Admission to the Department of Civil Engineering

There are two levels of admission to the Department of Civil Engineering and the College of Engineering. The first level is called pre-engineering. Students admitted to the College of Engineering (see FRESHMAN ADMISSION) will be accepted into the Civil Engineering Pre-engineering program upon their request. While students enrolling in Pre-engineering may choose a department, transfers are permitted between departments of the College of Engineering. Application forms for a departmental transfer are available from the Office of Student Records in room 355-S of F. Paul Anderson Tower.

The second, and more advanced, level of admission to the department and the college is called Engineering Standing. Entry to this level is normally by application from the Pre-Engineering program, though transfer students meeting the requirements stated below could be admitted to Engineering Standing directly upon completing the application for Engineering Standing.

Application for Engineering Standing may be made upon completion of the Civil Engineering core curriculum:

• Writing: CIS 110 Comp and Com 1 (UKCore), or Equivalent
• Chemistry: CHE 105 and CHE 107
• Physics: PHY 231(UKCore) and PHY 241(UKCore)
• Calculus: MA 113, MA 114, and MA 213
• Engineering Courses: CE 106, CE 120, CE 211, and EM 221
• A total of 45 credit hours of course work acceptable toward the degree.
• A minimum core grade point average (core GPA) of 2.50* and a C or better in each core course are required for unconditional acceptance into Engineering Standing.

Students who do not meet the unconditional acceptance criteria but have achieved a core GPA of at least 2.25* may request a review of their application by the Department of Civil Engineering Academic Appeals Committee. This review** determines whether the student should be granted a waiver of the unconditional acceptance criteria. Reviews are conducted in January and August. If the committee decides against the applicant, but remedial action could improve the applicant’s chances of success, then the committee will so state and the department will forward the recommendation(s) to the applicant.

A student may apply twice for Engineering Standing. If a student is denied Engineering Standing after two applications, the student will be terminated from the Civil Engineering program.

Applications for admission into the Engineering Standing level of the Civil Engineering program are available in room 161 Raymond (OHR) Building (Civil Engineering Office) and should be submitted as soon as the requirements have been met. Engineering Standing is a prerequisite for all 300***, 400 and 500 level Civil Engineering courses.

* The policy of the Department of Civil Engineering is to calculate the core GPA using all grades (including those at other colleges and universities), except for those in which an official repeat option has been exercised (maximum of three). Transfer students may also exercise repeat options.

** Applications for admission based on departmental review must include a written statement describing personal motivation, work experiences, career plans, the rationale for a waiver and any other information the applicant considers relevant to the admission decision. In addition, the CE Academic Appeals Committee will consider rank order of core GPA compared with that of other applicants, grades in engineering courses, UK GPA, and resources of the department in the acceptance or rejection decision.

*** If your schedule is such that you need to register for 300-level courses while completing the Engineering Standing core curriculum above, see the director of undergraduate studies for a possible waiver of the Engineering Standing prerequisite.