Upon admission to the university, engineering students are placed in the pre-engineering program. On a competitive basis, students who successfully complete a set of required lower division courses advance to the professional program. The major difference between the two programs is that students in the pre-engineering program may not take upper division courses offered within the College of Engineering. Definitions College academic policies apply to most courses taken to satisfy degree requirements. A listing of courses required for each degree is in the OSU General Catalog in the curriculum section for each major.
Several requirements refer to pre-engineering or professional program courses.
Required pre-engineering courses are those that are required specifically for admission to the professional program. Pre-engineering courses are indicated in the OSU General Catalog with the E symbol. Professional program courses include all other courses except those taken to satisfy unrestricted or Baccalaureate Core requirements. GPA calculations generally follow OSU guidelines. A GPA calculation involving a repeated course includes the credits attempted each time the course is taken.