Policies and Procedures
Policies and Procedures: School of Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Program
Admission
- Prospective Purdue Students
Students wishing to study ME are admitted through the Undergraduate Admissions process. Students studying at the Indianapolis campus are admitted directly to the School of ME. Students studying at the West Lafayette campus are admitted to First-Year Engineering (FYE). Prospective students are encouraged to contact the Office for Future Engineers (OFE) to explore opportunities to study engineering at Purdue.
In-person visits to the School of ME in West Lafayette can be arranged by e-mailing MEundergrad@purdue.edu. These visits include a 30-minute discussion with an Academic Advisor followed by a tour of the ME building led by a current ME student.
- Transition to Major (T2M)
Students who have completed the FYE curriculum and have earned an Engineering Admissions Index (EAI) of at least 3.2 and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.2 are guaranteed admission to ME through the T2M process.
- Change of Degree Objective (CODO)
Current Purdue students wishing to change their major to ME should review the CODO requirements for ME and initiate the process with their current Academic Advisor. Students wishing to CODO to ME are strongly encouraged to meet with an ME Academic Advisor to discuss the CODO requirements and process. Students can request an appointment by emailing MEundergrad@purdue.edu.
- Transferring from another university
Students interested in transferring from another university are encouraged to review the Transfer Student Checklist.
Degree Planning
- Registration
Registration is the process of selecting courses, reserving space in those courses by submitting a Course Request Form (CRF), receiving a schedule, and paying fees. A student is not officially enrolled until fees are paid. Note that registration procedures, registration windows and time tickets are managed by the Office of the Registrar. Academic Advisors do not have control over the assigned time or the opening/closing of students' time tickets. Students who do not have active registration windows or time tickets will need to wait until open registration to make schedule changes. Additionally, Academic Advisors do not have the ability to amend a student’s course requests, registration, or schedule.
- Registration Errors
Students may encounter Registration Errors when submitting their CRF. Overrides will not be provided for closed sections, department permission, or pre-requisite registration errors. Overrides for maximum credit hours will only be provided to students participating in ROTC. Overrides for time conflict errors will only be provided if the student is able to obtain written permission from the instructors of the courses with the time conflict.
- Opportunities for Non-ME Students to take ME Courses
ME undergraduate courses are only open to degree-seeking students enrolled at Purdue. Non-degree seeking students (e.g., students from other universities, students attending Regional Purdue campuses) may not enroll in ME undergraduate courses.Non-ME students may not enroll in ME core classes other than ME 200, ME 270, and ME 274. Non-ME students wishing to take undergraduate ME electives must wait until open registration to add the class to their CRF.
- Credit by Examination (test-out) for ME Courses
Students may sit for a test-out exam for ME 200, ME 270, or ME 274. To earn credit by examination, a student must earn 70% or higher on the final exam. Students wishing to sit for a test-out exam should contact MEundergrad@purdue.edu to arrange logistics.
- Transfer Courses
The Transfer Credit Guidelines describe the process for transferring course credit from other institutions. Students who are considering taking courses at other institutions are strongly encouraged to verify and document in advance that a course will transfer as an equivalent Purdue course by using the Transfer Credit Course Equivalency Guide. Students should also consult their Academic Advisor to ensure that the planned course(s) will count toward their BSME degree requirements.
The only ME courses that can be transferred from other institutions are ME 200, ME 270, and ME 274. If a student has already taken ME 200, ME 270, or ME 274 at Purdue the course cannot be taken at another institution and transferred to Purdue for the purpose of grade replacement.
- Course Repeat Policy
In accordance with University regulations, a student may attempt a non-repeatable course (a course that does not result in duplication of credit) up to three times. Grades of W or WF are included in this limit. Students may request consideration of a fourth attempt by completing the College of Engineering 4th Attempt process. Students are advised that fourth attempt approvals are not guaranteed.
All course attempts appear on a student’s transcript. However, it is the most recent attempt that is factored into a student’s cumulative GPA. If a student fails the course in the most recent attempt the student will no longer receive credit for that course, even if the course was passed previously.
A minimum grade of D- is considered “passing,” but it may be necessary to repeat a course to meet the BSME graduation requirements of a ME Core GPA of 2.0 or higher and a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher.
- Grades of C- or lower may be repeated. Students may not re-register for a currently enrolled course until final grades post for the semester.
- Grades of C or higher may not be related. For ME students, this applies to all courses. For non-ME students, this applies to ME courses only.
- Students may not take a course and repeat the prerequisite concurrently. For example, ME 270 and ME 274 cannot be taken in the same semester, even with a passing grade in ME 270.
- Students cannot regress and take the prerequisites of a course that has been completed. For example, ME 270 cannot be repeated if ME 274 has already been taken.
- Grade Mode
All courses taken to fulfill the BSME degree requirements must be taken for a letter grade. This includes ME Core classes, Technical Elective courses and General Education Electives. Only those extra courses, not part of the BSME degree requirements can be taken as Pass/No pass.
- Graduate Courses
Undergraduate students may take graduate-level courses so long as they meet the prerequisites for the course. Undergraduate students admitted to the Combined BSME/MSME Program may count up to 9 credit hours of graduate coursework toward both their BSME degree and their MSME degree.
A maximum of 12 credit hours of graduate coursework, earned with a grade of B- or better, may be allocated as “excess grad credit” and applied toward an advanced degree at Purdue if these credits exceed the BSME degree requirements. Note that other universities may have different restrictions. Students who have earned excess grad credit should work their Academic Advisor to allocate the credit.
- Minors and Certificates
ME students wishing to add a minor or certificate should initiate the process with their Academic Advisor. The Academic Advisor will add the minor or certificate if the student is in Academic Good Standing at the time of the request if the student is able to complete the minor or certificate within the same timeline as their current degree plan.
- Dual Degrees
ME students wishing to add a dual degree should initiate the process with their Academic Advisor. Students must meet the CODO requirements for their intended program and must have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.4 at the time when their Academic Advisor submits the CODO request. In addition, students should have at least 3 semesters of coursework remaining in their current degree plan and must be able to complete the dual degree requirements by adding no more than 2 semesters of coursework to their current degree plan.
Students wishing to add ME as a dual degree should review the CODO requirements for ME and initiate the process with their current Academic Advisor. In addition to meeting the ME CODO requirements, students should have at least 3 semesters of coursework remaining in their current degree plan and must be able to complete the BSME degree requirements by adding no more than 2 semesters of coursework to their current degree plan.
Academic Standing
Academic Standing is assessed at the end of fall and spring semesters. Academic Standing is not assessed at the end of summer or winter sessions. Students are placed on Academic Notice if the university is concerned about academic performance and progress. Students on Academic Notice are not allowed to participate in a co-op work session or study abroad.
In addition, a student in the School of ME will be placed on ME Core Notice if their ME Core GPA, at the end of any fall or spring semester, is less than a 2.0. ME Core Notice is not assessed at the end of summer or winter sessions.
Students placed on Academic Notice or ME Core Notice will partner with their Academic Advisor to chart a plan that will allow the student to meet their academic goals. A student placed on Academic Notice or ME Core Notice will receive notification of their Academic Standing after grades post and will be asked to:
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Send their Academic Advisor a revised Plan of Study.
- Include any plans to repeat courses.
- Students are strongly encouraged to enroll in no more than 15 credit hours per semester until they are removed from Academic Notice.
- Complete and send their Academic Advisor the ME Core GPA Calculator Sheet.
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Complete the University’s Academic Notice survey.
- Note that completing the Academic Notice survey is not required for students placed on ME Core notice only.
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Schedule an Academic Notice Review Appointment with their Academic Advisor.
- Work with their Academic Advisor to complete an Academic Notice Agreement during the appointment
Calculator Policy
The Calculator Policy is modelled closely after the NCEES Calculator Policy used on the FE Exam. There will be two styles of calculators allowed.
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Texas Instruments: All TI-30X and TI-36X models
- Any Texas Instruments calculator must have “TI-30X” or “TI-36X” in its model name.
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Casio: All fx-115 and fx-991 models
- Any Casio calculator must have “fx-115” or “fx-991” in its model name.
Illustrations of sample calculators are shown below.
Record Retention Policy
- Homework, Quizzes, Labs, Project Reports, Semester Exams: The graded versions of these work products will be retained by faculty (or designated staff) and made available to students to pick up their graded work for one week. After one week, any uncollected work products may be recycled in a manner that maintains privacy of student grades.
- Final Exams: Faculty (or designated staff) will retain graded final exams until 30 calendar days into the next regular (fall or spring) semester. Spring materials (as well as summer materials) will be retained throughout the summer and 30 calendar days into the fall semester. After 30 calendar days, the remaining uncollected final exams may be recycled in a manner that protects the privacy of student grades.
- Off-Campus Students: In the case where a student is off-campus during the following regular semester (e.g., due to a study abroad, co-op work session, internship work session), the student should contact their instructor and the final exam can be scanned and emailed to the student for their records.
- Unavailable Students: If a student is unavailable (e.g., due to illness, family emergency) to collect their work within the allotted time, the student should contact his/her faculty, explain the situation, and request a reasonable extension.
- Gradescope Users: For faculty who use Gradescope to grade their assignments, labs, projects and exams, hardcopies of student work should be kept long enough to ensure that the work submitted is properly archived electronically in Gradescope. Once this has been verified, hardcopies of student work may be recycled in a manner that protects the privacy of student grades.