Columbia Combined Plan

The combined-plan program with Columbia University is a 3-2 program meaning that students study for 3 years at Middlebury (and complete major and distribution requirements here), and then study for two years at Columbia. Students will receive a B.A. from Middlebury and a B.S. in an engineering discipline from Columbia. Below you will specific information about the Columbia program.

GPA Requirement

For students who started at Middlebury in Fall 2018 or earlier, Columbia offers guaranteed admission if the applicant has an overall GPA of at least 3.5 and a pre-engineering GPA of at least 3.3, as well as grades of B or better in all science courses. See Columbia’s admission page and FAQ for more information.

For students starting at Middlebury in Fall 2019 or later, admission is no longer guaranteed.

Prerequisite Courses

Required courses include foundation courses required for all majors and additional major-specific courses. You will declare your Columbia major in your application, with the different majors having different requirements. Some majors may have prerequisites spanning multiple Middlebury departments or majors. The specific prerequisites can be found in Columbia’s Pre-Combined Plan Curriculum Guide (review the “Curriculum Guide” for your matriculation year in Columbia’s “Important Documents”). The required foundation courses for all majors translate into Middlebury courses as follows:

  • Calculus 1 and 2 (MATH 0121 and MATH 0122)
  • Vector Calculus (MATH 0223)
  • Physics 1 (PHYS 0108 or PHYS 0109)
  • Physics 2 (PHYS 0110 or PHYS 0114)
  • Chemistry (CHEM 0103)
  • Computer Science (CSCI 0145 or CSCI 0146 or CSCI 0150 or CSCI 0190)
  • Intro Macroeconomics (ECON 0150) or Intro Microeconomics (ECON 0155)
  • Thermodynamics, Fluids, Wave Motion, and Optics (PHYS 0111) (strongly recommended)

You are expected to complete an equivalent number of prerequisite courses. If you have placed out of these courses consult with the advisors about alternative courses.

Columbia also requires 27 non-technical credit hours (including the Economics requirement above). Typically you will satisfy this requirement as part of completing your Middlebury distribution requirements, but not always (for example, Middlebury courses count as 3.3 hours, but AP/IB coursework only counts as 1.65 hours). Consult with the advisors if you are unsure that you satisfy this requirement.

See a translation of the major-specific courses into Middlebury courses (not fully up to date).

Application

Applications are preferred by February 15 of the student’s junior year. You can find the application form on Columbia’s Combined Plan Program Admissions page.

Also necessary is an application for domestic off-campus study with the Study Abroad office, due February 1.

Financial Aid

Need-based financial aid is available from Columbia; however, only limited financial aid is available for international students. Middlebury financial aid is not transferable to Columbia.

Handout

This handout provides a summary of the Columbia 3-2 dual-degree program.