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Messiah University
Messiah University

Department of Engineering First Semester Blueprints

Department of Engineering

Guidance for first semester registration:

  • Students should register for a minimum of 12 credits.
  • All First-Year students are required to take First Year Seminar (IDFY 101 or IDFY 102H, for Honors students) their first term. This is a required course, and each section focuses on a different topic for students to explore. You will choose a particular section based on your interest in the topic and scheduling logistics.
  • Science labs meet approximately three hours once a week. As you arrange your class schedule, consider the meeting times of labs first, then design the rest of your schedule around them.

  • If you have earned Advanced Placement (AP) or other college credit, you may be able to bypass some Engineering requirements and/or General Education requirements. 

  • Students who place out of MATH 111, for example, should take MATH 112. If you are concerned about your level of preparation, despite performing well on the AP exam, we recommend that you enroll in MATH 112, knowing that you can revert to MATH 111 in the first few weeks of the course if necessary. There is a MATH 111 section at the same time as MATH 112 to facilitate such a change, should it become necessary, without further impact to your schedule. Please consider choosing this section time if this scenario may apply to you.
  • If you have not received your AP scores by course registration, register for MATH 111 (Calculus I) and MATH 111L (Lab: Calculus I) along with MATH 103 (co-requisite to MATH 111/111L). If you later earn credit based on AP scores, drop these MATH courses and register for either MATH 112/112L or MATH 211/211L, depending on the precise AP credits you have earned. If you anticipate this outcome, consider choosing sections of MATH 111/111L that meet at the same time as MATH 112/112L and MATH 211/211L to simplify future schedule changes.
  • Learn more about the AP, CLEP, IB Credit.
  • The first-year experience is the same for all Engineering disciplines/degrees, as summarized in the table on the following page, so you need not feel committed to a particular Engineering discipline at this time.
  • The Engineering Department hosts a weekly Professional Development Seminar at noon on Tuesdays. Attendance is not required, but if you want to have the opportunity to attend those sessions, consider leaving that class time open. The Professional Development Seminar focuses on career awareness and features a guest speaker each week.
  • Collaboratory project teams typically meet on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, 10:30-11:45. If you plan to get involved with a team during your first semester, it will help to leave this time slot open at least one of those days.
  • There are two regular activities, optional to first year students, that you may want to consider when choosing course times:
  • Please consult with your academic advisor regarding first year course sequencing if you are in the University Honors Program.
  • ENGR 8 semester plan includes the first level of language and FYS in semester 1, second level of language and ENGL 110 in semester 2.
    -ENGR Honors students (who do not transfer in either language or ENGL 110) will need to take FYS and ENGL 110 in their first semester in order to take IDEG 300H and first level of language in semester two.
  • You can view the most up-to-date version of the schedule of classes by accessing The View.

For further assistance, contact Brian Swartz, Engineering Department Chair, 717-796-1800 ext. 3986 or BSwartz@messiah.edu