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updatedJune 2011

MRU’s Engineering Transfer Program offers a way for students to get into the second year of the UofC’s or the UofA’s engineering programs without actually attending the UofC or UofA for first year. This may meet your needs if i) you had lower than expected grades in your last year of high school, ii) you have been out of school for a while, iii) you are new to Canada, iv) you prefer a more personal learning environment, or v) you need to take a couple of years to get your first academic year completed because you are a care-giver and/or high performance athlete and/or are busy with employment.

MRU offers smaller class sizes and more contact with instructors than the bigger institutions. Our courses are fully transferable to the UofC and to the UofA, as well as to some other universities such as the University of Victoria, the University of British Columbia, the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Regina, the University of New Brunswick, as well as some schools in the US. That said, our programs are tailored for the UofC and the UofA. If you are interested in any of the other institutions, we suggest that you take the UofC curriculum and consult with MRU’s Engineering Advisor.

MRU’s current Engineering Advisor is Dr. Carol Jefferies. You can meet with her by calling 403-440-6147 to set up an appointment. Please come to advising appointments prepared to discuss your marks in previous courses, and ready to take notes. Inquiries by e-mail can notusually be responded to in a timely manner, depending on the advisor’s other commitments at the time of your e-mail.

Admission to MRU’s Bachelor of Engineering – University Transfer Program

Starting in the Fall of 2010, MRU engineering students are required to have at least 65% in Pure Math 30, Math 31, Physics 30 and Chemistry 30, and 60% in English 30-1 (or their equivalents). If you do not have these required courses and/or marks, you will need to take or upgrade them before applying. You can do that through MRU or through high school or other post-secondary institutions.

You are encouraged to apply during Early Admission (December 1 – March 1). For complete information regarding admission, review the General Admission Requirements (

and the Engineering admission requirements (

Life as an Engineering Student

It’s not easy, but it can be lots of fun. Engineering is a challenging program and our standards are no lower than those of the largeruniversities. If you take 5 courses a term, expect to put in about 75 hours of work per week (classes, reading, homework, studying, labs, etc). If you can’t put in the time, for whatever the reason, do not presume that you will be able to get by with less. Instead, take fewer courses per term. If you have a job or a child or some other responsibilities that will make it difficult to commit the required time, we can work with you to make a schedule that leads to success.

At MRU, you will take all/most of your first academic year and then you will transfer to the UofC, UofA or some other institution. If you stay here for 2 years, you may also take part of your 2nd year courses but you cannot take all of them here. In other words, no matter how long you spend here, you will always be applying into your 2nd academic year at the UofC, UofA or elsewhere. Indeed, the UofA requires that you only spend one year here while the UofC allows you to spend two or three years here, if you wish. In any event, you will always be applying for 2nd year admission at whatever school you choose to transfer to.

The Big Decisions … Place and then Speed

After you have applied to MRU and have been accepted, you put down your deposit. You will then be required to attend an Advising session with the Engineering Advisor. This session will brief you on the details of Fall registration and the Advisor will answer any questions that you may have. After you have attended the session, you will be taken off “Advising Hold”. You can then register for your Fall courses. Note that you will register for your Winter courses later on in October/November.

Where do you want to transfer to? The two basic options are the UofC and the UofA. If you really want to go somewhere else, we may have information on transferring to that institution but if not, you may be expected to find out what they require on your own. In any event, we would encourage you to take the “UofC track” so that you’ll have a choice of destinations.

As it happens, the UofA and the UofC have very different admissions requirements. The UofA essentially requires that you complete your first year in one year. All of the guidelines transfer to both institutions can be found on this handout.

The UofC allows you to take 2-3 years to transfer, but their GPA standards are higher for transferring because they have a limited number of seats for transfer students. That is,transfer is competitive. So if you decide that you want to transfer to the UofC, the next big question is … how fast?

  • If you had a 75% average in your engineering pre-requisite courses, you may be able to handle a one year transfer to the UofC where you will need a minimum 75% average to get in.
  • If your high school average was less than 75%, we suggest taking 2 years to transfer. You can take 3-4 courses a term, get some good marks, and pick up a couple of 2nd year courses as well, before transferring.
  • If you had close to a 75% average, you can elect to try the one year transfer track and you can change tracks (to the 2 year transfer track) at Christmas if things aren’t working out as well as you had hoped.

If you decide to transfer to the UofC, you will likely not be able to change your mind and head to the UofA after the Fall term. If you decide to transfer to the UofA, you may be able to change your mind and head to the UofC after one term but you will also likely lose the credit for at least one course and you’ll have to spend a 2nd year at MRC to make up another. The different schools require different courses and different course loads. You need to make the decision about where you want to go, before you register for Fall courses.

How do MRU Engineering Students Do?

For the last few years, MRU has admitted about 150 students per year. Of those, approximately half stay on for a second year (and a few are here for some part of a third year). Approximately 40 transfer to the UofC each year (as the UofC has seats for approximately 40 MRC transfer students). Another 10-20 students go to the UofA. Another 15-25 students transfer to any number of other institutions. Some stay on for another year at MRC, and the rest drop out or try something else.

Therefore, if you have some aptitude for math and science and you can write reasonably well, and if you are willing and able to work hard, your chances of success are pretty high. Those that do not move on generally put very little time into their studies and/or really aren’t interested in engineering. So if you have those two points going for you, your chances of success are much higher.

Open Studies Students

Open studies students are not able to register for engineering courses until after program restrictions are lifted, which will generally occur in the first week of classes each semester, before the drop/add date. This is to ensure that students in the engineering program have time to register for their classes. If a class is full or close to full, restrictions may not be lifted at all. As of Fall 2009, MRU’s policy is that open studies students can take up to 10 credit courses before they must enter a program.

Ongoing Help

Throughout your time at MRU, the Engineering Advisor is available to help you choose your courses to help you meet your own individual needs. But that can only happen if you talk with the Advisor. It is therefore suggested that you meet with your Advisor once a term, just to make sure everything is going well. If you are having any difficulties, your Advisor can sometimes help you get through them.

For registration help please go to the Office of the Registrar or call the Registration Help Line at 403-440-3303 or toll free at 1-877-676-0686.

For more information about engineering courses and their pre-requisites, please see the Academic Calendar (available at the bookstore or or visit the engineering program’s curriculum page at:

Transferring to the University of Calgary

MRU offers a full first-year transfer program to the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering. If you achieve a GPA of at least 3.0 in your last 10 courses at MRU, you are likely to be accepted into the UofC Engineering Faculty for the 2nd year of your engineering program. The 2nd year is also when students choose their engineering discipline e.g. mechanical, civil, chemical etc. While a GPA score of 3.0 likely gets you into the faculty, it does not necessarily mean that you will get into your first choice of department/program. Acceptance into the department and/or program of your choice is competitive. The cut-offs vary from year to year but they have tended to vary from 2.8 to 3.5. Transfer students are placed into departments after UofC students and there are quotas of transfer students by department.

To be clear, the UofC looks at your last 10 course marks. It does not say how fast you have to take those courses. That is, you can do them over 2 years (or longer!) So if you spent 2 years at MRU taking 4 courses per Fall and Winter term (and no courses in the Spring terms), the UofC would look at your last Fall and Winter terms (8 courses) and the best 2 marks in your first Winter term. It would essentially ignore your first Fall term (although they would accept those courses as transfers, of course). You can transfer into second year at UofC if you have completed at least 8 of the first-year courses (not counting Engr 1261 & 1263) and you will not be considered at a disadvantage compared to a student who has completed more courses, however be aware that you may have scheduling problems once you get to UofC and try to take a mix of first- and second-year courses.

As a result, a very important strategic question for you will be … how long should I stay at MRU? If you would like to try and transfer in one year, you would take the following courses (shown below). If you achieve a GPA of at least 3.0, you will likely be on your way to the UofC. If not, you could try to apply elsewhere e.g. the UofS, or you could stay at MRU and take a few 2nd year courses in the following Fall and Winter to try and boost your GPA before you try to transfer again.Most students prefer to take 3-4 courses instead of 5 per semester. Some courses (e.g. Math 1217) are important to take early because they become pre-requisites for other important courses. In any event, if you aren’t taking the standard first term shown below, then you should make an appointment with the Engineering Advisor to make sure you’re making good choices for you.

First Term

ENGR 1261 - Orientation to the Engineering Profession I (1 hr/wk)(UofC ENGG 200)

ENGR 1271 - Engineering Design & Communications I(UofC ENGG 200)

MATH 1203 - Linear Algebra for Scientists and Engineers(UofC MATH 211)

MATH 1217 - Calculus for Engineers and Scientists I (UofC AMAT 217)

CHEM 2209 - General Chemistry for Engineers (UofC CHEM 209)

ENGR 1205 - Statics(UofC ENGG 202)

Second Term

ENGR 1263 - Orientation to the Engineering Profession (1 hr/wk)(UofC ENGG 200)

ENGR 1233 - Computing for Engineers in C++(UofC ENGG 233)

MATH 1219 - Multivariable Calculus for Engineers (UofC AMAT 219)

CHEM 2210 - Behaviour of Liquids, Gases & Solids (UofC ENGG 201)

ENGR 1215- Electricity and Magnetism(UofC PHYS 259)

ENGR 1303- Electrical Circuits and Machines (UofC ENGG 225)

Please see the Academic Calendar (available at the bookstore or on pre- and co-requisites for each course.

UofC students take 11 courses in their first year. That is, those courses specified above in the Fall and Winter, plus the Complementary Studies Elective. We do not suggest that our students take the Complementary Studies Course in the Fall or Winter because you need to maintain high marks. You don’t need to take it in the Spring either, but if you don’t you will need to make it up later on at the UofC.

Complementary Studies (COST) Electives

Choices at MRU currently include Anth 1102 (UofCAnth 203), Anth 1105 (UofCArky 205), Cnst 1131 (UofCCnst 231), Econ 1101 (UofC Econ 201), Econ 1103 (UofC Econ 203), Geog 1103 (UofC Geog 203), Hist 1101 (UofCHist 201), Rels 1101 (UofCRels 201), Rels 1105 (UofCRels 203), Ling 1111 (UofC Ling 201), Ling 1113 (UofC Ling 203), Phil 1101 (UofC 201), Phil 1149 (UofC Phil 249), Phil 1175 (UofC Phil 275), Phil 1179 (UofC Phil 279), Plsc 1101 (UofCPoli 201), Plsc 1123 (UofCPoli 223), Psyc 1101&1102 (UofCPsyc 205), Slgy 1101 (UofCSoci 201), and Musc 1234 (UofCMuhl 281).

MRU actually offers several more courses that UofC Engineering recognizes. However, not all of the courses are in the curriculums of all the UofC Engineering Departments. The following list shows which courses are usable for which departmental programs:

Math 3307 Differential Equations (UofC AMAT 307) – Chem, Civil, EE, Geo, Mechanical, O&G, SW

Engr 3319 Statistics for Engineering (UofC ENGG 319) – Chem, Civil, Geo, Mechanical, O&G, SW

Phys 2369 Acoustics, Optics & Radiation (UofC PHYS 369) – Civil, EE, Geo, Mechanical, SW

Econ 1109 Engineering Economics (UofC ENGG 209) – all except Chem and O&G, as a COST elective

Engl 2263 Technical Report Writing (UofC COMS 363) – all, as a COST elective

Math 3101 Numerical Methods (UofC ENGG 407) – Chem, Civil, EE, Geo, Mechanical, O&G

Engr 3349 Dynamics (UofC ENGG 349) – Chem, Civil, Geo, Mechanical, O&G

Chem 3357 Organic Chemistry (UofC CHEM 357) – Chem, Mechanical, O&G

Math 3309 Vector Calculus (UofC AMAT 309) – Geo

Math 1271 Discrete Mathematics (UofC MATH 271) –SW

Once you have completed your first year courses, you can take these courses to help round out your schedule and/or boost your GPA before transferring. One must be careful though, as not all of these courses are required in all of the departmental programs at the UofC.

One should also note that the UofC actually does two GPA calculations for your transfer. The first is on your last 10 courses. That gets you admitted to the UofC Engineering Faculty. Then they do a second calculation of your last 10 courses that are transferrable to engineering. Usually, these will be the same 10 courses. However, if you try to boost your GPA with courses that are of no value in engineering, you may increase your chances of getting into the faculty while at the same time reducing your chances of getting into the department you want.

If you want to transfer to UofC in one year, you take the courses shown above. If you come to the MRU Engineering Transfer Program with any of these courses, you increase your chances of making the transfer in one year as you won’t need to take as heavy a course load each term.

If you want to transfer to UofC in two years, the next question you need to answer is … how many courses do you want to take in the Fall? Generally, you’ll take 3-4 courses instead of 5. Some courses (e.g. Math 1217) are important to take early because they become pre-requisites for other important courses. In any event, if you aren’t taking the standard first term shown above, then you should make an appointment with the Engineering Advisor to make sure you’re making good choices for you.

UofC Transfer FAQs

Q. Can I fail a course and still make it to the UofC?

A. Sure, as long as you fail early i.e. as long as it’s not in your last 10 courses. You can make up the failed course in the next term. It is generally better to withdraw (WD) than to fail a course. You can WD from a course up until about a month before the course ends.

Q. Can I take a lighter course load than is shown above?

A. Certainly. As long as you plan on being at MRU for at least 2 years.

Q. Who can I talk to at the UofC if I have any questions?

A. Contact Suzanne Dauneror Lorraine Ewert (the Engineering Advisors at UofC.) They can be reached at 403-220-8533, or & 403-220-3743, respectively.

Q. If I take Spring courses at MRU will they count for the UofC?

A. Yes and no. They will not count towards your admission GPA calculation if you have already applied to the UofC. However, if you aren’t applying until next year, then yes, they may count in your transfer GPA calculation if they become part of your “last 10 courses”. In any event, you will always receive credit for having taken/passed them. The only question is whether they will influence your GPA.