Step 1: Academics & Course Planning | NYU Tandon School of Engineering

Step 1: Academics & Course Planning


Tel Aviv Lab

Academic Planning

The NYU Bulletin has been your main planning guide for the order of courses you need to take in order to complete your degree on time. However, it is important to know, that this is just a sample plan and not at all the required order in which you can complete your courses in order to graduate on time.

Some courses have pre-requisite chains (i.e. You need Calculus 1 to take Calculus 2) and those are important to take in a certain order, but that does not always apply to a majority of your major required courses (i.e. Physics 3 does not lead to many other courses outside of high level physics courses that most students don't need to take).

We have created additional sample plans of study that are also viable alternatives to the NYU Bulletin prescribed plan of study. These plans have been created for a variety of study abroad locations (both exchange and study away) and should be used as a starting point when determining your study abroad experience. 

The plans below are separated by major, the first tab in each document contains the NYU New York 4 year Bulletin Plan with the inclusion of easy to identify and read requisite courses for each course. This can help you to determine what you ACTUALLY need to complete during a given semester or what can be postponed easily without affecting your degree progress. So, if there is a course you THINK you should be taking during a given semester that you feel is preventing you from studying abroad, we recommend reviewing if that course is even a pre-requisite for a future course. If not, you can feel confident in shifting that course to a future semester if you cannot find an equivalent during your time abroad. 

Once you have reviewed and developed your own the plan for course sequencing to study abroad, it is important to always still schedule a meeting with your academic advisor to double check that that plan indeed will work. 


NYU Study Away Global Sites
Tandon students are encouraged to study abroad at any of the NYU Global Sites and Campuses, However, depending on your major, some sites offer specific Tandon courses to help you meet the academic needs of your degree requirements more easily. 

Tandon Global has created a list of Pre-Approved NYU Global Site Courses. These course listing are not finite because courses are updated and added all the time.

The Office of Global Programs manages all NYU Global Study Away locations and has created the Global Study Planner to help students identify which sites offer specific courses. We recommend students using this tool to begin their search. 

Tandon students can complete many of their elective courses through the NYU sites. Some do offer engineering specific courses such as Linear Algebra, Physics III, Operating Systems, etc. However, past sophomore year, many students in the traditional engineering major will benefit from shifting their plan of study significantly to focus on electives or by going to an exchange site which will offer a wider variety of upper level engineering coursework. 

Exchange Program Pre-Approved Courses
Tandon Global has created a list of Pre-Approved Exchange Courses. We have a live list of courses that have been submitted by students, both past and present, that have studied abroad through the exchange program. It is grouped by each exchange partner and then by subjects. Students should use this, just like the Global Study Planner, to determine which locations offer relevant coursework for you degree requirements. We have also compiled a list of courses that have been submitted for reviewed but were determined not equivalent to any NYU courses, that can be found at the Denied Exchange Courses.

Please do not expect the exchange schools to offer the exact same courses (both name or content) that Tandon does. Also, just because the name or content differs does not mean that it will not be an equivalent. That is why courses need to be reviewed by academic departments. 

These course listing are not finite because courses are updated and added all the time. Certain exchange partners might not have had a student from your particular academic needs/plans review course offerings yet; you could be the first! In STEP 2: Review Opportunities (International Exchange) you will learn how to submit courses from our exchange partners to be evaluated.


Tandon Global has created guides for every major on recommendations for when and where to study abroad. These plans should be utilized only as a starting point and may have to change depending on the unique characteristics of each students' schedules, course placement, minor(s), interests, etc. Each of the QR codes are clickable and will redirect you to the various resources. 

These guides will help you to understand the following:

  • Study Abroad Locations
  • Tandon Course Equivalents and Where They Are Offered With Our Partners
  • List of HUSS Courses Abroad

These course listings are not finite and are constantly being update through student submissions like yourself. You can learn more about submitting courses for evaluation from our partner websites in the above "Course Planning" and "Course Offerings" sections.

International Exchange Guides by Major


Tandon Global has created 4-year plans for students to utilize as guidelines and sample schedules when thinking about planning out a semester or a year abroad. These plans should be utilized only as a basis and may have to change depending on the unique characteristics of each students' schedules and situations — math course placement, minor(s), interests, etc. All plans should be finalized with academic advisers prior to enrollment.

 

Applied Physics

Biomolecular Science

Business & Technology Management (4 years at NYU New York) 

Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering

Civil Engineering

Computer Engineering

Computer Science

Electrical Engineering

Electrical & Computer Engineering
*awaiting final approval from department

Integrated Digital Media

Mathematics

Mechanical Engineering

Physics & Mathematics
*TBD

Science & Technology Studies

Sustainable Urban Environments



FAQs

The NYU Bulletin contains all of the academic plans and course information for each major at Tandon.


You may think they don't offer courses you need, but they actually may offer HUSS and Free Electives that are needed to complete your degree. Study abroad is a time to take courses you wouldn't have access to if you spent all 4 years here at Tandon.

Consider reviewing the prerequisites, shifting courses around, reviewing the Global Study Planner, and have an open mind of where you want to study abroad based on the courses that are offered at each location. 

We recommend again reviewing the Academic Planning section above as well.


If you find a course offered at one of our exchange partners, and it is not on the Pre-Approved Exchange Courses or Denied Exchange Courses listings then you should submit it for review. 

You will need to download the syllabus from the partner school and submit it through the Tandon Study Abroad Portal for review.


Yes! In almost all cases you can take an online courses while studying abroad. For example, Thermodynamics and Dynamics are both offered online every year. This can help students stay on track if they are unable to find enough relevant courses at particular study abroad locations.

Online course offerings differ form year to year, and there is not ongoing list of what will or will not be offered online. 

While this option is available through all exchange programs, students studying at one of the NYU Global Sites will need to differ to Global Programs on which sites allow this.

Students must always maintain the minimum course registration requirements for each country in order to maintain their immigration status. (I.e. If South Korea requires students to maintain 12 credits in country, you want to take Thermodynamics online, you cannot simply take 9 credits in South Korea. You will need to take 12 credits in South Korea in addition to the online course).

 


NYU Global Sites

Grades and credits are exactly the same as at Tandon. The grades you receive will count towards your GPA and degree completion. 

International Exchange

Grades are P/F. Students need to receive an equivalent of a D in order to receive a Pass which will not affect your GPA. If you score below a D, you will receive an F and it will affect you NYU GPA.

Depending on your department/major they may require you to receive an equivalent of a C while studying abroad in certain major required courses in order to proceed onto the succeeding course. That is even if you receive the Pass they may want to see that you indeed earned at least the equivalent of a C.

 Credits will be converted accordingly and you will learn more about this process upon acceptance/nomination to an exchange parter.