The Ohio State University
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
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How to Major in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Ohio State

The Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering (BSECE) degree has two specialized areas: Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. Admission conditions are very similar.

Most students having unconditional acceptance into the University and an interest in engineering, enroll in a pre-major or in Undergraduate Student Academic Services (USAS). Acceptance to the major is based on a numerical ceiling and the student's cumulative point-hour ratio (CPHR) or secondary point-hour ratio (SPHR) after successful completion of specified pre-major courses. Students who have completed the pre-major courses and have a CPHR of 3.00 or above are assured of acceptance into Electrical and Computer Engineering. Students who have completed the required pre-major courses with an SPHR of 2.00 or higher will be admitted if the demand for admission is below the numerical ceiling; otherwise, admission will be on a rank-order basis using the SPHR until the ceiling is reached. (See next section for details.) For Electrical and Computer Engineering, the annual numerical ceiling is 230 students. For the Electrical Engineering program, the SPHR is computed after the completion of Math 254, Physics 133, Chemistry 121, and Engineering Graphics 167. For the Computer Engineering program, the SPHR is computed after the completion of Math 254, Physics 133, Chemistry 121, and Engineering Graphics 167 or Computer and Information Science 202 or 221.

Please note: Equivalent coursework successfully completed at a non-OSU institution that is equivalent to our courses required at OSU fully counts as meeting the program course requirements for admission to OSU programs. However, you should be aware that entrance to major requires a satisfactory grade point average in both overall courses and the specific courses required by the program for admission. In calculating grade point averages, only OSU courses are used.

If you plan on majoring in ECE:

An Application to Major form, must be completed and returned to an advisor no later than the first week of the quarter in which that student will complete these requirements.

For the acceptance-to-major selection process, OSU grades comprising both the Cumulative Point Hour Ratio (CPHR) and Secondary Point Hour Ratio (SPHR) are considered. The SPHR is the grade average of the pre-major courses listed above for each specialization (not including English 110). Please note: Courses completed at other institutions do not count in the Special Point Hour Ratio (SPHR) at OSU, however, they may count toward degree requirements.

To be admitted, students must successfully complete the required pre-major courses. First, all students with a CPHR of 3.0 or better are admitted to the major. Then for students with a minimum CPHR of 2.0 we will base further admission by SPHR. At this time our statistics show that for the upcoming year (Su07 thru Sp08), admitting all students with an SPHR of 2.0 and higher will cause our quota to be filled. The admission SPHR may be adjusted in the future; however, it will not be lowered to less than 2.0 even if the quota is not filled.

The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering may deny registration in electrical and computer engineering courses to those students who have not been admitted to the BSECE major or who do not have the written permission of the Department.

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