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The MSE curriculum
Information on the general structure of the MSE undergraduate program, including links to Bingo sheets and detailed descriptions of the MSE specializations.
MSE undergraduate curriculum
Overview
Students typically begin their MSE career at Ohio State as a pre-major in the department. During the freshman year, students begin taking a group of courses required for all engineering majors. These include courses in chemistry, physics, math, and Introduction to Engineering. Students may apply and be accepted to the MSE major during the quarter in which they take MSE 205. Most students take this course either during the spring quarter of the freshman year or the autumn quarter of the sophomore year.
Upon entry in the major, students take a set of core engineering and MSE courses in the sophomore and junior years, as well as General Education Courses (GEC) and Technical Electives. At the end of the junior year students are asked to declare an MSE specialization. The department offers six groups of pre-determined senior-level courses that focus a student's studies in a specialized field of MSE. A student may also develop a one-of-a-kind specialization to better suit a unique field of interest (see below).
The "Bingo" sheet--courses required for a Bachelor's degree
Fill in the blanks and Bingo! you get a degree! The Bingo sheet provides an outline of all courses needed to fulfill the requirements for the MSE degree. While it is simply a guideline, it does provide a plan to graduate in four years.
It is strongly recommended that students interested in MSE take MSE 205 during the freshman year so that they can apply for and begin the major in the Autumn Quarter of the sophomore year. In some cases a student may need to begin the major later than this and the curriculum, as it applies to the sophomore level courses (MSE 205, 281, 282, 341, etc.), is quite flexible.
Note: Students who choose to participate in the Freshman Engineering Honors (FEH) program will have slightly different guidelines for the freshman year to balance the requirements of FEH with the need to begin the MSE major in the Autumn Quarter of the sophomore year. MSE students participating in FEH should follow these MSE/FEH Guidelines.
Download Generic MSE Bingo Sheet (PDF, 28K). Outlines courses in the required core and GEC requirements leading up to the point of specialization.
Download flow chart of first three years (PDF, 32K). It's not as bad as it looks! Detailed graphic description of when MSE students take various courses and the prerequisites required.
Download General Education Curriculum, GEC (PDF, 28K). Required non-major course work necessary to complete a Bachelor's degree in the College of Engineering. To be used in concert with the Bingo Sheet.
Specializations in the MSE major
Preparation of our students for success after graduation is at the heart of the specializations concept. Given the broad nature of materials science and engineering, students are given the opportunity to pursue in-depth study in one of six fields in MSE: Biomaterials, Ceramics, Electronic Materials, Manufacturing, Metallurgy, and Polymers.
Following the common core of courses taken during the first three years in the program, our students select a specialization for their final year. The Specializations Options sheet provides a listing of the specific courses needed to fulfill each MSE specialization.
View Specialization Options (PDF, 72K). Listing of courses required to fulfill each of the MSE specializations.
The links below provide further details concerning these areas and Bingo sheets for the specializations.
Go to Biomaterials specialization
Go to Electronic Materials specialization
Go to Manufacturing specialization
Go to Metallurgy specialization
Go to one-of-a-kind specialization A student may develop a unique specialization suited to his/her needs.
