To encourage current top UVM Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering undergraduate students to pursue graduate studies, the Department offers an Accelerated Masters Program (AMP).  AMP options are available for both the MS Electrical Engineering (MSEE) and MS Biomedical Engineering (MSBME) degrees.

Please see the Graduate Student Handbook for details or talk to your academic advisor.

Admission

Students apply for admission to the accelerated M.S. programs in the spring (March) of their junior year, and not later than August before their senior year (note that it is Graduate College policy that admission decisions must be made prior to the start of a new semester). Admission to the accelerated M.S. program (AMP) requires the following:

  1. A minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.2
  2. Agreement of a faculty member to serve as M.S. advisor
  3. Completion of the online application
  4. Review by the appropriate Program, recommendation to the Graduate College, and review and decision by the Graduate College.

The application process is as follows. Qualified students must submit a letter expressing their interest in joining the Accelerated M.S. program to the CEMS office. The application letter should indicate: (i) which faculty member has agreed to serve as advisor for the M.S. program (this faculty member should also write a recommendation letter in support of the student's application to the Graduate College), (ii) the student's current GPA, and (iii) the intended completion date for the B.S. program. The letter will then be routed to the appropriate Graduate Program Coordinator for evaluation, with a copy given to the Undergraduate Program Coordinator. The applicant must then submit a completed application to the Graduate College, requesting admission for graduate studies in their particular program and indicating intent to pursue the Accelerated M.S. option.

Following admission to the accelerated program, working with their advisor and the Graduate Program Coordinator, AMP students prepare and submit a Plan of Study, indicating which courses to be taken during the undergraduate studies will also count toward the M.S. degree. Eventual admission to the M.S. degree program is contingent upon satisfactory academic performance.

M.S. Studies

All accelerated M.S. degree students must meet the degree requirements for both the B.S. and M.S. degrees in full. The main consequence of admission to an accelerated M.S. degree program is a recognition on the part of both the faculty and the student that the student will continue for Master's thesis studies after conferral of the B.S. degree, thus allowing the student to start M.S. research early and to plan his/her academic program appropriately, including the possibility of taking courses for graduate credit before completion of all B.S. requirements. This accelerated program also enables students to further accelerate their degree by taking select courses that will count towards both the B.S. technical elective requirements and M.S. degree requirements.

Curriculum

Only students formally admitted to an accelerated M.S. program will have the option of taking courses for graduate credit before all requirements for the B.S. degree have been satisfied. Students may take up to 9 credit hours of graduate courses before the conferral of the B.S. degree. Of these, a maximum of 6 credit hours may be counted for both the B.S. and M.S. degrees. The other 3 credit hours will only count toward the M.S. degree.

All courses to be counted toward the M.S. degree must:

  1. Be completed after acceptance of the student in the accelerated M.S. program.
  2. Be 200- or 300-level engineering elective courses, and may not include courses that are required for the undergraduate degree program.
  3. Be relevant to the M.S. study objective, as determined by the M.S. advisor.

Graduate research credits cannot be taken by undergraduate students.

Research and Teaching Assistantships

Assistantships (research or teaching) are only available to students fulfilling the requirements for the thesis option. Admission to an accelerated M.S. program does not imply financial support. Students in these programs will, however, be eligible for part-time support for teaching or research work while they are undergraduates and will be eligible for regular graduate student assistantship support after they have completed all requirements for the Bachelor's degree and are formally admitted to the M.S. degree program.

Note that Graduate College regulations require GRE scores before a student can receive a Graduate College Assistantship. GRE scores are submitted by accelerated M.S. applicants in the fall semester of their senior year along with all other Graduate College application materials.

Students in the accelerated M.S. program will normally work on research toward their thesis objective during the summers of both their junior and senior years.

Academic Standards

Students in the accelerated M.S. degree program are expected to continue the high degree of academic performance that was evident when they were admitted into the program. A minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.2 is required for continuation in the accelerated M.S. program. Undergraduate students whose cumulative GPA at any time falls below this minimum for more than one semester will be removed from the accelerated M.S. program. After students in the accelerated M.S. program receive the B.S. degree and are admitted to the regular M.S. degree program, academic probation matters will be dealt with in the same manner as for other M.S. students.