Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering

Aerospace engineering is a highly specialized, yet widely diverse field. Aerospace engineers are involved in such varied and exciting activities as enabling hypersonic flight, sending a spacecraft to Mars, designing an artificial heart, and improving tomorrow's automobiles. We have come a long way since the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. In just a few short years, we have converted aviation from daredevil and barnstorming adventures to a safe, fast, and widely used mode of transportation. There is every reason to believe that the next fifty years will bring about even more dramatic advances, and UVa is playing a major role. With the increasing need for high-speed civil transport or more efficient, higher performance commercial and military aircraft, Aerospace Engineering will continue to offer ample opportunities for careers and advancement. The Aerospace Engineering curriculum provides a thorough background in fluid dynamics, structures, propulsion, controls, flight dynamics and design. The curriculum provides flexibility with regard to all areas of potential aerospace practice by emphasizing applied science, design, and technology while providing a firm foundation in mathematics and physics. With a strong science and mathematics based education, aerospace engineers have also found employment opportunities outside of the traditional aerospace industry. Many work in oceanography, biotechnology, weather prediction, energy conservation, and in the petrochemical, nuclear or automotive industries. In addition, the aerospace design provides an excellent background for business, law or medicine. Of course, people with the ambition to become pilots, either military or commercial, find the aerospace degree very attractive.

High School Transcripts.
Typically, the most important factor in the admission evaluation process is demonstrated academic achievement in a challenging secondary school program.
The admission committee looks for applicants who have completed the most rigorous academic courses available in their secondary schools and recommends that prospective students should exceed minimum high school graduation requirements. We require an official transcript. The secondary program should include no fewer than 16 academic courses and must include the following courses:

English 4 units
Mathematics 4 units
Foreign Language 2 units
Science (from among biology, chemistry, and physics) 2 units (*)
Social Studies 1 unit

A TOEFL or IELTS score should not be more than two years old. Depending on the school, most admitted graduate students attain a minimum total score of 90 on the internet-based (iBT) TOEFL (including sectional minimums of 22 in speaking, 22 in writing, 23 in reading and 23 in listening). The minimum paper-based TOEFL score requirement is usually 600, and the minimum IELTS score requirement is 7.0.