B.S/M.S. Program

Accelerate Your Master's Degree

The School of Engineering's B.S/M.S. program provides a way for current SCU undergraduate students to begin taking courses required for a master’s degree before completing the requirements for a bachelor’s degree. Students typically complete the requirements for their master's degree within a year of completing their bachelor’s.

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

Application Process

If you are a current SCU Undergraduate Student, you will need to submit a formal application to the MS program after you petition to graduate from your undergraduate degree. In most cases this will be in the winter quarter of your senior year.

What to expect as a B.S./M.S. Student:

Graduate-Level Courses: As a junior or senior, you may begin taking graduate-level courses. 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 Jocewicz, at lmjocewicz@scu.edu or at the Graduate Engineering Services Office (Heafey 241).

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 3.0, your application will be reviewed by the admissions committee.

Next Steps:

At the time you Petition to Graduate, please email us to confirm if you plan to continue as an MS
student. This helps us ensure a seamless transition for you.

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.

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.