Combined BS/MS: The 5-Year Plan

The Combined BS/MS Program is an integrated five-year degree program in which qualified students can receive a BS in Mechanical Engineering or Motorsports Engineering, and an MS in Mechanical Engineering. The program provides a seamless transition from the BS to MS programs for Purdue students where graduate courses taken as undergraduate electives are counted toward both the BS and MS degrees, thereby reducing the overall time required for the MS degree. Students can choose to go to the Thesis track or the Professional Master’s track. This program is for current enrolled Purdue BSME/BSMSPE students only.

Please note: The BS/MS program is a continuous program.   Should a student leave the program and need to be re-admitted to ME as a Master’s student, the dual-counted course status no longer applies.

Combined BS/MS Callout
Thursday, March 26 • 12:00pm-1:00pm

Webinar link: https://purdue.webex.com/purdue/j.php?MTID=m228de8249843432cbc46aa6ff7434839

Meeting Number: 2868 322 7869

Password: mtJHxY2PY64

Typical Timeline

Undergraduate Semester 5 (first semester of junior year)

  • Attend March or September callout hosted by the ME Graduate Office to get detailed information.

Semester 6 (second semester of junior year)

  • Submit a graduate school application in the time window: October 15 – November 1 for spring term; May 1 – May 15 for fall term.
  • Application term is the semester that you will start dual status, typically your semester 7. Not the semester that you will start MS only status.
  • BS/MS supplemental form and Form 27 need to be submitted with application. You must disclose if you are already in a combined degree program of any sort on the Form 27. Applicants who are not already in a combined degree program will be considered for the BS/MS program. 
  • Minimum GPA 3.40 is required.

Semester 7 and 8 (senior year)

  • BS and MS dual degree status. (Once approved, you'll see the Master's program as your secondary program, starting in your 7th semester of the undergrad program. This will be your admit term for the Master's program even though you are still completing your undergrad program.)
  • Submit your MSME plan of study in semester 7, between weeks 3-6, even though you are still completing your undergrad degree.
  • Complete up to 12 hours of allowable graduate level lecture-based courses, with a grade B or better, in addition to undergraduate courses.
  • BS degree is expected to be awarded at the end of semester 8.
  • Cumulative GPA must be 3.2 or higher at the end of semester 8 to continue in the BS/MS program and your Master's will start as your primary program in the semester following your undergrad graduation. There can be no gap semester between the end of your undergrad program and the start of your Master's program, although spring undergrad graduates can choose to start the following summer or fall semester, since summer is not a full academic semester. You just need to notify the ME Grad Office of your choice of start semester.

Semester 9 and 10

  • MS degree status.
  • Register for candidacy (CAND 991)in Semester 10 if Master’s degree requirements have been met (see Graduation/Candidacy webpage).

Procedures and Rules

  1. A minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.4 is required when submitting the graduate school application. Do not apply if your GPA is lower than the minimum requirement, as your application will not be considered.
  2. Start your graduate school application here. Please choose MSME for degree objective. Application term is the semester that you will start your dual degree status (typically semester 7). Submit all required materials including 3 recommendation letters and copy of official Purdue transcripts. (English proficiency scores and GRE are not required for the combined program.) Requirements can be found here. Submit your application first, then login your application portal to upload a BS/MS Program Application Supplemental Form and GS Form 27 as "miscellaneous supporting documents." The graduate office will obtain undergraduate and graduate associate heads’ signatures for students on the GS Form 27. Students need to fill out the rest of the form. Students must disclose if they are already in a combined degree program on the Form 27.
  3. Upon admission to the graduate program, in semesters 7 and 8 you will have dual-degree status until the BS degree is awarded (at end of semester 8). You will be admitted to the Master's as your secondary program in semester 7; it will become your primary program once you graduate with your undergrad degree. You must continue in the Master's program, the first semester after obtaining the BS degree. However, spring undergrad graduates can choose to start in the Master's program in the summer or fall, but need to notify the ME Grad Office of their choice of start semester. 
  4. During the dual-status semesters, you may complete at most 12 hours of allowable graduate lecture-based courses (50000 or 60000 level courses) as undergraduate technical electives. Usually two graduate courses are taken in semester 7 and two are taken in semester 8, in addition to undergraduate courses. These graduate courses will be added later to the MSME plan of study, if a minimum B grade is achieved. These courses may be “dual-counted” for both the BS and MS degrees, but they will not figure into your Master's GPA. Please make sure to check with the ME Grad office that the grad-level courses you are taking are degree-allowable.
  5. Important notes:
    • Grades of B or better are required for the dual-counted graduate courses to be used toward completing graduate credits and added to the MS plan of study.
    • You must have at least two full undergraduate semesters (not including summer) remaining to be admitted to the program and the dual-counted graduate courses must be taken in these semesters.
    • Undergraduate excess courses are not accepted in the BS/MS plans of study.
    • The BS/MS program is a continuous program.  Students who become inactive and have to reapply to ME, are not able to be re-admitted to the BS/MS program and the dual counted coursework can no longer be applied toward the Master’s degree requirements.
    • For dual-counted coursework to apply, you need to begin the Master’s program the semester following the awarding of your BS degree, and finish the Master’s program before attempting to enroll in a PhD program.
    • Students in their final semester of the BS degree program, will not immediately be able to register for their first Master’s semester coursework, when graduate student registration opens for that semester. The registrar's office will automatically convert your status showing the Master's as your primary program for the following semester, sometime in your last undergrad semester, assuming you've registered to graduate for your undergrad degree and have completed at least 95% of your program when they look at your record.
    • Beginning summer '27, international BS/MS students who graduate with their BS in the spring semester may be eligible to do an internship experience in the summer following their spring undergrad graduation, assuming they've completed 12 credits of allowable graduate coursework with a B or better in their 7th and 8th undergrad semesters that are dual-counted, and have secured a graduate-level internship position. International students who do not complete 12 credits of allowable graduate level coursework, or secure an undergraduate internship position,will need to go on OPT following the completion of their undergrad program. See the ME grad webpage, Internship/CPT for more details on the internship application process.
    • Because you are admitted to the Master's program in your 7th semester of undergrad as a secondary program and you will be completing dual-counted credits, your official start term in the Master's program, is your admit term (7th semester of the undergrad program).
    • It is expected for students in the BS/MS program to complete their Bachelor’s and begin their Master’s program in the following spring or summer/fall semester, whichever applies.  There cannot be a ‘gap’ between completing your Bachelor’s and starting your Master’s program, other than the summer semester.
  6. Admitted BS/MS students will continue to work with ME undergraduate advisors and follow undergraduate policies/procedures, before obtaining bachelor's degree.  The semester following your undergraduate graduation, you become an official Graduate Student, and at that time, you’ll work with ME Grad Advisors and follow ME Grad student policies/procedures.  Please make sure to attend the virtual informational meetings scheduled for new grad students, the semester you become an official graduate student. Details/link for all ME grad student virtual meetings are found on the ME grad blog home page. You should subscribe to the ME grad blog and bookmark the ME grad website, the semester you're admitted to the Master's program, even though your undergrad program is your primary program.
  7. Your record is reviewed by the graduate office at the end of semesters 7 and 8:
    • It is required that you have an undergraduate CGPA of at least 3.2 to begin semester 9.
    • If the above CGPA and course grade conditions are not met, you will be required to leave the BS/MS program. When a student leaves the BS/MS Program, the graduate courses taken as undergraduate electives (that were intended to be dual-counted) will be applied only to the BS degree and cannot be used for graduate credit.
  8. After satisfactory completion of the BS degree requirements, the degree will be awarded. You will then have graduate status only starting in semester 9, as long as your cumulative GPA is 3.2 or above.
  9. Starting fall '26, a graduate plan of study must be submitted as final in week 3-6 your undergrad semester 7. A plan of study approved by the graduate office is required before registration for courses for semester 9. (Please note that even though you can register in advance of starting your first official Master's as primary program, you do need to wait until the registrar's office has converted you to graduate-level status for registration, which may occur after that registration period opens for graduate students. Please be patient.)
  10. When you are in your 7th & 8th semester of your undergrad program, pre-reqs for grad-level courses will still apply for registration. You will need to submit your request in the workflow and should add a comment that you are in the BS/MS program, which may help your request be considered before other undergrad approvals, but is not guaranteed.
  11. You can choose Thesis or Professional Master's track. If you choose the thesis track, you need to identify an ME faculty member who has agreed to oversee your research in advance and fund you, before you submit the grad school application. The thesis option may require additional time to complete. For more details on the non-thesis Professional Masters options, see Professional Masters in Mechanical Engineering or Professional Master’s in Motorsports Engineering.
  12. BS/MS program students will be qualified to receive a graduate assistantship starting in semester 9, if they're accepted into the Master's thesis program. If accepted into the thesis program, students need to be registered in research every semester registered.
  13. The Master’s portion of the combined degree program, whether thesis or Professional Master’s, is a residential full-time program and students should be registered full time, every semester registered.

ME Graduate Office
2nd floor of ME Building, 585 Purdue Mall
West Lafayette, IN 47906
MEgradoffice@purdue.edu
(765) 494-5730
Virtual office hours available Mon-Fri