For Prospective Students
- Applying to Virginia Tech
- Not Sure about a Major?
- Mechanical Engineering Curriculum
- Academic Support Programs
- Students with AP, IB & CLEP Credit
- Starting in University Studies & Other Departments
- Transfer Students
- Visiting Virginia Tech
- Tuition, Fees and Financial Aid
Applying to Virginia Tech
Students wishing to apply to Virginia Tech must apply through the Undergraduate Admissions Office (Apply). All questions about admissions requirements and decisions should be directed to the Undergraduate Admissions Office.
Freshmen entering the College of Engineering are placed in the General Engineering program under the Engineering Education Department for their first year of study. Students attend Information Sessions hosted by the various engineering departments during the fall semester so they can make an informed decision when selecting their major. Students making the Dean's List for the Fall Semester (3.4 grade point average) may transfer into their major after the first semester.
Students meeting incoming requirements for their major, including completing all freshman courses and meeting any minimum grade requirements, may transfer to their major after the spring semester of their freshman year. Students entering the Mechanical Engineering Department through other programs, such as University Studies, must also complete all required freshmen courses and meet the same overall GPA requirement to transfer into the Mechanical Engineering Department.
Currently, the Mechanical Engineering Department has a grade point average (GPA) restriction of a 2.5 minimum overall (out of a scale of 4) for students entering the department. Note that all students must also maintain an overall minimum GPA of 2.5 (based on grades from Virginia Tech) to stay enrolled in the Mechanical Engineering program, regardless of where they started their coursework.
Not Sure about a Major?
Many students that enter the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech and are not sure which specific branch of engineering they want to pursue. Our General Engineering program for freshmen allows students an extra year to choose their major without getting behind in their program of study. Freshmen are encouraged to:
- talk to upperclassmen, professors, and career advisors from the departments of interest,
- speak to potential employers during the two engineering job fairs held at Virginia Tech to find out what engineers do at their companies, and
- attend student professional society meetings to learn more about their career choices.
Freshmen are given free membership to our American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) student chapter and are invited to attend meetings to meet some of our current students and to find out more about our department.
The national ASME website has some good resources for pre-college students interested in engineering on their K-12 Student Resources page. One of their links takes you to the Sloan Career Cornerstone Center, which has a wealth of information for
Mechanical Engineering Curriculum
For information on the Mechanical Engineering Curriculum, please visit our Course Selection page. Required courses are summarized in the Degree Path Sheets (flow charts showing prerequisites) and Check Sheets (tables summarizing degree requirements). A link to our list of approved Technical Electives can also be found on this page. To see the University's approved list of Curriculum for Liberal Education electives, please see the CLE and Core Area Guides.
Academic Support Programs
The College of Engineering's Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity has some great programs for new students, including freshman mentoring programs, engineering learning communities (on campus housing), and a 5 week summer transition program. Please see their website for more information.
The Center for Academic Enrichment & Excellence offers free tutoring for select freshman and sophomore level courses and gives free study skills seminars throughout the academic year. CAEE offers a variety of other support programs, including a transition seminar series for transfer students, UNIV1004 (a 3 credit academic success skills course), and Project Success (for students on academic probation).
Cook Counseling Center offers online study skills and time management modules for students who prefer to improve their time management, test taking, concentration, reading comprehension, and other skills on their own.
Students with AP, IB & CLEP Credit
The Registrar's website contains an AP, IB & CLEP Guide to show what courses students receive credit for based on the score earned on the various exams. Credits earned through these tests are treated similar to transfer credits. They count as credits earned at Virginia Tech, but they do not affect a student's grade point average. If a student receives credit for an AP course, they may chose to retake that course at Virginia Tech, but will not be given extra credits for taking the same course again. If credits are earned for a course that is not required for a specific degree program, they are counted as free electives.
To see which AP, IB & CLEP courses count towards the Curriculum for Liberal Education requirements, please see the Curriculum for Liberal Education Guide. For the Mechanical Engineering program, undergraduates must select 6 credits from Area 2 (Ideas, Cultural Traditions & Values); 6 credits from Area 3 (Society & Human Behavior); 1 credit from Area 6 (Creativity and Aesthetic Experience); and 3 credits from Area 7 (Critical Issues in a Global Context).
Starting in University Studies & Other Departments
Roughly 10-15% of Mechanical Engineering students start out in University Studies. before switching into engineering. University Studies (US) students wishing to switch into an engineering department should meet with their US advisor to carefully plan a course schedule to match the courses they would have taken had they started in General Engineering.
US students should be able to enroll in all freshmen-level courses their first year, with the exception of the Engineering Education (ENGE) courses, ENGE1024 and ENGE1114. Non-engineering students are placed on a waiting list to take ENGE1024 in the spring, and seats are awarded based on GPA's from the fall semester, regardless of major.
ENGE1024 and ENGE1114 are also available during the first and second summer sessions, respectively, at Virginia Tech. In the past, major restrictions have not been placed on these courses during the summer. Please see the Engineering Education website for more information for non-engineering students.
Students may also earn transfer credits for ENGE1024 and ENGE1114 at select Virginia Community Colleges, including New River, Virginia Western, J. Sargeant Reynolds, Piedmont, Southwest, and Tidewater Community Colleges. Please contact Sarah Deisher in the Dean's Office if you have questions about which VCCS courses may be taken. You may visit the VCCS website to view course timetables for the VCCS colleges to find out when and where these courses will be offered. Be sure to fill out a transfer credit request form before you enroll for the course(s) to be sure you have selected equivalent course(s) .
University Studies students may transfer into General Engineering after they have completed the first semester of freshmen courses, including ENGE1024, and may switch into Mechanical Engineering when they have completed all freshmen-level required courses (not including CLE humanities electives) and have an overall GPA of 2.5 or higher from Virginia Tech. These are the same requirements for all VT students, regardless of which department they started in.
When students who started in University Studies (or any other major besides General Engineering) are enrolled in the last required course to transfer into Mechanical Engineering, they should fill out a major change request form and return this form to the Dean's Office in 212 Hancock. If you have questions about your transfer into the Mechanical Engineering Department, please contact Christi Boone. (If you started in General Engineering, you should contact the Engineering Education Department instead.)
Transfer Students
You are STRONGLY encouraged to carefully plan your program BEFORE you start taking classes at another college. Careful planning can help save you a year or more in completing your degree at Virginia Tech.
Students from some Virginia Community Colleges (like New River and Virginia Western Community Colleges) often finish their BSME degrees in two years at Virginia Tech. However, many transfer students come here missing key freshman level courses and can expect to be here for 3 or more years completing their degree, even though they may have already earned an associates degree.
Transfer students enter the General Engineering program if they have not completed the required freshman engineering classes, including:
- CHEM 1035 & 1045 (General Chemistry & Lab)
- ENGE 1024 & 1114 (Engineering Exploration)
- ENGL 1105 & 1106 (Freshman English)
- MATH 1114 (Linear Algebra)
- MATH 1224 (Vector Geometry)
- MATH 1205 & 1206 (Calculus)
- PHYS 2305 (Foundations of Physics I & Lab)
Transfer students may switch into the department of their choice after they have completed these courses and can meet the same the minimum grade restrictions (based on their Virginia Tech GPA) required of freshmen transferring into the same department.
The University's Transfer Guide has more information for transfer students. Included is a link to the VT Transfer Equivalency Database, which allows students to find the equivalent VT course number for courses taken at other schools. There is also a link with suggested courses for students transferring from the Virginia Community College System.
To see which transfer courses count towards the Curriculum for Liberal Education requirements, please see the Curriculum for Liberal Education Guide. For the Mechanical Engineering program, undergraduates must select 6 credits from Area 2 (Ideas, Cultural Traditions, & Values); 6 credits from Area 3 (Society & Human Behavior); 1 credit from Area 6 (Creativity and Aesthetic Experience); and 3 credits from Area 7 (Critical Issues in a Global Context). If a student receives an associates degree from a VCCS school, these requirements are considered to be met.
The associate department head will consider requests by GE transfer students to enroll in a limited number of ME credits before they switch into Mechanical Engineering. An example where permission might be granted would be a transfer student who started in GE because he/she is missing a freshmen-level course but has completed all sophomore level prerequisite courses. If a student's VT GPA is significantly below the 2.5 required to transfer into ME, the request will not be considered.
Visiting Virignia Tech
You are encouraged to visit the campus, preferrably while classes are in session. Please see the University's Admissions website for details about Admissions information sessions, campus tours, campus maps, driving directions, and parking.
We also suggest that you attend a College of Engineering Information session, held weekdays from 11:15 AM to about 12:15 PM (normally in Hancock 212). Current engineering students discuss the freshman year and give an overview of the engineering program and the various departments. Please visit the College of Engineering homepage to sign up for this information session.
To see the presentation slides from the Mechanical Engineering Department's presentation from the April 2 Open House, please click here.
Tuition, Fees and Financial Aid
For information on tuition and fees, please visit the University Tuition & Financial Aid website. For more information on engineering scholarships, please visit the Mechanical Engineering Department's Scholarships & Awards website.