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 adviser, 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 advisers 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 adviser 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 adviser 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 adviser 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 adviser without an appointment, and should not request such clearance via email.
  4. In the event that a student is unable to contact their adviser (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 adviser, 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 adviser. Before scheduling an appointment with Connie Simmons, Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Programs, or Lupita McMillian, academic dean for mechanical engineering and civil and environmental engineering, the student should first meet with their faculty adviser or the departmental DUS to try and resolve the problem. You must fill out this form and have it signed by your adviser or your Director of Undergraduate Studies to schedule an advising appointment with an academic dean during the advising period.

So, What Should You Plan For?

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

Civil engineering major

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, the Duke NAE Grand Challenges Scholars or Duke Smart Home Fellows programs. Each program has a different emphasis, and the curriculum will include independent study courses and may include selected courses in other areas of Duke.  

Planning for Study Abroad

Students who want to participate in the Study Abroad program develop an academic plan with their adviser 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.

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 Associate Professor of the Practice 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. 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 126(36) (NS) will not count as an H&SS elective. However, it can be taken as an approved elective.

  • Math

The sequence for all four departments is: Math 21(31), 122(32), 212(103), 216(107), and 353(108). However, since 216(107) and 353(108). Additional math courses are required per department, for example BME & CEE require Stats 130(113), ECE requires either Math 230(135) or Stats 130(113).

  • Physics

Physics 141(61) and 142(62) are required of all engineering students. If AP credit is given for both Phys 141(61) and 142(62), students must take Phys 153L(63) to fulfill their Physics requirement. Students who have transferred from Trinity may have taken Phy 161L(41L) and Phy 162L(42L) instead.

  • Natural Sciences

This requirement is met by completing Chemistry (19) 31L, Physics 151L(61L) and 152L(62L), and an elective course in one of the natural science departments which presents fundamental knowledge about nature and its phenomena, preferably including quantitative expression.

Note for the Class of 2012 and 2013: A partial list of disallowed courses includes all mathematics, computer science, and statistics courses, as well as all BAA courses, BIO 159(44), 154(46), 155(47), 89S(49S), 159(90), 202L(102), 207(107), 333(111); CHEM 91(83), EOS 330(130); and PHY 135(35), 136(36), and 89S(49S). No environmental sciences and policy, psychology or *seminar* courses with NS codes are accepted as a natural science. Since new courses are offered that may not be on the disallowed list, you should contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies in your department if you have any questions regarding the acceptability of a particular course.

Note for the Class of 2014 and beyond: Each department maintains a list of allowed courses that will satisfy the Natural Science requirement. Consult those department websites and/or departmental offices.