Bachelor in Engineering (Dual Degree)

Dual degree pre-engineering program

At Wabash, we like to say, “It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.” Students who wish to pursue our dual degree program in engineering know this motto well. It’s hard work to earn a Wabash diploma and a bachelor of science degree in engineering from schools like Purdue, Columbia, and Washington-St. Louis. But the results are, indeed, worth it!

ThisisEngineering RAEng / Unsplash

Wabash offers joint programs (known as dual degree programs) with Purdue University, Columbia University, and Washington University-St. Louis. In these programs, you will study the liberal arts at Wabash for three years and engineering or applied science at Purdue, Columbia, or Washington, typically for two years. When you’ve completed the program, you’ll have the distinction of earning both the bachelor of arts degree from Wabash and the bachelor of science degree in engineering or applied science from Purdue, Columbia, or Washington.

The best part is that you don’t have to major in physics, chemistry, or mathematics to participate in the program. Actually, both Columbia and Washington seek out applicants who major in non-technical fields, feeling that the technical depth of an engineering degree and the breadth of a liberal arts degree make a valuable combination.

And when you finish Wabash with a strong background in science and mathematics, you can be admitted to any number of engineering programs — not just at Purdue, Columbia, or Washington. Lots of Wabash graduates have pursued engineering degrees without participating in the dual degree program, including David Woessner ’01, who not only earned a degree from Wabash, he received a master’s degree in engineering and an M.B.A. at Georgia Tech.

The exact requirements for the three schools differ, so you should talk with your Wabash advisor and someone from the Pre-Engineering Committee. Completing the requirements for both degrees requires careful planning, and you should begin taking the appropriate courses right out of the gate in your freshman year.

The Alternatives

At times, the student chooses to complete a full four-year program at Wabash and then to attend the engineering school or university. In some fields of engineering, particularly nuclear engineering, a physics major prepares the student to begin work toward his Masters of Science or Ph.D.

In other areas, like electrical engineering, the student will have to take some undergraduate engineering courses before he can begin work on an advanced degree. Some engineering schools strongly encourage the student to earn a B.S. in engineering on the way to an M.S., even if he has completed a B.A. at a liberal arts college like Wabash.

The Curriculum

Through the years, most of the Wabash students who have gone into engineering have majored in physics. However, a major in mathematics or chemistry (particularly for chemical engineering) is quite appropriate as long as the necessary physics courses are taken.

The Graduates

Wabash students have pursued engineering degrees at such universities as Columbia, Illinois, Kansas State, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, Purdue, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Stanford, Washington (Seattle), Washington (St. Louis), and Wisconsin.

Wabash Requirements

All requirements listed in the Curriculum section of the Academic Bulletin must be satisfied except the minimum of 34-semester courses. Thus, you must complete a regular Wabash major and minor and must satisfy all other distribution requirements. Senior comprehensive and oral exams may be taken during the junior year or may be arranged to be taken during your enrollment in engineering school. The oral exam must be taken on the Wabash campus.

With the approval of your major department and by special arrangements, the comprehensive exam may be taken off-campus but must be taken during your first year in engineering school.

Pre-Engineering Requirements to be Satisfied at Wabash

Certain science and mathematics courses must be taken at Wabash to be eligible for admission into the programs at Columbia, Washington U., or Purdue. In addition, each school has slightly different required GPAs (overall and in required dual degree courses): Washington U.: 3.25, Columbia: 3.30, and Purdue: 3.3-3.5. Since each program is different, you need to check the exact requirements.

General Requirements for Columbia University

• Calculus I & II, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Multivariable Calculus.

• Two-semester sequence of introductory physics.

• One course in general chemistry.

• One course in computer programming.

• One course in economics.

• Additional courses depending on engineering major.

General Requirements for Washington University

• Calculus I & II, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Multivariable Calculus.
• Two-semester sequence of introductory physics.
• One course in general chemistry.
• One course in computer programming.
• Additional courses depending on engineering major.

General Requirements for Purdue University

• Calculus I & II, Linear Algebra, Differential Equations, Multivariable Calculus.
• Two-semester sequence of introductory physics.
• One course in general chemistry.
• One course in computer programming.
• Additional courses depending on engineering major

Purdue's program includes Mechanical Engineering (ME), Chemical Engineering (CHE), Multi-disciplinary Engineering (MUEN), and Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE).

Note: Unless courses are taken during a summer semester, the ME program requires 2.5 years to complete.

Mission Statement

“Wabash College educates men to think critically, act responsibly, lead effectively, and live humanely.”

Founded in 1832, Wabash College is an independent, liberal arts college for men with an enrollment of approximately 900 students. Its mission is excellence in teaching and learning within a community built on close and caring relationships among students, faculty, and staff.

Wabash offers qualified young men a superior education, fostering, in particular, independent intellectual inquiry, critical thought, and clear written and oral expression. The College educates its students broadly in the traditional curriculum of the liberal arts, while also requiring them to pursue concentrated study in one or more disciplines. Wabash emphasizes our manifold but shared cultural heritage. Our students come from diverse economic, social, and cultural backgrounds; the College helps these students engage these differences and live humanely with them. Wabash also challenges its students to appreciate the changing nature of the global society and prepares them for the responsibilities of leadership and service in it.

The College carries out its mission in a residential setting in which students take personal and group responsibility for their actions. Wabash provides for its students an unusually informal, egalitarian, and participatory environment which encourages young men to adopt a life of intellectual and creative growth, self-awareness, and physical activity. The College seeks to cultivate qualities of character and leadership in students by developing not only their analytic skills, but also sensitivity to values, and judgment and compassion required of citizens living in a difficult and uncertain world. We expect a Wabash education to bring joy in the life of the mind, to reveal the pleasures in the details of common experience, and to affirm the necessity for and rewards in helping others.

Our Core Values

A rigorous liberal arts education that fosters

• An appreciation for the intellectual and physical aspects of a good life

• An understanding of and appreciation for other cultures

A personal context to teaching and learning that encourages

• Candid, respectful, face-to-face conversations

• Freedom of thought

• A local scholarly community that creates lifelong relationships

Individual responsibility and trust that are

• Based on moral and ethical awareness

• Expressed in the Gentleman’s Rule

• Required for leadership and teamwork

A socially, economically, and ethnically diverse student body characterized by

• A dedication to the serious pursuit of learning

• A culture of competition without malice

• A few years of residence, a lifetime of loyalty

A tradition and philosophy of independence that

• Keeps the College from external control

• Allows the Wabash community to shape significantly its own destiny

• Promotes independence and self-reliance in its students and graduates.