Engineering Admission Considerations
First-Year Engineering Student Admission
First-year engineering students are directly admitted to Baldwin Wallace and to the engineering program as applications are received, completed and ready for review on a first-come, first-served basis. To be considered for admission to the engineering program, students must list engineering as their major of interest on their BW application.
All aspects of a student's application are considered to inform an admission decision, including the types of courses completed, grades received in those courses, grade trends and end-of-course assessments, when available.
High School Course Preparation
Applicants who are considered prepared for BW's engineering curriculum typically have a cumulative high school GPA of 3.0 or higher and have successfully completed four units each of science and mathematics in high school. Engineering applicants who are best positioned for admission have completed chemistry, physics and pre-calculus with a grade of B or higher.
Test Optional
BW is test optional for admission, regardless of a student's cumulative high school GPA. BW still accepts test scores from students who wish to submit them. If students believe their test scores show additional evidence of preparation for BW, they can be submitted and will be considered during the holistic review of a student's application to BW. Test scores do not have any bearing on a student's eligibility for merit scholarships at BW.
Engineering Waitlist
To avoid over enrollment in the engineering program, the admission committee may utilize a waitlist. BW typically enrolls about 20 incoming students each fall for the engineering program. Students placed on the waitlist must be academically admissible to BW. The waitlist will be reviewed weekly beginning no later than February 1, 2025.
Waitlisted students are academically admissible to BW, so they have the option to choose a related major such as physics, software engineering, chemistry or any other program at BW. Choosing another major would lead to an official acceptance notification from BW.
Students who prefer to wait to see if a space opens in the engineering program will be notified of a final decision regarding their engineering status no later than June 1, 2025. If a space in the engineering program is not offered by that time, waitlisted students would still have the option to change their major and be formally admitted to BW or choose to withdraw their application.
Course Placement & Degree Completion Timeline
Completing an engineering degree in four years at BW depends upon placement into the MTH 140 (precalculus) foundational math course and completion of both MTH 140 and MTH 141 during a student’s first year before starting second-year engineering courses.
During the onboarding process, students will have the option of submitting ACT/SAT test scores or taking a course placement test. Placement into the aforementioned foundational courses requires an ACT math sub-score of 23 or higher, SAT math sub-score of 560 or higher, or an equivalent MyMathTest score. Students who do not place into the engineering foundational courses will initially begin preparatory courses within the engineering major before qualifying to begin their foundational courses.
Transfer Students
BW’s undergraduate engineering program welcomes a select number of transfer students each year on a space-available basis. Prospective transfer students should contact their BW transfer admission counselor to evaluate the next transfer opportunity. Transfer students from community colleges and other four-year institutions are welcome.
Transfer students in the engineering program typically have:
- A cumulative high school GPA of 3.0 or higher, including successful completion of four units each of science and mathematics courses in their high school program, including chemistry, physics and pre-calculus courses with a grade of B or higher.
- A 3.0 or higher cumulative GPA in college coursework
- A "B" grade or above in the majority of college-level math and science courses.