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.

• Why earn a Master's Degree in 5 years?

  This is an excellent program for individuals who would like to earn a graduate degree quickly. The degree will increase a student’s chances for higher quality employment than would a Bachelor’s Degree.
  

• Tuition Break

  After a Johns Hopkins student completes eight semesters and earns an undergraduate degree, the Whiting School of Engineering will pay 50% of the student’s tuition every semester while he or she is a graduate student.

  Note that this and any policy may be subject to change.
  

• Eligibility

  This program is available only to undergraduates in the Mechanical Engineering or Engineering Mechanics majors of the Johns Hopkins University.
  

• Submission Deadlines

  The application must be submitted during the student’s junior year. There are two deadlines to submit applications to the BS/MSE program:

  • January 6 – Juniors only – admissions decisions occur around January 24
  • June 17 – Rising Seniors only – admissions decisions occur around July 23

  (The typical rising senior submission deadline is June 16, which falls on a Saturday in 2018. Students can submit applications through that weekend in 2018, which is Sunday, June 17.)

  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.

• How To Apply

  Visit the Johns Hopkins “Combined Degree Student” page for instructions on how to apply.

  The application package includes:

  • Online graduate application.
  • Statement of Purpose that describes career plans and rationale for advanced study.
  • JHU transcript (unofficial copy is acceptable)
  • Three letters of recommendation.

  GRE and TOEFL scores are not required.

• For Which Semester Do I Apply?

  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).

  • If applying before the January submission deadline, select the first available Spring semester.
  • If applying after the January deadline but before the June submission deadline, select the first available Fall semester.

  For example, students applying by June 2016  would select the “Fall 2016” semester.  Students applying by January 2017 would select the “Spring 2017” semester.

• Recommendation Letters

  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.
  

• Application Review and Decision

  The Graduate Recruiting Committee, made up of four faculty members, one each from the robotics, fluids, solids, and biomechanics areas will review the applications. Students will be notified of results by e-mail. Upon acceptance into the program, students will be asked to develop their graduate programs with their advisors.
  

• Advisor and Program

  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.

  This sample program is one of many possibilities of completing the program in five years.
  

• Degree Requirements

  Section A:  Satisfactorily complete eight one-semester advanced courses approved by your advisor:

  • No more than two courses may be chosen from the part-time Engineering for Professionals program.
  • At least four courses must be at the graduate level (full-time programs xxx.600 or higher, Engineering for Professionals xx5.4xx or higher).
  • No more than four courses may be at the intermediate/advanced undergraduate level (full-time programs xxx.300 – xxx.499, Engineering for Professionals xx5.3xx). (Note: for students matriculating in Spring 2018 or later only advanced undergraduate courses xxx.400-499 will be accepted)
  • At least two courses should be in applied mathematics, numerical analysis, or computational methods. (This requirement can be waived in writing by your advisor, if sufficient prior preparation in these areas can be demonstrated).
  • Independent Study, 530.600 MSE Graduate Research, Graduate Research, or Special Studies are not eligible courses to help complete Section A’s requirement.

  Section B:  Plus either:

  • Two additional one-semester graduate-level courses (xxx.600–xxx.799) approved by your advisor (for BS/MSE and MSE students only, one can be 530.600 MSE Graduate Student Research), or…
  • …an M.S.E. Thesis acceptable to your advisor and one other reader. The course 530.602 MSE Thesis Research and Writing must be taken for a total of six credits, generally in one or two semesters. 530.600 is not accepted when writing a thesis.

  At least half of all courses counted toward the master’s degree must be 530.xxx Mechanical Engineering or 535.xxx Engineering for Professionals’ Mechanical Engineering but no more than two courses may be chosen from the Engineering for Professionals program.

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  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.

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  MSE Course Plan

  You can use the MSE Certificate of Completion as a Course Plan.

  • All-course master’s degree
  • Thesis master’s degree

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  NEW! 530.602 Master’s Thesis Research and Writing – 3-10 credits – students must enroll in this “Pass/Fail” course when doing thesis research and writing for each semester where thesis work is done.

  This “Pass/Fail” course does not count as one of the eight courses required in addition to the thesis.  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 thesis 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 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.”

• Master's Student Advising Manual

  See the Master’s Student Advising Manual on the MechE Graduate Academic Advising page for information on coursework and degree requirements.

• Academic Performance

  • A course is satisfactorily completed if a grade from A+ to B- is obtained. Grades of C+ or lower are evidence of unsatisfactory academic performance.
  • No more than one course with a grade of C+, C, or C- can be counted toward the MSE degree.
  • A student earning one grade of D or F or two C+, C, or C- grades will receive notification, with a copy to his or her advisor, of academic performance concerns and an explanation that a second D or F or a third C+, C, or C- grade for a master’s student will result in termination from the program.