Frequently Asked Questions

These FAQs are designed to answer questions for prospective students, incoming freshmen, and transfer students. If you are a currently enrolled aerospace student, please refer to the FAQs on the Current Students tab.

FAQ for Undergraduate Admissions

Questions about admissions are best answered by the Office of Admissions since the Aerospace Engineering Sciences Department doesn’t deal with any aspect of the undergraduate admissions process. Incoming freshmen from high school can find out more on the Office of Admissions website. 

If you are coming from a community college or other university with 24 or more hours of record after high school graduation, you are considered a straight transfer student. More information about the process is available on the transfer students website. If you are pursuing a second undergraduate degree, you are also considered a transfer student. 

International students can find more information about the admissions process on the International Admissions website.

Please begin by referring to the CU Boulder Criteria for Admission site, which includes general admission requirements as well as specific qualifications for admissions to the College of Engineering and Applied Science. Also, be sure to review the First-Year-Plan website, which includes average GPA and test scores for incoming students.

Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences also recommends completion of the following courses:

  • Calculus-based Physics (AP Physics C - Mechanics, AP Physics C - Electricity & Magnetism)
  • Chemistry
  • Algebra, Trigonometry, Geometry, etc.
  • Calculus (AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC) We recommend waiting until your junior or senior year so you don't forget the material.
  • Writing courses (students will be writing several papers and lab reports - writing skills are a must)

Please remember that these are courses we in the department recommend. However, you should work with the Office of Admissions to confirm you have taken all the courses required for admission to the university. 

Please begin by referring to the Office of Admissions - Transfer Criteria site. 

Our department also recommends the following courses to be eligible to take the sophomore-level ASEN courses:

  • Calculus-based Physics 1
  • Calculus 1 and 2
  • Programming (C, C++, Java, and/or MATLAB)
  • Chemistry (if not taken in high school)

MATLAB is the preferred language for Aerospace Engineering. To purchase a copy of MATLAB, please visit the Mathworks website for the Student Version. They have an excellent tutorial as well.

If you are attending a community college in Colorado, please review the community college transfers site, which includes full course requirements and transfer metrics.

If you are coming from an out-of-state institution, please check course equivalencies through Transferology. Remember these are courses we require for you to begin taking the sophomore-level aerospace courses. However, you should work with the Office of Admissions to confirm you have taken all the courses required for admission to the university. 

All students must complete a programming course as it is one of the required courses. All ASEN courses use MATLAB programming extensively. However, if you are transferring from another university or college that does not offer MATLAB, we will accept a Programming 1 course in C, C++ or JAVA, but you will have to teach yourself how to program in MATLAB. 

Evaluation of which courses transfer must be completed at the Office of Admissions.

They determine if a course will transfer and how it will transfer. University policy is that Transfer Credit Evaluation happens only after you have applied, been admitted, and have submitted your intent to enroll (and the enrollment deposit). However, you can visit the Transfer student site for more information about what courses may transfer. If you are planning to transfer from a Colorado public institution, you may also want to refer to the Colorado Community Colleges course transfer page for additional information. 

If you are currently a CU Boulder student but your major is outside the College of Engineering & Applied Science, you will go through a process called Intra-University Transfer (IUT). The college has a lot of great information about the process on the IUT site. 

If you are already a student in the College of Engineering & Applied Science, you will complete the online Change of Major form. 

Transferring in from another school typically adds about one year to your degree. This is because:

  1. Some CU Boulder aerospace classes are offered once a year and are prerequisites for each other.
  1. Not all credits from other universities will transfer into CU Engineering. Our courses are very specific, unique, and contain hands-on design & experimental labs in the context of a team environment. Some of the course content covered in the spring of the CU Boulder Aerospace sophomore year include topics that aren't covered in many other universities until junior or senior year.