Transfer Students

This page has some information for students that wish to transfer into the BAEM undergraduate program from another school or college. For general information and application instructions see the Admissions Office Transfer Student Page.

The information below is primarily aimed at students transfering after two or three years of courses at another school. This typically prepares students to start our junior year and complete our degree requirements in two years. However, it is possible to transfer after taking fewer courses at another school and then take three years of courses at the University of Minnesota.

Course Requirements for the BAEM Program

The key course that transfer students need to complete before they can begin our Junior year program is AEM 2012 Dynamics. The Junior year courses AEM 4201 Fluid Mechanics and AEM 4301 Space Flight Dynamics have Dynamics as a prerequisite. We also require Dynamics for admission to Upper Division (major in AEM).

Note that Dynamics is also given over the Summer semester, thus you can take AEM 2012 here over the summer to get ready for starting our Junior year program in the Fall.

AEM 2012 Dynamics has AEM 2011 Statics as a prerequisite and Differential Equations as a co-requisite (can be taken at same time). AEM 2011 Statics requires the first Physics course, which covers mechanics, and has Multivariable Calculus as co-requisite. Thus the single requirement of Dynamics translates into a set of at least five courses once prerequisites are considered.

Students should also have completed Multivariable Calculus and Differential Equations to be ready to start their Junior year here. The third Physics course (modern physics PHYS 2503) is required for the degree, but not a prerequisite for any course and thus can be taken later in the program if needed.

Transfer Course Credit

Transfer credit is handled by the Institute of Technology College Student Affairs Office. See the IT Prospective Transfer Students Page for more information. Details on transferring credits are on the IT Transferring Credit page, which includes links to school specific transfer guides such as the following:

Liberal Education Requirements

The University of Minnesota has extensive Liberal Education Requirements. It can be difficult to get transfer courses to count for these requirements. The best way is to finish all your liberal education courses before you transfer. If you meet the Minnesota Transfer Curriculum requirements then this will count as meeting the University of Minnesota requirements as a package. A few other useful links are:

Credit Transfer Information: Minnesota Course Applicability System a searchable database of courses at other schools that meet MN liberal education requirements
Transfer Credit, Test Awards, and Liberal Education (General Education) Requirements information on the process of getting your courses transferred
Liberal Education Course Transfer Guides has courses listed by state and school that transfer

Writing Requirement

There is also a Campus Writing Requirement that must be met by all students. These require that all students, including transfer students take four (4) writing intensive (WI) courses. These are courses with numbers that end in a W. There are two courses in the AEM upper division requirements that meet these requirements: AEM 4602W Aeromechanics Laboratory and AEM 4332W Aerospace Vehicle Design: Space Craft. Transfer students will need to take two additional courses that are WI or petition for courses you transfer to count for this requirement. For example a technical writing course may often meet this requirement. Note that the WI requirement is in addition to freshman composition, thus this course cannot count towards the WI requirement.

Transferring after obtaining a Bachelors Degree

The University of Minnesota will allow you to obtain another bachelors degree (such as the BAEM) in addition to your current degree as long as it is in a different major. Students that already have a bachelors degree do not have to meet the campus liberal education or writing requirements. You have to complete 30 credits at the U of M and, of course, meet all the requirements for our degree. See the Admissions transfer evaluation page for more information.

Noteworthy Items

AEM 4xxx courses (and AEM 2301) are only given once a year. See the AEM Semester by Semester Academic Plan for a typical schedule.
AEM 2301 Flight Mechanics is taken by transfer students in the Spring of their Junior year. This pushes AEM 4303 Flight Dynamics and Control to Spring of their Senior year. This does not affect any other courses.
The BAEM Advising Guide has lots of useful information for planning your program.

Last Modified: 2008-04-15 at 13:18:19 -- this is in International Standard Date and Time Notation