Incoming Transfer Students

Welcome transfer students! Did you know that over half of our graduates have at least one semester of credit from a transfer institution? We highly value the differing viewpoints that transfer students bring to our community and we are glad you are considering joining us to complete your Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering. Click on the tabs below for more information.

All students admitted to the University of Utah can declare Mechanical Engineering as their major. However, students must be in good standing in order to progress through the major. New transfer students with 30 or more credits must be evaluated before taking any 2000-level or higher Mechanical Engineering courses. See below for the evaluation criteria. Contact an advisor for more information.

Evaluation Process

Step One

Apply to the U
Before you can be considered for the Mechanical Engineering major, you must be admitted as a matriculated University of Utah student.

Step Two

After being admitted to the University, you will automatically be evaluated for eligibility to take 2000-level and higher mechanical engineering courses.  You will receive an email from us letting you know we’ve received your information.

Step Three

Wait for a decision via email regarding your evaluation (about 2-3 weeks after being admitted to the University).

Step Four

Fill out the major acceptance form. This helps us get a picture of your plans and any gaps in evaluating transfer course articulations.

Our holistic review process is based on a collection of factors that may include:

  • Cumulative post-secondary GPA (including concurrent or dual-program credits)
  • Grades in post-secondary technical courses
  • Personal statement (only if requested by our office via email)
  • AP credit

While a specific post-secondary GPA will not guarantee admission to the program, in the absence of other information, students must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 (both cumulative and technical) to be considered. Acceptance to the major requires placement into MATH 1210/1310 Calculus I or higher.  Students not eligible to enroll in MATH 1210/1310 or higher in the fall of the upcoming academic year must first complete Calculus prerequisites and wait until they are eligible to apply for admission to the Mechanical Engineering program.  Students who have been evaluated will be given access to 2000-level and above courses and may take any ME EN course (all pre/co-requisites must also be satisfied).

To continue in the major, students must maintain a cumulative University of Utah GPA of 2.5 or higher. In addition, students must earn a C or better in major courses, with only one repeat allowed per course. Students are also limited on the total number of courses they can repeat. Transfer courses count as one attempt.

How will my credits transfer?

The short answer is: “it depends!”

If you transferred from a State of Utah school:

If you attended a State of Utah school and took Mechanical Engineering (not Mechanical Engineering Technology) courses, they will likely be accepted for credit towards major requirements. See our current Transfer Articulation Chart (2023) for lists of approved courses by school.

If you have completed an Associates of Science degree from a state of Utah school, all of your general education requirements will be waived.  An Associates of Pre-Engineering does not usually cover all of the general education requirements unless you also completed all of the Associates of Science requirements for general education or receive a “letter of completion” or “interstate passport” indicating the general education requirements at your previous institution were completed.

If you took a course that is not on the articulation guide, you may submit a syllabus to see if the course would be approved as equivalent to a major requirement through our Course Articulation Form.

If you transferred from outside the state of Utah:

Many out of state courses are listed on the University of Utah Transfer Equivalency Guide. These are courses that other students have already transferred. However, if a course you took or are taking is not listed on the Guide and you think should meet a Mechanical Engineering major requirement, you may submit a syllabus to have the course evaluated. 

An engineering course should be submitted using our Course Articulation Form (you can use that form for Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science, and Electrical Engineering courses);  Math, Physics and Chemistry have their own articulation forms: Math Articulation Form;  Physics Articulation Form; Chemistry Articulation Form

General Education courses will be automatically evaluated through the Admissions process.

We recommend you contact an Academic Advisor before filling out any of those forms.

All transfer students:

All transfer students will need to complete the Bachelor’s Degree requirements not covered by your major (an A.S. or A.A. degree from SLCC waives the Diversity requirement).  See the Graduation Requirements Worksheet for more information about general education and bachelor’s degree requirements and see an advisor with any questions.

The Mechanical Engineering department does limit the number of upper-division (300/3000-level or higher) courses that students can count towards graduation requirements. For more information, please refer to the Upper Division Transfer Course Policy.

For Advanced Placement Scores and what requirements they will fulfill, please see the “Advanced Placement Scores” tab above.   Advanced Placement scores must be sent from College Board directly to the University of Utah even if you had already sent them to another institution if you wish to receive credit for them.

The Department of Mechanical Engineering accepts AP test scores for Math, Physics and Chemistry requirements. See below for test and score requirements to see what course would be waived:

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AP Scores for Math Placement

See our Math Flowchart for more details on which math paths you can choose based on your AP scores if you haven’t taken any college-level math classes yet.

AP Scores for General Education

Some of your general education requirements may also have been completed by Advance Placement (AP) classes you took in high school if you scored high enough on the exam. See the Advance Placement Credit page for scores and requirements fulfilled by each exam.

Advanced Placement scores must be sent from College Board directly to the University of Utah even if you had already sent them to another institution if you wish to receive credit for them.

Students must complete these major requirements to graduate:

  1. Maintain a cumulative University of Utah GPA of 2.5 or higher;
  2. Complete the following technical coursework (all courses must be taken for a letter grade and passed with a grade of ‘C’ or higher):
    1. MATH 1210, 1220, 2210, 2250, 3150 (traditional calculus track) OR MATH 1310, 1320, 2250, 3140 (engineering calculus track)
    2. PHYS 2210, 2220; CHEM 1210, 1215
    3. ME EN 1000, 1010, 1020, 2010, 2030, 2450, 2455, 2550, 2650, 2655, 3000, 3220, 3230, 3310, 3315, 3400, 2300, 3710, 3650, 4650, 4000, 4010;
    4. ECE 2210; MSE 2160.
  3. Earn a ‘C+’ (2.3) average in the following upper division core ME EN classes: ME EN 3000, 3220, 3230, 3310, 3315, 3400, 3710, 3650, 4650.
  4. Complete twelve technical elective credit hours
  5. Complete all general education and bachelor’s degree requirements required by the major:  Graduation Requirements Worksheet