Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate Degree Program
Counting Courses Toward a Graduate Degree
The Virginia Tech - Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences (SBES) invites applications to the Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate Degree Program (UG/G) for highly qualified Virginia Tech undergraduate engineering students.
Students may apply for admission to either the SBES M.S. or the Ph.D. program as part of this program.
This option is available on the Virginia Tech campus only.
Qualifications
- Students must have completed 90 credit hours and have a GPA of 3.3 or higher for B.S./M.S. and 3.5 or higher for B.S./Ph.D.
- An SBES faculty member must have agreed to serve as the initial faculty advisor for the student's graduate degree.
- Students follow the regular graduate admissions process. A student must apply for the semester they will begin as a full time graduate student (the fall semester AFTER the student earns their bachelor degree).
- Students must submit three or more letters of recommendation. One letter must be from an SBES faculty member who would consider serving as an advisor.
- Applicants must be in the last 12 months of an undergraduate program from one of the College of Engineering departments.
- Students should apply during the junior year of their bachelor's program.
Application Instructions
Fall semester deadline: June 1
Virginia Tech Admissions
Students should apply through the Virginia Tech Graduate School's online application process.
Note: There is no "Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate Program" choice listed on the application, so students will choose either the M.S. or the Ph.D. degree in biomedical engineering, and the effective term will be the semester in which the student becomes a full-time graduate student (not the beginning term of the senior year). Students should contact the BMES Graduate Coordinator when applying so that the Department knows they are part of this program and need to be considered for admissions earlier.
Students applying to graduate school may be eligible for an application fee waiver from the Virginia Tech Graduate School if they meet certain criteria. Read more about this process here.
Coordinating Between Two Departments
Applicants must work with the graduate coordinator of SBES as well as the undergraduate advisor in his/her "home" department in order to choose the courses which will be double-counted.
Double-counting Courses
Acceptance into the program allows the student to "double-count" up to 12 hours of graduate-level coursework, which is chosen in advance and taken during the senior year. All double-counted courses must be at the 5000-level or higher.
Courses included on a UG/G student's list of proposed coursework must be consistent with the course requirements for the appropriate SBES graduate degree.
More Information
For more details about the UG/G option, consult Virginia Tech's resources for Accelerated Undergraduate/Graduate degree students.
SBES Graduate Student Handbook
For more details on admissions and degree requirements, as well as information on required courses, examinations, and grades, see the graduate student handbook