Criteria to Declare Majors

Declare Your Major

Students not directly admitted to a VSE major, but who wish to declare a VSE major must meet the declaration requirements as found below.

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If you are a current Mason undergraduate student in any department, and you wish to declare a major with the Volgenau School of Engineering (VSE), please see the information below for the requirements necessary for your chosen major and the steps to declare once eligible.

Requirements are met only by courses taken at Mason and NOT transfer credits. Prospective transfer students not currently at Mason, please see University Admissions for transfer admission requirements.

These criteria apply to:

  • Undergraduate students not directly admitted to an VSE major.

  • Students changing from VSE-Undeclared or VSE-Undecided to a declared VSE major.

  • Students changing from one VSE major to a different VSE major.

  • Students changing from any Mason major to a VSE major.

All VSE-Undeclared or VSE-Undecided students must declare a VSE major within FIVE (5) fall/spring semesters, regardless of enrollment status (full-time, part-time, etc.). Students who are unable to declare within the required time frame are subject to termination from VSE.

Major Eligibility Criteria

*Bioengineering (excluding
Pre-Health Concentration)

Civil and Infrastructure Engineering

Cyber Security Engineering

Computer Engineering

Electrical Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Systems Engineering
  1. Grade of C or better in MATH 114, PHYS 160, AND PHYS 161.
  2. GPA of at least 2.75 in all technical courses completed at Mason that are required for the intended engineering major.
  3. At least 6 credits of technical courses completed successfully at Mason.

Technical courses are any Math, Science, Engineering, Statistics and Computer Science courses that are required for the intended engineering major.

*Bioengineering requires B- or better in MATH 114.

Bioengineering Pre-Health Concentration Only
  1. Grade of B- or better in MATH 114. 
  2. Grade of C or better in PHYS 160, AND PHYS 161.
  3. GPA of at least 3.0 in all technical courses completed at Mason that are required for Bioengineering major Pre-Health concentration.
  4. At least 6 credits of technical courses completed successfully at Mason.
  5. Cumulative Mason GPA of at least 3.0.

Technical courses are any Math, Science, Engineering, Statistics and Computer Science courses that are required for the intended engineering major.

Applied Computer Science

Computer Science
  1. Grade of B or better in CS 112 OR CS 211.
  2. Grade of B or better in MATH 113 OR MATH 114 OR MATH 125.
  3. GPA of at least 2.75 in Computer Science and Math courses completed at Mason that are required for the major.

Information Technology
  1. Grade of C or better in IT 106 or IT 109  (both CS 112 and CS 211 together sub for IT 106 or IT 109).
  2. GPA average of at least 3.0 across completed/attempted 100-200 level IT foundation and core courses required for the major.

Courses used, if taken, to calculate the IT GPA for declaration are: IT 102 (or MATH 125), IT 104, IT 105, IT 106 (or IT 109 or CS 112), IT 206 (or IT 209 or CS 211), IT 216, IT 207, IT 213, IT 214, IT 223.
NOTE: Not all of the courses listed above must be completed prior to declaration.

 
Statistics
  1. Grade of C or better in MATH 113.
  2. Cumulative Mason GPA of at least 2.75

 

Please note:

  • Students must meet all criteria listed for the major they want to declare.

  • Grades and GPA apply to Mason courses only - grades in transfer credits will not be combined with Mason grades.

  • Criteria are subject to change at the discretion of the department.

  • VSE-Undeclared and Undecided students must declare within FIVE (5) fall/spring semesters, regardless of enrollment status (full-time, part-time). Students who are unable to declare within the required time frame are subject to termination from VSE.

  • A student may not declare any major in the Volgenau School of Engineering if the student has previously met the termination criteria for that major at any time, regardless of what the student's major was at the time the courses were taken.

Steps to declare major once eligible

  1. GPA/Grade requirements must be met and final grades must be posted in PatriotWeb.
  2. Complete Change/Declaration of Academic Program form.
  3. Submit form to the Academic Advising Contact for the department of intended major.
  4. Form must be submitted before the first day of the Selective Withdrawal period listed on the Full Semester Calendar. See the Registrar's calendars for specific deadline dates.