Restricted Electives: 12 s.h.
These credits will be satisfied by the first four graduate-level courses taken for the MS Materials Science & Engineering
If students take the Mathematical Methods course option above, the additional Restricted Elective must be chosen from any 300+ Physics course (maximum of 3 s.h. of Physics Research or 4 s.h. of Physics Learning Assistant), any 200+ Astronomy, (maximum of 3 s.h. of Astronomy Research), Geology, Materials Science, any 300+ Engineering, any 200+ Math, any 200+ Chemistry, any 200+ Computer Science, or Biology. Note: the 3 s.h. Research Course restriction is a total across both categories.
Graduate M.S. courses taken for Non-Thesis Track: 15 s.h.
Approved Elective Credits: 3
Approved Elective Credits: 3
Approved Elective Credits: 3
Approved Elective Credits: 3
Approved Elective Credits: 3
Total Required Credits for the Entire Accelerated Dual Degree: 138 s.h.
Requirements for Admission: Successful applicants to the ADD MUST meet the following admissions requirements:
- Completed ADD Agreement & Confirmation form, maintained/administered by the Registrar: https://sites.rowan.edu/registrar/cadp/
- Completed ADD Physics-MSE Application form, maintained/administered by the Department of Physics
- A minimum undergraduate cumulative GPA of 3.2 or better on a 4.0 scale.
- Completion of 75 total credits of the standard BS Physics curriculum.
- Grade of C+ or better of the following undergraduate-level courses (or their equivalent): Introductory Mechanics (PHYS 00220); ); Introductory Thermodynamics, Fluids, Waves and Optics (PHYS 00221); Introductory Electricity & Magnetism (PHYS 00222); Modern Physics (PHYS 00300), Calculus I (MATH 01130), Calculus II (MATH 01131), and Calculus III (MATH 01230).
Decisions will be made by the graduate program chair in consultation with the department chair.
To take the graduate courses and transition to the MS in Materials Science & Engineering (G947) portion, students will complete the standard MS application. Applicants must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and at least 2 supportive letters of recommendation.
Those not admitted will remain in the standard BS Physics (1902) program. Those that are admitted, but do not complete the MS, will still count 12 credits of graduate courses taken as restricted electives in the BS Physics (1902) program.
Requirements for Graduation: To graduate with the dual BS/MS degrees in Physics (1902) and MSE (G947), students must satisfy the full degree requirements for the BS in Physics (1902) and MS in MSE (G947) Programs. The accelerated BS/MS program allows eligible students accepted into the programs to take up to 12 graduate credits during their senior year. Twelve of these credits can be counted to satisfy the degree requirements of both the BS and the MS programs. The remaining graduate credits can only be applied to the MS program.
In summary, these full degree requirements entail the requirements of
- The existing 120 credit BS-Physics (1902) curriculum
- The existing 30 credit MS-MSE (G947) curriculum
- A minimum of 138 total credits for completion of the ADD (with 12 credits double counted)
Specific requirements for the graduate level coursework include satisfaction of Category 2 Minimum Satisfactory Academic Progress status as defined by Rowan Global:
- Graduate coursework letter grades must be no lower than “B-“
- Cumulative graduate coursework GPA must remain at 3.0 or higher (on a 4.0) scale
For the MS Materials Science & Engineering (G947) portions, students will graduate with the MS degree upon completion of 30 credits as per the program requirements. Thesis-track students will also require successful completion of a thesis defense. All students will require a minimum cumulative graduate GPA of 3.0 and minimum grades of B- in all graduate courses.
Students in the ADD will thus only have to complete [120+30-12] 138 total credits for both degrees.
Student Status: Students must maintain an overall (undergraduate + graduate) cumulative GPA of 3.0 in each semester they are enrolled in the ADD. In addition, complete all requirements of the BS Physics (1902) degree before they begin the final year of the ADD. Students are expected to maintain full-time enrollment status (at least 9 graduate-level credits per semester) in the final two semesters of the ADD.
Students who enter the ADD but do not maintain satisfactory academic progress or who simply choose not to continue pursuing the MS degree will be allowed to formally “opt-out” back to the BS Physics (1902) program. No more than 12 credits of graduate-level technical elective coursework may be applied to BS Physics (1902) requirements; however, students remain fully vested in their graduate coursework, which may be applied toward a future Rowan MS-MSE (G947) degree, subject to (re)admission and transcript (re)evaluation. Such coursework may also be transferable to other institutions; however, transfer-ability is a prerogative beyond Rowan’s control.
For students entering the ADD program on the standard BS Physics (1902) curriculum path, all BS degree requirements should be fulfilled by the 4th year of study, so the opt-out action will not result in a delayed BS degree conferral of more than one semester beyond that in which the “opt-out” action was taken (due to Registrar’s typical administrative timeline).
Contingency for Students who do not Complete the M.S. program: Students who are dropped from the graduate program or choose not to complete the B.S./M.S. program will earn a B.S. in Physics once they have completed all requirements for that undergraduate degree, achieved at least a 2.0 GPA, and earned at least 120 credits. Students may count up to 12 credits of their graduate courses towards their B.S. requirements; these courses will count as restricted electives towards the 120 credits required for a B.S.
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