A bachelor's degree in engineering prepares you to immediately begin working in your chosen field
and to start the process of becoming a licensed professional engineer. All majors require eight semesters of study,
except for the ten-semester architectural engineering program. You'll start out with a premajor series of
engineering, science, and math courses. And you'll begin to design and make things right away, collaborating
with other students as you apply the new concepts and skills learned in other classes. From this common core
of courses, you can go in any direction (even out of engineering into music, history, business,
communications—you name it) and use the credits you've already completed.
Not sure about your major? Many of our students begin college without knowing which major they should choose,
or even if engineering is right for them. At Penn State, you can keep your options open until you choose your
major in your second year. And while you're making progress toward your degree, you'll be learning about
engineering design, how the physical sciences and math relate to engineering, and the way engineers solve problems.
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HANDS-ON DESIGN
In one of the first engineering courses most students take, Introduction to Engineering Design (EDSGN 100),
you'll be part of a team that designs a solution to a real-world problem provided by an industry sponsor. Recent
teams have been challenged to design a new cranking system for pop-up campuers, a manufacturing method for
timing chains, and a new mission using existing spacecraft hardware.
Product Dissection and Enigmatic Engines are two other hands-on courses you can choose during your first
semesters. Another hands-on course, in aerospacing engineering, has students—from first-year to
seniors—designing and building a working sailplane.
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FIRST-YEAR SEMINARS
First-Year Engineering Seminars are an exciting way to begin your engineering education at Penn State. These
small interactive classes are limited to 20 students and meet once or twice a week for lab projects, demonstrations,
tours, or discussions about engineering. Your seminar is a chance to:
- explore a majors or a particular field
- meet faculty, alumni, and upper-level engineering students
- participate in team-based, real-world engineering problem solving
- improve your time management, communication, and problem-solving skills;
- discuss career opportunities with alumni and employers;
- develop technical skills;
- have fun meeting and networking with other first-year engineering students
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CHOOSING A MAJOR
You'll choose your engineering major at the end of your first or second year, so you have plenty of time to find
the one that interests you most. If you're undecided, you'll find that professonal advisers, faculty, other students,
and seminars about each major are a good source of guidance.
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ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) CREDITS
The College of Engineering has guidelines for accepting AP credits (based on test score). There are different
ways you might use these credits toward graduation requirements. You should have an official grade report of your
scores sent directly from ETS to the Undergraduate
Admissions Office. Also, during your first semester you should make an appointment to talk to an adviser
in the Engineering Advising Center.
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CLASS SIZE
At University Park some of your classes in your first two years will be in the lecture/recitation format, with a
large lecture class that's broken down into small weekly recitation groups where you'll interact with other students
and the instructor.
For your engineering classes, you can expect that:
- 50 percent will have fewer than 50 students
- 80 percent will have fewer than 100 students
- the average engineering lecture class has 65 students
- the average recitation or laboratory has 25 students
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