The Mechanical Engineering department offers a combined five-year Bachelor’s/Master’s program for Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics majors.
Learn more about the Whiting School of Engineering’s various combined bachelor’s/master’s programs.
Note that this and any policy may be subject to change.
The application must be submitted during the student’s junior year. There are two deadlines to submit applications to the BS/MSE program:
Seniors who have missed these deadlines are welcome to apply for the master’s program separately. Visit the Full-Time Graduate Admissions page for details.
Visit the Johns Hopkins “Combined Degree Student” page for instructions on how to apply. Despite the website stating that you are required to contact the department to start the application process, that is not correct for Mechanical Engineering. You can move to the next step to begin your application.
The application package includes:
GRE and TOEFL scores are not required.
The application will ask you to select a semester to which you are applying. Select the next available semester, not the semester when you would become a master’s student (i.e., your 9th semester).
For example, students applying by June 2019 would select the “Fall 2019” semester. Students applying by January 2020 would select the “Spring 2020” semester.
Three letters of recommendation are required for the application; two of the letters should be from Mechanical Engineering faculty. The third letter can be from anyone else who would be able to vouch for your credentials and potential. This person could be a professor, but could be someone else.
When you create your online application, you will be asked to provide the names and e-mail addresses of your recommenders. Upon submission of the application, your recommenders will receive an e-mail request to submit their letters of recommendation directly to your application.
Those who are admitted are welcome to accept admission, even if they are not 100% sure they will stay for the master’s degree after earning the BS degree.
The admission is non-binding. The department understands that students may change their minds or be offered an opportunity outside the combined BS-MSE that is a better fit for their aspirations. If students change their minds, they simply can notify Academic Program Manager Mike Bernard at me-academic@jhu.edu.
Upon acceptance into the program, students will be asked to develop their graduate programs with their faculty advisors. They or Mike can help with creating a master’s course plan.
Students may continue to work with their current undergraduate advisor or may seek another masters advisor.
Reasons for seeking another advisor could include the desire to concentrate coursework in a specific research area other than those of the current advisor, or to seek an advisor to research and write a masters essay.
Students can generally expect to complete their degrees in this timeframe:
If students do not take two courses outside the bachelor’s degree in their Undergraduate Years, they will likely have to return for a third semester.
The department requirements for an M.S.E. in Mechanical Engineering are described in Sections “A” and “B,” where both sections must be met:
Section A: Satisfactorily complete eight one-semester advanced courses approved by your advisor:
Section B: Plus either:
COURSE OPTION
ESSAY OPTION
Double-Counting Courses
Students either in a bachelor’s/master’s program or seeking a master’s degree in the Whiting School, after having earned a Whiting School or Krieger School of Arts and Sciences bachelor’s degree may double-count two courses (.400-level or higher) to both programs with the permission of the master’s faculty advisor.
For information, visit the Whiting School’s “Graduate – Full-Time Academic Policies” page and select the “Policy on Double-Counting Courses” bar.
MSE Course Plan
You can use the MSE Certificate of Completion as a Course Plan, similar to a “checkout sheet.”
Your faculty advisor or Academic Program Manager Mike Bernard can help you with planning your coursework.
EN.530.602/EN.530.821 Master’s Essay – Research and Writing or EN.530.609/EN.530.822 Master’s Essay – Co-Op – 3-10 credits – students must enroll in one of these “Pass/Fail” course when doing essay research and writing for each semester where essay work is done.
This “Pass/Fail” course does not count as one of the eight courses required in addition to the essay. The course is generally the equivalent of six credits and can be taken in one semester or split into three-credit courses taken over two semesters. If a student needs subsequent semesters to continue essay work, he or she can simply register for the same course each semester.
According to the Graduate Board’s Procedures for Administration of Approved Policies for the Award of Advanced Degrees, “Thesis [essay] readers are selected and appointed by the chair or appropriate faculty of the sponsoring department or committee. Any duly appointed member of a department or committee holding the rank of assistant professor or higher (excluding lecturers) is eligible for selection as a referee without prior approval. The Graduate Board Office must approve readers from outside the University, or from any non-Ph.D. sponsoring department, laboratory or institute within the University.”
See the Master’s Student Advising Manual on the MechE Graduate Academic Advising page for information on coursework and degree requirements.
