Students planning advanced study in engineering may complete a full bachelor of arts course at Grinnell before graduate school, or they can follow a 3-2 program in engineering. The 3-2 program allows students to spend three years at Grinnell and two years in one of the engineering programs affiliated with Grinnell:
- Columbia University
- California Institute of Technology
- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
- Washington University
(Second-year students interested in engineering can alternatively consider the year-long off-campus-study 2-1-1-1 track in Dartmouth College’s Dual Degree Program)
At the end of the fourth year the student receives a bachelor of arts degree from Grinnell. At the end of the fifth year the student receives a bachelor of science or bachelor of engineering degree from the affiliated university in a major not offered at Grinnell.
In either case, the prospective engineer studies the natural sciences as an integral part of a liberal education. Students are required to establish at Grinnell a strong foundation in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. A broad base of knowledge in the humanities and social sciences also is strongly recommended. The required science courses are those taken by any student with a serious interest in science, so a definite commitment to engineering is not necessary until enrollment at the engineering school.
For more information about the 3-2 program, please contact the 3-2 liaison officer, Paul Tjossem.
If you would like to be added to the 3-2 program email list, please contact Payton Sonka.
Requirements for Transfer to Columbia University, Washington University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or California Institute of Technology
Typical Requirements of All Four Schools
(Please check affiliate’s individual requirements.)
- Mathematics through Linear Algebra (Math 215) and Differential Equations (Math 220)
- Two semesters of physics (Physics 131-132)
- One semester of chemistry (Chemistry 129 or 210); more for chemical engineering programs
- 3.3 GPA; higher GPA is required for some programs and some schools
Special Requirements: Columbia University (Combined Plan)
- One course in computing, a knowledge of C, C++, Java, Python, or MATLAB
- One course of economics
- 27 non-technical credit hours
Washington University (Dual Degree)
- One course in computing (CSC 161)
- Fifteen hours of humanities and social studies, with at least six hours in humanities and at least three hours in social studies
California Institute of Technology (3-2)
- Recommended: two additional courses in physics (Modern Physics and Mechanics)
- A year of chemistry
- Twenty-four semester hours of humanities and social studies. At least six of these hours must be in humanities (art, history, languages, literature, music, philosophy) and at least six hours must be in social studies (anthropology, economics, political science, psychology).
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Transfer Admission)
- One additional semester of physics
- Four courses in humanities and social studies
- Persons interested in chemical engineering should have a year of organic chemistry.
- Those interested in environmental or biomedical engineering should have some cell biology.
- A major at Grinnell must be completed, but credit to complete it can be transferred back from the engineering school. Usually a Grinnell major in chemistry, computer science, mathematics, or physics is required
Please note that Grinnell College financial aid does not extend to the student's time at the engineering school. Check with the engineering school for their current financial aid policy.
3-2 Engineering FAQs
What are the minimum requirements for participation in 3-2 Engineering?
You need [Grinnell courses]:
- Calculus I/II, Linear Algebra, and Differential Equations [MAT 131, MAT 133, MAT 215, MAT 220]
- Calculus-based Physics I/II [PHY 131, PHY 132]
- Introduction to Chemistry [CHM 129 or CHM 210. Two chem courses are required by Caltech]
- Introduction to Economics [ECN 111]
- Computer Science taught in C/C++/Java [CSC 161]
- College writing/English composition [TUT 100]
All of the above credits need to be taken for a grade, not S/D/F.
- At least 32 non-technical credits total outside the sciences — a Grinnell requirement; ur 3-2 affiliates want more than 27–28 credits outside of science — including coursework in both humanities and social studies.
- Junior standing and a pathway to complete your major while at the engineering affiliate. You may count 32 credits back toward attaining the 124 credits needed to graduate from Grinnell. You need to check with your Grinnell major department about whether up to 8 of those credits in your chosen engineering program can count toward your Grinnell major.
- Some of our partner schools require additional courses for certain engineering majors.
Do my AP credits count?
Yes, any AP credits for which you have earned Grinnell credit and placement, if they appear on your Grinnell transcript, can count toward the requirements above, whether they are technical (e.g., AP Physics C, AP Calculus, AP Computer Science) or non-technical (e.g., AP American History, AP Economics micro/macro). Same for summer courses. Make sure they are in person (not remote) and taken for a letter grade.
The math department placed me in MAT 215 even though I don’t have a transcript entry proving that I have taken Calculus. How do I prove that I have sufficient knowledge of calculus to satisfy 3-2 prerequisites?
Talk to the chair of the math department and get a letter to attest to how they did their math placement recommendation. Or major in physics, which will prove whether you have sufficient understanding of calculus.
Is admission to 3-2 guaranteed?
No. Not at Columbia, not at Caltech, not at RPI.
WUSTL does guarantee admission if you fulfill the minimum requirements above and have a technical GPA of at least 3.25/4. All our affiliates insist that you take required technical courses for a letter grade.
Do I have to be a Grinnell physics major to do 3-2 engineering?
No. If you fulfill the technical requirements for your particular engineering program and you will have completed your Grinnell College major by the end of your third year, you may choose any Grinnell major with the possible exception of psychology.
Some Grinnell majors have natural overlap with 3-2 engineering majors — physics with mechanical/electrical engineering, chemistry with chemical engineering — because you can find a path to have some of your year 4 courses count back toward completing the Grinnell major. For example, you typically need complete only ¾ of your physics major requirements while at Grinnell, while counting back an equivalent lab as PHY 462 Advanced Lab and perhaps Engineering Thermodynamics instead of PHY 314 Thermodynamics. Check with your Grinnell major adviser/chair to determine whether you may count one or more engineering courses toward your major.
Some Grinnell majors have no overlap with courses offered at the engineering schools and so must be completed in three years while at Grinnell. The engineering affiliates do not offer upper-level courses in French or Spanish, for example. Psychology is even trickier, because at Grinnell it is housed in the Science Division. For psychology, the 36 credits needed (32 credits + statistics) to fulfill the psychology major get counted toward your 92-credit science divisional limit, along with the 32 credits listed above, plus the 32 future credits from the engineering affiliate in year 4. That makes 100 credits, all before you have fulfilled Grinnell’s requirement that you have at least 32 credits in courses outside of the Science Division, all completed within your first three years. This cannot be done unless you have AP or other credits that might count as non-science credits.
Is it best to take as many technical courses as possible at Grinnell?
No. About two per semester and maybe three per semester in year 3. You need to earn 32 non-science credits to graduate from Grinnell. You are likely to get only technical credits while enrolled in the engineering school, so you have 6 semesters in which to earn those non-science credits. Remember, you’ll be getting approximately 64 engineering credits over years 4 and 5, so you will not lack for technical coursework.
Can I do 3-2 engineering with another university, not one of our affiliates?
No.
What if I want to do biomedical engineering?
Talk with the chairs of biology, chemistry, and biological chemistry about how to structure your program so that you get enough biology (typically through BIO 251) and organic chemistry (CHM 221/CHM 222) plus most of the minimum technical credits above to be eligible for the 3-2 program.
What about chemical engineering?
Major in chemistry.
I want to do software engineering, but I don’t see that listed as an engineering major. What should I do?
Software engineering is not a recognized engineering degree. Become a computer science major. Write code.
Can I do math at Grinnell, but then computer science in the 3-2 program?
No. Grinnell does not permit 3-2 engineering majors in computer science, applied math, or applied physics, or indeed in any major offered by Grinnell. At our affiliates you may major in computer engineering, operations research, mechanical or electrical engineering, or data science, among others. Computer engineering usually requires a course in electronic circuits, because it is a melding of computers and electronics.
Caltech offers 3-2 options in chemistry and math and physics. May I do those?
No. You may not do 3-2 engineering in any major offered at Grinnell. That said, Caltech is very creative about making their majors not sound like things that you could do at Grinnell.
Will Grinnell financial aid continue even after I’ve gone off to do 3-2 engineering?
No. Your tuition, room, and board are up to the engineering school’s financial aid policies. Look carefully at the program guidelines for each of the schools.
Generally, U.S. citizens and permanent residents are covered for need-based (FAFSA-demonstrated aid) from our affiliates, whereas international students may have to cover full tuition on their own.
Only WUSTL has a novel 3-2-1 degree: if you sign on for 3 years, leading to a BS and an MS, you get a 50% tuition discount in year 4, 55% in year 5, and 60% in year 6, even if you are an international student.
I want to apply to be a financial engineer, what must I do?
Columbia University prohibits direct enrollment in their financial engineering major. You must come in as perhaps an operations research (aka applied math) major for a semester. Then there is a competitive process by which you may switch majors. No guarantees. If not selected for financial engineering, you are expected to continue with the engineering major subfield for which you were admitted.
Where do I find out more about the various fields of engineering?
We recommend Columbia’s documentation as a guide to the various subfields of engineering. Go to the Columbia University Combined Plan website and look for “Important Documents.” From there, get the Pre-Combined Plan Curriculum Guide and look at their program requirements. They have about 20 engineering majors.
Note: WUSTL does not offer a civil engineering degree — they have put their resources into biomedical engineering, and more recently, data science.
Can I double-major at Grinnell and then do 3-2?
No. Engineering is your second major. You probably don’t need more majors to define your future directions.
Can I study abroad for a semester?
With careful planning it may be possible, but it is difficult, especially to get technical coursework that satisfies Grinnell and our engineering affiliates.
I’m thinking about pre-med and 3-2 to keep my options open. Is this possible?
Yes, but probably only in a very limited subset of engineering fields. Keep in mind the 32 non-science credits that you need to leave Grinnell and go elsewhere.
Do I need to have an undergraduate engineering degree to get an MS or PhD in engineering?
No. Fulfilling 3-2 requirements is excellent preparation for an advanced degree in engineering. Engineering PhD programs typically take 4-5 years to complete, involving two years of coursework in the field of study. Students interested in a research career in which they create new knowledge, methods, and procedures in engineering are encouraged to pursue this route, which typically is fully funded by the university.
May I apply to all four 3-2 affiliates?
Yes.
Do I have to go if I get an offer?
No. You may want to stay at Grinnell and apply for an MS or PhD in engineering. You may find that financial aid is better at Grinnell. You may want to study abroad in the fall of your senior year. You may want a senior year at Grinnell.
What about 4-2?
Same rules as 3-2, except you need to graduate from Grinnell first in year 4.
I just transferred into Grinnell after 2 years elsewhere. Can I do 3-2 after 1 year?
No. Settle down and stay somewhere for a while. Generally, you’d need to spend at least half your undergraduate years at Grinnell for Grinnell to consider you a graduate of Grinnell. In addition, our affiliates use your success at Grinnell as a way of determining whether you should be admitted to their program.
What are my odds of getting into Caltech?
Tyranny of small numbers, but our best guess is about 10% of 3-2 applicants from the group of 13 colleges that are affiliated with Caltech are admitted each year. We are not a back door to Caltech.
What are my odds of getting into Columbia?
Tyranny of small numbers. If your GPA is sufficiently high, and you’ve gotten a B or better in every technical course the first time you’ve taken it, and you’ve fulfilled all the requirements and maybe completed your major requirements at Grinnell, our guess is that your odds are maybe better than 30%, depending on the engineering field.
Do I have to pick my engineering major when I apply for 3-2?
Yes.
What are my odds of getting into Washington University in St. Louis?
Because they set no absolute limit to the number of dual-degree students, the odds approach 90+% if all prerequisites are met.
What are WUSTL/Columbia/Caltech’s policies on any given requirement or course equivalent?
Go to the Grinnell college website and click through to the 3-2 Engineering page. From there you will find live links to the affiliates’ programs. For Columbia you need to consult the pre-engineering curriculum guide for the year in which you first enrolled at Grinnell.
What is the timetable for applying to do 3-2 engineering?
In November or December of your junior year, if you expect to complete the 3-2 program requirements and are on track to complete your Grinnell major by year 4 (and sometimes year 5), you inform the 3-2 liaison of your intention to apply 3-2.
Provide the Liaison with an unofficial transcript, a personal statement, a c.v., and tell him/her which field you’ll be applying to. Arrange for letters of recommendation as needed (typically from one math, one science professor who has taught you in class). WUSTL letters are easy to generate. Columbia letters take about a day to process. Caltech is somewhere in between. Columbia applications open in December with a Jan. 15 deadline. WUSTL applications are rolling, and they open in late November, early December, with a Feb. 1 deadline. Caltech applications involve about seven essays these days. Don’t leave any of them blank. Their deadline is April 1.
Expect a fast turnaround from WUSTL, 7-10 days.
Columbia makes decisions in mid-April.
Caltech decides sometime in June-July.
If I get accepted to 3-2 and I intend to go to the engineering school in the fall, do I need to let anyone at Grinnell know?
Why yes, that would be very polite of you to let our registrar know that you won’t be in Grinnell in year 4. That way they won’t ask you for a housing deposit, or demand that you register for courses at Grinnell. Oh, and tell the liaison officer as well. Because of FERPA considerations, the affiliates never tell us who has been accepted into their programs, and they don’t always let us know if you’ve arrived there. Drop us a note; we’d love to hear from you.
When I left for 3-2, I still owed Grinnell College evidence that I have fulfilled my major requirements and my remaining credits needed to graduate. What should I do?
Send an official transcript from the engineering school to the Grinnell College registar.