During their third year at Southwestern, students will apply for admission to an ABET accredited engineering school (which usually requires a GPA of 3.0). Students must have completed at least 90 credits including the general education core courses and the courses required for the Applied Physics major before leaving Southwestern. After completing 30 credits of applicable coursework in an ABET engineering program, students must submit their transcript(s) to Southwestern for review by the Physics Department Chair. Upon the Chair’s approval and satisfactory completion of all BA Degree Requirements as outlined in Southwestern University’s Catalog, students may be awarded a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Applied Physics. The work submitted from the ABET accredited school will be treated as “in residence” coursework. In order to participate in commencement at Southwestern, students in the Pre-Engineering program must complete an Application for Diploma by the date noted in the SU official calendar for their intended Southwestern graduation semester, and they must have submitted a transcript showing that they have successfully completed at least 15 credits of approved courses with the remainder of courses in-progress. The University degree will be conferred only after the final transcript is submitted and approved.
Past SU students have attended Arizona State University in Tempe, Texas A&M University in College Station and Portland State University. Southwestern University currently has an agreement with Washington University in St. Louis that gives preferential admission to students that have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and a recommendation from the Chair of Pre-Engineering program. In addition, Washington University in St. Louis offers a scholarship that covers half of the tuition costs to eligible transfer students.
Each student is encouraged to consult regularly with the Physics chair on Southwestern curriculum updates and to seek preapproval for courses to be taken elsewhere.
Note on course numbering: Please refer to the home department’s course numbering policy for cross-listed courses.
Major in Applied Physics
17 courses (Majors consist of a minimum of 30 credits.)
- CHE51-103/101 General Chemistry I/Chemical Methods and Techniques Laboratory I
- CHE51-203/201 General Chemistry II/Chemical Methods and Techniques Laboratory II
- MAT52-164 Modern Calculus I
- MAT52-264 Modern Calculus II
- MAT52-364 Modern Calculus III
- MAT52-754 Differential Equations
- PHY53-104 Introduction to Engineering
- PHY53-154 Fundamentals of Physics I
- PHY53-164 Fundamentals of Physics II
- PHY53-214 Modern Physics
- PHY53-334 Classical Mechanics I
- PHY53-434 Statics
- PHY53-872 Capstone Course
- One pre-engineering elective from below:
- MAT52-674 Linear Algebra
- PHY53-324 Electromagnetism I
- PHY53-364 Fundamentals of Materials Science and Engineering
- PHY53-404 Electronics
- PHY53-454 Math Methods in Physical Science
- PHY53-463 Dynamics
- PHY53-473 Thermodynamics 204
- Two additional pre-approved upper-level engineering courses transferred from an ABET accredited engineering school (totaling at least 6 credits)