Advising

Entrance requirements:

Admission to AMEP is internal to UW Madison, you must be admitted to UW Madison or already be a UW Madison student to join AMEP.

Admission into AMEP as a freshman requires placement into Math 222, although placement into Math 234 (4 or 5 on the AP Calculus BC exam) is desired for the 4-year plan. Admission into AMEP as a sophomore or junior requires a 2.75 GPA in introductory core courses taken in the Mathematics and Physics Departments.

Although AMEP has a substantial engineering component, it is a Letters and Science (L&S) degree — The Bachelor of Science in AMEP. Non-L&S students must transfer into Letters and Science.

Declaring the AMEP degree:

Students are encouraged to declare AMEP as soon as possible in order to receive AMEP specific advising and be included on the AMEP mailing list to stay informed about AMEP current events and opportunities. Students should first familiarize themselves with the degree requirements and the four-year plan, the list of recommended or required courses then visit an AMEP advisor (listed below) to declare the degree.

Please schedule an advising appointment via Starfish. Some faculty advisors may not use Starfish so if they are not on the page or have no available meetings, please email them directly with your availability to schedule an advising appointment. When contacting a professor, students should make sure they put “AMEP” in the subject line and send a brief clear message, since professors receive many emails.

Note that Professors usually have advising appointments only during the regular Fall and Spring semesters. Academic advisors will have availability throughout the whole year. 

Advisors and Department Homepages:

The average AMEP student will typically interact with three faculty advisors:

1. An applied mathematics advisor in the Department of Mathematics
2. A physics advisor in the Department of Physics
3. An engineering advisor in the engineering department the student chooses to focus on

A list of current faculty advisors follows. Note that other engineering faculty besides those listed below can serve as an AMEP advisor if they are willing. The engineering part of the AMEP curriculum should be any coherent concentration of courses at the intermediate to advanced level.

Advising Process:

Initial Advising.  The first meeting between student and the advisor will cover the following:

1. The overall nature of the program and a review of the AMEP Degree Requirements.
2. The AMEP advising system, including the desirability of early discussions with the physics and engineering advisors although the student need not officially meet them until the fourth semester.

After the initial advising, and before the fourth semester, the student’s special interests should be taking shape. The student should feel free to consult with any engineering advisor on possible engineering concentrations or course sequences. It is sometimes necessary to begin the engineering science sequence in the third semester. Even though a choice of engineering specialty does not have to be made until the fourth semester, the student should try to decide on this as early as possible.