B.S. / M.S. in Robotics Engineering
RBE BS/MS Information Session, December 2020 (video)
WPI allows the double counting of up to 12 credits for students pursuing a 5-year Bachelors-Masters program. This 12 credit overlap can be achieved through the following mechanisms:
Students enrolled in a BS/MS degree program must complete the Bachelor's and Master's Degree Course Designation Form and have the form signed by the department Graduate Coordinator or Department Head. The form can be found on the registrar's website. www.wpi.edu/offices/registrar/forms
Students intending to graduate with a BS/MS degree at the same time should submit the Bachelor's and Master's Degree Course Designation Form to the registrar's office in the same semester they intend to graduate. Otherwise, the form should be submitted during the first semester after a student graduates with their Bachelor's Degree.
* Because of financial constraints, is it possible to start the BS/MS program, take grad classes, and then finish one year earlier as an undergrad?
Some students do complete the BS/MS in four years. If they have significant scholarships, it may be cheaper for them to delay meeting their BS requirements by not taking a science or PE course, so they meet both the BS and MS requirements at the same time. They normally lose their financial aid and undergraduate scholarships as soon as they meet their BS requirements.
If a student doesn't have a lot of financial aid or scholarships, it may be cheaper for them to finish the BS requirements as soon as possible and then switch to the graduate tuition, which is cheaper than the undergraduate tuition. It will depend on their individual financial aid situation, so it is best if they check with the financial aid office.
* Which classes can be taken for the entrepreneurship requirement in the BS/MS program?
The student has to satisfy both 1) Undergraduate Distribution Requirement of 1/3 unit of Entrepreneurship (anything starting with ETR prefix, almost always ETR 1100 Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship) and 2) MS Engineering Context (1 of ETR 500, ETR 593, MIS 576, OBC 501, BUS 546, or SYS 5xx).
The double-counting rules in the Graduate Catalog do not allow double-counting of Entrepreneurship. However, if the student has a good case, they could petition to allow double-counting ETR 500 Entrepreneurship and Innovation or ETR 593 Technology Commercialization as a reasonable thing to do.
My advice would be to take ETR 1100 for the UG requirement and SYS 501 Concepts of Systems Engineering for the G requirement to get exposed to the widest range of ideas.
* Is it possible to double count foundations/core courses, i.e. RBE 500, 501, or an Engineering context course? Or can I only double count elective courses?
Yes, you can double count the courses you mentioned. These courses could typically be credited towards the RBE undergrad advanced electives requirements or some other specific requirement such as “controls”.
* Is it possible for me to overload as a full-time student, i.e. 4 full-semester courses?
Yes, you can overload. For UG students you can take up to 7/3 units per semester without tuition effect. Beyond that, you would need to pay for the increase. If you were to take 4 full-credit grad courses, that would be the equivalent of 6/3 and would not be an overload (each sem-long Grad course counts as ½ unit).