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BS/MS Degree Requirements

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Concurrent B.S./M.S. Degree in Electrical Engineering or
Electrical and Computer Engineering

Purpose of the program

The joint BS/MS program in Electrical and Computer Engineering enables especially well-qualified students to be admitted to the MS program during the junior year of their BS program, and to work thereafter towards both the BS and MS degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering. This program allows for early planning of the MS portion of the student's education, taking graduate courses as part of the BS degree, more flexibility in the order in which courses are taken, and more efficient use of what would otherwise be a final semester with a light credit hour load.

Due to the tighter coordination of courses within the ECE Department than is possible for students who come to UCB from other institutions to pursue the MS degree, up to six credit hours may be counted toward both the BS and MS degree programs (see Overlapping Credit below). Moreover, depending on University policy, there may be a discounted tuition rate for the final year of the program.

Admission to the program

Application for admission into the BS/MS program in the ECE department may be made at any time during or after the student enters his or her junior year. Minimum requirements for admission to the joint program are:
  1. completion of the eight core EE courses (see list below),
  2. a minimum overall GPA of 3.25,
  3. a minimum GPA of 3.25 in ECE department courses, and
  4. at least three letters of recommendation must be provided by the applicant (at least two must be from ECE faculty at UCB).
Transfer students, in place of requirement (1) above, must have taken at least two of the core EE courses at the Boulder campus and have completed coursework at another institution (or other institutions) which is approved for transfer credit equivalent to all EE core courses not taken on the Boulder campus, and must have completed at least 15 credit hours of total courses at UCB in order to qualify for admission.

Staying in the program

The student must maintain a GPA of at least 3.0 over all undergraduate courses taken, and a GPA of at least 3.0 in all graduate course taken in order to remain in good standing in the program.

Regulations

Until a student in this program reaches a total of 128 credit hours of courses applicable to the BS or MS degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering taken and passed (each with a grade of D or better), he/she will be governed by the rules and regulations applicable to any undergraduate student in the ECE department unless specified otherwise in the regulations described herein. After a student has accumulated a total of 128 applicable credit hours, he/she will be governed by the rules and regulations applicable to any graduate student in the ECE department unless specified otherwise in the regulations described herein. It is the intention of the department that, as far as possible, a student in this program is treated on the same basis as any other student in the department at a comparable stage of the academic career.

Overlapping credit

With the recommendation of the student's academic advisor and the approval of the ECE Graduate Coordinator, as many as 6 credit hours of ECE department courses at the 5000 level or above may be counted both towards the undergraduate degree requirements and to the requirements for the MS degree. In theory, therefore, the minimum number of credit hours required for the BS/MS degree will be 152.

Advising

Students in the joint BS/MS program must have a faculty advisor with whom they must consult to compose a degree plan, including a list of courses to be taken from the senior year through the end of the program. This plan must be filed with the ECE Department Graduate Secretary by the end of the third week of the first semester in which the student has been admitted into the program.

EE Core Courses

ECEN 2250 Circuits/Electronics 1
ECEN 2260 Circuits/Electronics 2
ECEN 3250 Circuits/Electronics 3
ECEN 2120 Computers as Components
ECEN 3100 Digital Logic
ECEN 3300 Linear Systems
ECEN 3400 EM Fields and Waves
ECEN 3810 Introduction to Probability

Application Forms

For further information, contact the Graduate Advisor, Adam Sadoff , ECEE 1B63, (303) 735-0490.