The Junior-Senior Programs

Students may review degree progress via DARS (Degree Audit Reporting System) as presented on Student Services Online. Required courses not completed by this time are detailed as deficiencies and must be completed during summer session or carried as overload courses in later semesters.

Having chosen their program major in the second semester of their sophomore year, students are assigned to an adviser in the department in which the program is offered. In addition to the courses required by their program, students must continue to satisfy certain distributive requirements, choosing elective courses that provide sufficient content in engineering sciences and engineering design. The order and distribution of the prescribed coursework may be changed with the adviser’s approval. Specific questions concerning course requirements should be addressed to the appropriate department or division. The Vice Dean’s concurrent approval is required for all waivers and substitutions.

Double Major

Students who wish to apply for a second major must consult their advising dean about next steps. A proposal to double major must be approved by both departments and then forwarded to the Vice Dean for Undergraduate Programs for a final decision.

Courses cannot be cross counted between dual majors. Please consult with an adviser and the respective departments to find alternative courses for duplicate requirements.

3-2 students are not eligible to have a second major due to the time constraints of their program.

Tau Beta Pi

Tau Beta Pi is the nation’s second-oldest honor society, founded at Lehigh University in 1885. With the creed “Integrity and excellence in engineering,” it is the only engineering honor society representing the entire engineering profession. Columbia’s chapter, New York Alpha, is the ninth oldest and was founded in 1902. Many Columbia buildings have been named for some of the more prominent chapter alumni: Charles Fredrick Chandler, Michael Idvorsky Pupin, Augustus Schermerhorn, and, of course, Harvey Seeley Mudd.

Undergraduate students whose scholarship places them in the top eighth of their class in their next-to-last year or in the top fifth of their class in their last college year are eligible for membership consideration. These scholastically eligible students are further considered on the basis of personal integrity, breadth of interest both inside and outside engineering, adaptability, and unselfish activity. Benefits of membership include exclusive scholarships and fellowships. Many networking opportunities for jobs and internships are also available, with 230 collegiate chapters and more than 500,000 members in Tau Beta Pi.

Taking Graduate Courses as an Undergraduate

With the faculty adviser’s approval, a student may take graduate courses while still an undergraduate in the School. Such work may be credited toward one of the graduate degrees offered by the Engineering Faculty, subject to the following conditions:

1. The course must be accepted as part of an approved graduate program of study;
2. The course must not have been used to fulfill a requirement for the B.S. degree and must be so certified by the Dean; and
3. The amount of graduate credit earned by an undergraduate cannot exceed 15 points.

Undergraduates may not take CVN courses.