.
Email the completed form to our Director of Records, Lisa Lanks, at lisa.lanks@scu.edu or at the Graduate Engineering Services Office (Heafey 241)

Note:

Graduate courses that overlap (cross-listed) with undergraduate courses, students must enroll in the graduate level course. The undergraduate course is not eligible for MS transfer credit.

Application Process:

The application to the B.S./M.S. Program is due when the student files their Undergraduate Petition to Graduate and upload unofficial transcripts through the Graduate Admissions Application Portal

After the final grades are posted and the degree is awarded students must contact the Engineering Graduate Admissions Team to confirm their intent to continue into the Masters Program. The Grad Admissions Team will then verify that the grades are posted and degree has been conferred:

Guaranteed Admission Criteria:

If you maintain a 3.000 (B average) Major GPA and have a B average in the graduate courses you have taken so far, you will be automatically accepted into the MS program upon application.
If your GPA falls below the 3.0 requirement, a decision on your application will be delayed and subject to denial. Students with GPA below the threshold will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Once accepted into the program, the student will accept the offer of admission and pay the $300 enrollment deposit. Please note: Individual departments may have additional requirements for participation in this program.

B.S./M.S. Program for Arts & Sciences

The School of Engineering now offers qualified Santa Clara University undergraduates in the College of Arts and Sciences the opportunity to earn both a B.S. and M.S. Programs. The program is open to students majoring in Biology, Mathematics, Computer Science, and Engineering Physics.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for the B.S./M.S. program, students must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher in the major. Those who meet this criterion will not be required to take the GRE. Students whose Bachelor's degree is in Mathematics, Computer Science, or Engineering Physics will be accepted automatically, with no additional prerequisites. Other majors will have to take the following three undergraduate courses before they are admitted into the M.S. program in Bioengineering:

BIOE 23, ECEN 50, or PHYS 70
AMTH 108 or BIOE 120
BIOE 45 or COEN 44 (or similar)

Note: Biology majors who have applied to the joint B.S./M.S. program will be allowed to take ELEN 50 with PHYS 13 as a prerequisite (instead of PHYS 33). This exception applies only to students in this program.

Admissions Procedures

In order to apply for the B.S./M.S. program, you will need to submit the Engineering Graduate Programs Online Application no later than the winter quarter of your senior year. The application fee and the GRE General Test requirement are waived.

Transferrable Courses

Students who are admitted into the program will be allowed to transfer up to 20 units of eligible coursework taken in the College of Arts and Sciences into the appropriate Engineering Master's program. Only courses that have not been used to fulfill the requirements for the Bachelor's degree qualify, provided that the student received a grade of B or higher. Grades obtained in each such course will be included in all GPA calculations related to the Master's degree.

A list of courses that can be transferred is provided below (this list will be reevaluated periodically, and can be modified if both departments in question agree to this).

Engineering Physics→Electrical and Computer Engineering

Transferrable Courses: All eligible senior electives in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Biology →Bioengineering

Transferrable Courses: BIOL 104,110, 122, 124, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 189; CHEM 111, 141, 142, 143,151, 152. Also, all eligible senior electives in Bioengineering.

Computer Science →Computer Science and Engineering

Transferrable Courses: All eligible senior electives in Computer Science and Engineering.

Mathematics →Applied Mathematics

Transferrable Courses: MATH : 103, 105, 112, 113, 123, 125,133, 134, 144, 153, 154, 155, 165, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178; CSCI: 161, 162, 164, 165, 167, 168, 181, 182

Undergraduate Students Who Wish to Take Graduate Courses

Students who have the necessary prerequisites will be allowed to take graduate-level engineering courses in their senior year. These courses are transferrable into the graduate program, as long as they are not applied toward the Bachelor's degree.

In order to register for these courses, you must do the following:

Complete the Permission to Take Graduate Courses as an Undergraduate form.
Have it signed by both your faculty advisor and the department chair.
Submit the signed form to the Graduate Programs Office for processing.