All prospective undergraduate students must first apply to Michigan State University. Once accepted, students interested in applying to the College of Engineering must complete a secondary admissions process. Specific admissions criteria apply in all cases.
When you first apply to Michigan State University, you are applying to the university in general, not to a specific college or program. MSU allows all of our incoming students to declare a major in whatever they wish. Once you are enrolled at MSU, each college has different requirements to be admitted to their program.
Apply as a first-year applicant if you are currently in high school (regardless of total college credits completed while in high school) or if you have graduated from high school but haven’t enrolled at a college, university or any other school after high school.
For information regarding admission requirements for the College of Engineering, review current MSU students and transfer students detail.
You also can learn more about our programs and resources by visiting Future students and First-year Engineering CoRe Experience.
Email future-engineer@egr.msu.edu or call (517) 353-7282 for additional assistance.
Meet with an advisor – for Current MSU students
Current Students who declared and Engineering Preference major must meet the following criteria for admission AND apply (see link below) DURING the semester they expect to complete the requirements below. Further, students who are declared an Engineering Preference major must apply and be admitted prior to reaching 56 total credits, or they will need to change their major to a major outside of the college of Engineering. Applications may still be submitted after a student earns 56 credits for students who are not currently declared an Engineering Preference major. Students who are already admitted to an Engineering major who want to change to a different Engineering major must also submit an application.
Minimum criteria for admission to all programs except Technology Engineering are:
Computational Data Science and Computer Science majors are not required to fulfill this requirement.
Minimum criteria for admission to the Technology Engineering program:
Attain the specific combination (combo) GPA requirements for their declared major.
Your cumulative GPA is an average of the grades you have received for all courses you have taken for credit at MSU. Your cumulative GPA can be found on your grade report each semester.
Your technical GPA is an average of the grades you have received for all your technical courses. Technical courses teach STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) foundation topics and are often courses taken from the College of Engineering, College of Natural Science and from Lyman Briggs College. For example, STT 351 and ENT 205 are considered technical courses that are used in calculating your technical GPA.
Courses in the colleges of Engineering and Natural Science that are NOT INCLUDED in the technical GPA include:
Your combo GPA is the average of your cumulative GPA and your technical GPA. To calculate, add your cumulative GPA and your technical GPA, then divide by 2. Your combo GPA is used for admission to the College of Engineering.
IMPORTANT: Use current version of Microsoft Excel
The Fall 2024 application for the College of Engineering is now OPEN. The deadline to apply is December 8, 2024. Applicants will receive decisions via Confidential Message after MSU's fall semester ends, by December 20.
Current MSU students apply to College of Engineering via College secondary admission application system
Due to COVID-19 and the change to remote/online learning, S/NS grades were available for Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, and Summer 2021. Per University Policy, the College of Engineering WILL use the underlying grades in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, and Summer 2021 for all admissions GPA calculations, even if S/NS grades were selected. Underlying grades from Spring 2020 will not be used in admissions, per policy in place at that time.
Transferring to Michigan State University is competitive, but all majors accept transfer students each year. Highly qualified students wishing to become a Spartan engineer are encouraged to apply! Most admission decisions will be made in late January and February with priority usually given to early applicants. Students interested in transferring to MSU as an engineering major should contact Drew Kim or Luis Donado at (517) 353-7282 to make an appointment.
Apply as a transfer student if you have attended a postsecondary institution after graduating from high school (with the exception of attendance during the summer term immediately following graduation) OR if you have earned a bachelor’s degree at another college or university and are seeking to earn another bachelor’s degree or teaching certificate. Early/middle college or dual-enrolled students are considered first-years.
Transfer students with junior standing who entered majors other than engineering must complete at least 12 credits of Michigan State University courses to be admitted to a major in the College of Engineering, including at least 6 credits in mathematics, physical and biological sciences, and engineering for first-years and sophomores, and at least 10 credits in mathematics, physical and biological sciences, and engineering for juniors and seniors. These students are then considered for admission to an engineering major based on MSU grades using the criteria for internal students.
While MSU also utilizes the Common App and Coalition for College application, transfer applications are made only through the MSU application. Additionally, there is no early-action/regular admission windows for transfer applicants; applications are evaluated as they are received by the university (rolling admission). Once an application is submitted and all application materials are received (transcripts and the application itself), transfer applicants can expect to wait eight to twelve weeks for their admission decision. Transfer students are encouraged to apply at least 6 months before their desired semester of enrollment.
Depending on the number of credits, Engineering prerequisites include completing equivalents for the following courses:
For an accessible version of the chart, please view the Transfer Guide PDF.
Mechanical Engineering majors must have an overall GPA of 3.6 and 3.4 GPA in all technical courses. Computer Science, and Chemical and Material Sciences Engineering majors must have an overall GPA of 3.4 and a 3.2 GPA in all technical courses. All other engineering majors require an overall GPA of 3.2 and a 3.0 GPA in technical coursework. Your technical GPA is an average of the grades you have received for all technical courses. For example, MTH 132 is considered a technical course and is used in calculating your technical GPA; WRA 101 is not. Here is how to calculate your technical GPA. Courses will be accepted according to the Transfer MSU page as well as based on grade earned. Grades lower than a “C” will not be transferrable as credit. All credit will be reviewed on a 4-point scale and grades will follow according to the grading scale that is used at the institution you completed the course at.
Your combo GPA is the average of your cumulative GPA and your technical GPA. To calculate, add your cumulative GPA and your technical GPA, then divide by 2. Your combo GPA is used for admission to the College of Engineering.
Download Excel file to aid in calculating combo GPA (button)
IMPORTANT: Use current version of Microsoft Excel
Please see the College of Engineering Undergraduate Scholarships web page for specific details.
