Academics // Undergrads

Advising

First, the Nuts and Bolts

Students register for the subsequent academic semester using a web-based data entry system (ACES), during predesignated registration windows (typically occurring in early to mid-November for Spring registration, and late March and early April for Fall semester). Prior to registering using this system, students are to meet in person with their designated academic advisor, to discuss their academic plan, and to obtain the clearance necessary to log into ACES. Steps in this procedure are as follows:

  1. Approximately two weeks prior to each registration period, students are sent information pertaining to registration by the academic deans of the Pratt School, and advisors are provided with electronic access to Undergraduate Advisement Reports and will provide registration clearance for each of their advisees.
  2. At the time the student receives their advising material, they should immediately contact their academic advisor to request an advising appointment. Such contact should occur AT LEAST ONE WEEK PRIOR to the student's registration window---students should NOT wait for their advisor to contact them, but should be pro-active in setting up these appointments.
  3. At some point before the student's advising window, the student and advisor meet for 15 or 20 minutes to discuss the planned schedule for the student, as well as other related career and curricular plans. Students are encourage to come to this meeting with a draft of their intended schedules, with any outstanding questions indicated. Students will not receive registration clearance from their faculty advisor without an appointment, and should not request such clearance via email.
  4. In the event that a student is unable to contact their advisor (making sure to give him or her a full week's notice before the advising window), that student should consult the departmental Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) for academic advice. Some professors may also designate faculty colleagues to see their advisees, should they be out of town or otherwise unavailable during the advising period.
  5. After obtaining registration clearance from the academic advisor, a designated faculty substitute, or the DUS, the student registers during his or her registration window using ACES.

Note: Students must meet and plan their curriculum with their assigned faculty advisor. Before scheduling an appointment with Connie Simmons, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs, the student should first meet with their faculty advisor or the departmental DUS to try and resolve the problem. You must fill out this form and have it signed by your advisor or your Director of Undergraduate Studies to schedule an advising appointment with Dean Simmons during the advising period.

So, What Should You Plan For?

Headings with expand for more information.
First Year Planning

The first year of study in the Pratt School of Engineering is largely common to all engineers, with seven of the eight first year courses being completely transferable between the five engineering majors.

Sophomore Through Senior Year Planning

After the freshman year, recommended curricula become more department specific, and are outlined on the following pages for the sophomore through senior years.

Biomedical engineering major
  • BME Course Planning
  • dual biomedical/electrical engineering major
  • dual biomedical/mechanical engineering major
Civil engineering major
  • CEE Course Planning
  • Structures and mechanics emphasis, or
  • Environmental engineering and water resources emphasis
Electrical and computer engineering major
Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science major
Undergraduate Research Fellows Planning

All juniors are eligible for applying to the Pratt Undergraduate Research Fellows program. The curriculum (independent study courses) is outlined on the Pratt Fellows Web site.

Planning for Study Abroad Biomedical Engineering

Students who want to participate in the Study Abroad program develop an academic plan with their advisor several semesters prior to the semester during which the student is abroad. In the semester prior to study abroad, the student submits a request to study abroad to their Department's Director of Undergraduate Studies. This plan includes the courses the student will take and the remaining courses to be taken after return to Duke. Approval of courses for the study abroad program is the same as that used for all transfer credit and involves determination of equivalent content for Duke courses and approval by the DUS of the department offering similar courses at Duke. Civil and Environmental Engineering Curricula may be easily modified for a study abroad semester (Jr. Fall) in which no engineering courses are taken abroad.

  • Move Fluid Mechanics (CE 122L) to Sophomore Spring to fit with the 'nominal' Sophomore schedule. CE 122L will need to be offered on TuTh mornings in Spring semesters.
  • Move Engineering Systems Optimization (EGR 115) to Senior Fall.
  • Structures & Mechanics Emphasis: Move Matrix Structural Analysis (CE 131L) to Senior Fall
  • Environmental Engineering & Water Resources Emphasis: Move Chem. Bio. for Environ. Engin. (CE 120L) to Senior Fall
    • Electrical and Computer Engineering Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Phi Beta Kappa Planning

Engineers at Duke may be eligible for election to Phi Beta Kappa based on their academic standing, adherence to University policy, and breadth of coursework taken at Duke. Interested students should contact Dr. Rhett George, rhett.george@duke.edu or Dr. Michael Gustafson, mrg@duke.edu for more information.

FYI: General Advising Guidelines
  • Humanities & Social Sciences
This requirement is met by completion of five courses selected from at least three of the following four areas of knowledge: Arts, Literatures, and Performance (ALP), Civilizations (CZ), Foreign Languages (FL), and Social Sciences (SS). At least one course must by classified SS. In order to provide depth in the subject matter, at least two of the five courses must be selected from a single department and at least one of those courses must be 100-level or above. This program of courses should reflect a thematic coherence and fulfill an objective appropriate to the engineering profession. Courses selected must be those which present essential subject matter and substance of the discipline. No skill courses can be used to fulfill this requirement. (Introductory language: please note that Foreign Language 1-2 courses do fulfill the H&SS requirement. A final note regarding H&SS: MUS 36 (NS) will not count as an H&SS elective. However, it can be taken as an approved elective.
  • Math
A typical sequence for all four departments should include: Math 31, 32, 103, 107, and 108 for students matriculating in 2004 and beyond. However, since Math 107 and 108 were only recently introduced, many students will be following different paths, depending upon their major and date of matriculation. Please use your department's course of study for recommending a math sequence for the sophomore through senior year. Additional math courses are required per department, for example BME & CEE require Stats 113, EE/ECE requires either Math 135 or Stats 113, and ME has a Math or Natural Science elective in addition to the above courses in math.
  • Physics
Physics 61 and 62 are required of all engineering students. If AP credit is given for both Phys 61 and 62, students must take Phys 63 to fulfill their Physics requirement. Students who have transferred from Trinity may have taken Phy 41 and Phy 42 instead.
  • Natural Sciences
    • Courses which will not satisfy the natural science requirement include all mathematics, computer science, and statistics courses, as well as all BAA courses, BIO 42, 43D, 44, 45S, 46, 49S, 50, 85, 90, 96D, 100, 102, 107, 111, CHM 83, 103, and PHY 32, 35, 36, 37, 49S and PHY 85S. (No environmental sciences and policy or psychology courses with the NS code are accepted as natural science). This is a partial list, if there is any doubt about a course counting as a Natural Science elective in Pratt, please contact the Dean's Office.

 

 

Questions about this page? Contact:

Deborah Hill, Director of Communications, 415 Teer Engineering Building, 919-660-8403, dahill@duke.edu