Transfer students

While MSU also utilizes the Common App and Coalition for College application, transfer applications are done 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 prior to their desired semester of enrollment.

For more information about the transfer application process, important dates and deadlines, and admission criteria, visit the MSU Office of Admissions transfer applicants. For engineering-specific information, please continue below.

Depending on the number of credits, Spartan Engineering prerequisites include successfully completing equivalents for the following courses:

• Writing: Writing as Inquiry (WRA 101) 
• General Chemistry (CEM 141) and Chemistry Lab I (CEM 161) (EXCEPTIONS: Computer Science Majors exempted from requirement; Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering students are required to take CEM 151. Students with CEM 141 credit need to take an exam that, if passed, would waive CEM 151. Without a passing score, students must take CEM 151 at MSU.) 
• Intro to Engineering Modeling (EGR 102) (Note: Mechanical Engineering, Computer Engineering and Computer Science students complete CSE 231. Electrical Engineer majors take CSE 220 instead.)
• Calculus I (MTH 132)
• Calculus II (MTH 133)
• Calculus lll (MTH 234)
• Physics for Scientists and Engineers I (PHY 183)
• Physics for Scientists and Engineers Il (PHY 184)

The following table indicates which courses you will need to have completed when you are transferring less than 28 credits, less than 42 credits, and 42 credits or more. Also listed is the GPA (on a 4-point scale) that will be required for admission to the College of Engineering as well as when applying to MSU.

For an accessible version of the chart, please view the Transfer Guide PDF. 

• Students transferring from two-year institutions may transfer a maximum of 60 semester credits for use toward a bachelor's degree.
• Students transferring from four-year institutions may transfer all credits that they have received.
• Note that students must earn at least 30 credits in courses given by the university in order to earn a bachelor’s degree from MSU.
• Course work assigned a grade of 2.0 or higher may be recognized in transfer. Any courses taken that resulted in a grade below a 2.0 are not eligible for transfer credit.
• Students with 42 or more completed credits must select a major; the major of no preference cannot be chosen.

It is recommended for students majoring in Chemical Engineering to take Organic Chemistry. 

It is recommended for students majoring in Biosystems Engineering to take B.S. 161 equivalent.

• The MSU College of Engineering offers more than 120 scholarships to incoming first-years and transfer students each year, for a total of approximately $220,800 in amounts ranging from $1,000 to $1,500.
• A separate scholarship application is not required; decisions will be made based on your MSU Application, academic merit, and financial need.
• Academic excellence is the primary criterion, but financial need is considered for some awards. Some awards are based on extracurricular activities, community service, co-op and other work experience, professional and honor societies, career interests, and other relevant information.
• For the past several years incoming first-years scholarships were offered to students with minimum 32 or higher ACT composite or 1460 SAT, and 3.8 or higher HS GPA, with financial needs.

For more information, visit Undergraduate scholarships.

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:

Courses beginning with ISB, ISP, or NSC
EGR100, EGR 160, EGR 291
MTH 1825, MTH 101, MTH 102, MTH 103A
CSE 100, CSE 101
LB 300 or higher courses, LB 126, LB 133, LB 181
ME280, ME285, ME 300
CE274

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.

GPA Calculator

An Example:

J. Spartan has taken the following courses with the following grades (t=technical GPA course):

Course Credits Grade Credits x Grade= Point total

t ENT 205 3cr 3.5 | 3 x 3.5= 10.5

t CEM 141 4cr 2.5 | 4 x 2.5= 10

t CEM 161 1cr 3.5 | 1 x 3.5= 3.5

ISS 215 4cr 3.5 | 4 x 3.5 = 14

t MTH 132 3cr 3.0 | 3 x 3.0= 9.0

Total 15 cr / 47. 0 pts

Cumulative GPA: Multiply credits by the grade for each course, add these together, and divide by the total number of credits:
(47 pts / 15 crs)=3.1333 GPA

Technical GPA: Multiply credits by the grade for each technical course, add these together, and divide by the number of technical credits:
(33 pts / 11 crs)=3.000 GPA

Combo GPA: Average the cumulative and technical GPAs:
(3.1333 + 3.000 = 6.1333 / 2)=3.0666 GPA

Note: Students should be aware that technical courses are counted twice, once in the cumulative GPA and then again in the technical GPA. Also, remember that numeric grades at MSU include 4.0, 3.5, 3.0, 2.5, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0, and 0.0, so to attain at least a 2.9000 Combined GPA, you need to earn mostly 3.0 or better grades in your courses.

Apply as a transfer student if you have attended a postsecondary institution after graduating from high school (except for 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 College students with college credits will still need to apply as a first-years entering from a high school.

If you are…

• transferring to the College of Engineering from another U.S. institution, then you are a transfer student. Please contact us directly:  future-engineer@egr.msu.edu.
• transferring to the College of Engineering from within MSU then you are an internal transfer student. Please contact Erica Weeks (fiaskye@msu.edu).
• transferring to the College of Engineering from an institution outside of the U.S., you are an international transfer student. Please contact the MSU Office of Admissions directly and one of the international counselors will help you.

Yes, non-traditional students share the same application requirements and process as all transfer students.

As a transfer applicant, you may be considered as an engineering exploratory or a direct admit candidate (i.e. directly admitted to the College of Engineering’s specific major). If you are transferring with less than 42 credits, you will be an engineering major preference student; if you are bringing in 42 or more credits will be considered for direct admission to your College of Engineering’s desired major.

To apply, you will need to access the MSU Office of Admissions application portal first, then put your intended major as engineering. Starting Spring 2022, an applicant must list three intended majors, one of which must be a non-restricted major.

A student admitted as an engineering exploratory major must take at least 12 credits at MSU in order to apply to the College of Engineering and declare their major. Such a student must also complete MTH 132, 133, PHY 183, CEM 141&161 (not for CompSci/Data Science) and EGR 100/CSE 220/CSE221 (depends on intended major).

Transfer students are encouraged to apply at least six months prior to their desired semester of enrollment. Admissions decisions are typically made 8 to 12 weeks after all application materials are received, which includes the application for admission, official transcripts, and standardized test scores for those with less than 28 college credits.

MSU uses rolling admission—meaning applications are reviewed as they come in—but in recent years the number of qualified applicants has exceeded the available space in each class. Please submit your application early to ensure availability.

General admission to the university requires:

• An equivalent to MSU WRA 101/WRA 195H 
• An equivalent to MSU MTH 101, 102, 103, 116 or higher; OR an equivalent to MSU STT 200 or 201 
• 28 or more credits deemed transferable to MSU 
• 3.0 GPA or higher, with consistent grade performance 

Engineering transfer students applying with 42 or more credits are required to select a major within the College of Engineering and are subject to the admission requirements of that desired major. Transfer students applying with 41 or fewer credits can apply as engineering exploratory and are subject to the general admission requirements for the University as stated above.

A GPA of 3.0 or higher with consistent grade performance is required for transfer admission to Michigan State University. However, all majors in the College of Engineering are restricted majors, meaning they have additional GPA requirements: Applied Engineering, Biosystems Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Environmental Engineering require a cumulative GPA of 3.2 and a technical GPA of 3.0; Chemical Engineering, Computer Science, and Materials Science & Engineering require a cumulative GPA of 3.4 and a technical GPA of 3.2; Mechanical Engineering requires a cumulative GPA of 3.6 and a technical GPA of 3.4. See the GPA calculator on this page.

For Computer Engineering, Computer Science, and Mechanical Engineering, CSE 231 (or equivalent) is required. For Electrical Engineering, CSE 220 (or equivalent) is required. Visit the MSU Office of Admissions Transfer applicants page to see if your current/previous institution has an accepted equivalent.

High school transcripts must be submitted by transfer students who have less than 28 credits to transfer to MSU, as they are required after the point of admission as proof of graduation to reserve a spot in the incoming transfer class. Submitting standardized test scores (SAT/ACT) is optional.

You will not be admitted to the College of Engineering until you have completed the required courses and have the necessary technical and cumulative GPA. For more information, please contact our transfer student counselors, Luis Donado (donadoto@msu.edu) or Drew Kim (kima@msu.edu).

Starting Spring 2022, a transfer applicant must state three intended majors and one specifically in non-restricted major. So, if you are denied admission to the College of Engineering, you will then be considered for admission to the University with your specified unrestricted major.

All applicant’s academic performance in their most recent four semesters will be looked at more closely, especially for courses that are related to engineering required courses. In addition, an applicant’s academic trend (i.e. did your GPA increase or decrease over the last few semesters) will also be considered when making admission decision to an engineering major.

Visit the MSU Office of Admissions Transfer applicants page for information.

If you are transferring from a 2-year institution, you can transfer up to 60 credits. If you are transferring from a 4-year institution, there is no limit on the number of credits you can transfer. MSU requires a minimum of 30 credits to be completed at MSU.

• Visit What do engineers and computer scientists do?
• Attend an Engineering presentation and tour. 
• Connect with our Student Ambassadors to learn about the engineering majors and personal transfer experiences.

Visit the MSU Office of Admissions Transfer credits page for information. 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.

Transfer credits are evaluated when your general application is reviewed—this means credit evaluation will take just as long as your admission decision (8-12 weeks).

A student’s standing depends on the number of credits they have successfully transferred to MSU, which is determined by the MSU Registrar’s Office. Visit Credits Per Grade Level to learn more.

Courses taken at military institutions often are not transferable to MSU; however, the MSU Office of Admissions Transfer credit page provides more specifics. If your institution (in this case, a military academy) is not listed, it sometimes means that no one has attempted to transfer to MSU from that institution. In this case, an applicant should submit their syllabus (or syllabi) to the MSU Registrar’s Office to get evaluated for credit(s).

Yes, MSU accepts the Michigan Transfer Agreement. However, it is likely that you will need to take an additional 2-3 courses in order to satisfy university requirements at MSU.

Yes! Transfer student scholarships are available for students transferring to MSU from both two and four-year institutions. The College of Engineering also offers transfer-specific Undergraduate scholarships. No additional applications are required to apply for scholarships—the general application for admission will be used. Scholarships are typically awarded between late June and early August.

Visit the MSU Office of Admissions Cost and aid page for information on tuition and fees.

The Engineering Program Fee is a fee paid on top of tuition by all undergraduate students who are admitted to the College of Engineering. The Engineering Program Fee is applied to a student account once each semester, regardless of how many majors or minors a student declares. The College of Engineering does not charge course fees on specific courses, but uses the Engineering Program Fee to maintain support for our labs, facilities, and shop intensive courses. The fee helps to cover the costs associated with:

• DECS (Division of Engineering Computing Services) support and equipment for computer labs in the Engineering Building, Wilson Hall, and Wonders Hall. Engineering computer labs are available only to students with Engineering accounts.
• TA positions for classes
• lab facilities in the departments
• lab equipment upgrades and repairs
• student organizations and projects.

The Engineering Program Fee differs depending on whether you are attending full or part-time, and whether you are enrolling for Fall, Spring, or Summer semesters. Visit the Office of the Controller’s Student Accounts website for tuition, fee, tax, and housing rates information for each semester.

Yes! Connect with our Student Ambassadors to learn about personal transfer experiences.

Yes, check out the Living and dining site for more information.

This is different for each person as it depends on how many credits transfer to MSU, the courses taken at a previous institution(s), how many credits are taken each semester, if courses are taken over the summer, and if a student completes internships and/or co-ops, etc.

Yes, there is an organization called Circles of Success for any incoming student to be paired up with a professional staff mentor. MSU also has over 900 student organizations open to all students!

Because companies are constantly looking for college graduates with experience, the College of Engineering strongly encourages students to pursue co-ops and internships. Connect with the college Career Center for more information.