Concurrent Degrees

Eligibility

• Students must have matriculated to Cornell prior to Fall 2021.  The Concurrent Degree program was discontinued for any new matriculants as of Fall 2021. 
• Engineering students must be affiliated with an Engineering major before officially pursuing any other degree.
• Students who are unaffiliated or affiliated with either Biomedical Engineering or the Independent Major are not eligible to apply for a concurrent degree.
• Students can apply between the 2nd semester of their first year and the 1st semester of their junior year.
  • Students must have completed at least one semester at Cornell, with a minimum of 12 academic credits, in order to apply.
• Students must be in good academic standing in their home primary college and enrolled in at least 12 academic credits in the semester in which they apply.
• Students must have a cumulative Cornell GPA of 3.3, including that of the semester in which they apply. Certain degrees or colleges may request a higher GPA.

Policies and Guidelines

• Applicants must bear in mind that pursuing concurrent degrees typically requires two additional semesters for a total of 5 years.
• Both the primary and the secondary major must have at least 30 credits that are distinct and independent for that major.
• No more than 12 credits might overlap between majors (these are in addition to the 30 credits that are exclusive for each major).
• Overlap is allowed for distribution requirements, if each course is listed on the list of allowed courses for each distribution category in both colleges. 
• The plan must include all the graduation requirements for both colleges, including minimum number of academic credits in the college, residency, etc.
• Students cannot exceed the maximum number of academic credits allowed in each semester as per the stricter of the college policies (i.e., if a student is a concurrent degree with Engineering and Arts & Sciences, the maximum credits a student can take in each semester is 20 credits because Engineering has a stricter policy than Arts & Sciences).
• Considerations for Concurrent Degrees involving Arts and Sciences Majors:
  • Students cannot exceed the maximum number of credits allowed by Arts & Sciences.
  • Students entering Arts and Sciences through the Concurrent Degrees must complete their language requirement by the end of the first semester of their junior year.
  • Course schedule cannot overlap; students must be able to attend all courses.
• For Concurrent Degrees involving Engineering and Arts & Sciences majors, only the Arts & Sciences courses belonging to the core curriculum of engineering (PHYS, MATH, CS, CHEM, etc.) can count as Arts & Sciences credits. After affiliation, courses taken to fulfill the engineering major cannot count toward the 100-credit graduation requirement of Arts & Sciences. Overlap between the majors is limited to 12 credits including “major approved electives,” and other similar major requirements.
• The regular rules for pre-college (AP, IB, etc.) and transfer credits must be considered for each college.
• Students must be able to remain in good academic standing every semester they are enrolled in the Concurrent Degrees program.
• Students can plan for a semester abroad, or in a domestic program run by one of their colleges; during that semester, they can focus on only that program without worrying about their courses for the other major and college.
• Any application for acceleration, to exceed the maximum number of credits, or to deviate from curriculum, must be presented after being accepted into the Concurrent Degrees program. Such petitions will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Application Process

• Student meets with home primary college to discuss concurrent degrees interest, policies, and eligibility. 
• If home primary college identifies realistic path forward, then student should speak with the target secondary college to determine if plan is feasible and to obtain required application documents (5-year plan template, 5-year plan approval form, and application).
• Student completes required application documents and obtains approval signatures. 
• Once application documents are complete, student submits all paperwork to target college.
• Target college reviews student’s grades at the end of semester and informs student of decision.

For more information, contact Ryan DeLany in Engineering Advising.