B.S. in Operations Research and Engineering

Note: This page provides a general overview. For complete and accurate information, please refer to the Engineering Undergraduate Handbook and consult with your advisor. For current course offerings and information, refer to the Cornell University Registrar: Courses of Study.

Eligibility and Academic Standards

Elective Requirements

Students must take the following electives:

• At least 9 credits of Operations Research and Engineering electives. The allowed courses are all ORIE courses at the 4000 level or higher which are not listed as a Major Required Course, and which are not one of the following: ORIE 4152, 5142, 5920, 5925, and 9000. Additionally, ORIE 3320, ORIE 3741, and ORIE 3800 may be used as ORIE Electives. You may use at most 3 credits of ORIE 4990 and at most 3 credits between ORIE 4900, ORIE 4999, and CS 4999.
• At least 12 credits of major-approved electives (details below)
• At least 6 credits of advisor-approved Electives
• Liberal Studies Electives – 6 courses, 18 credits minimum (see Cornell Engineering Handbook)

At least one of the courses taken must satisfy the Engineering Communications Requirement.

Students are allowed to replace the requirement for ORIE 3150 (Financial and Managerial Accounting) by taking one of the following. If a course is used to replace this requirement, then it cannot be used as an advisor approved, major approved, or ORIE elective.

• MATH 3110 (Introduction to Analysis)
• MATH 4130 (Honors Real Analysis)
• MATH 4310 (Linear Algebra)
• MATH 4330 (Honors Linear Algebra)
• Any 6000 level ORIE course

Major Approved Electives

All major-approved electives must be technical courses numbered 2000 or above. “Technical” means that in a significant part of the course (homework, projects), students actively use their skills in mathematics, the sciences, or engineering design.
 
Major Approved Electives fall into either category A (Engineering, Science, and Mathematics) or category B (Engineering Design, Finance, and Economic Analysis). At least 6 credits must be from category A, and at least 6 credits must be from outside ORIE. Students are not required to take any credits in category B.
 
Below are lists of popular courses that may be used as Major Approved Electives. Students may petition for other courses to be allowed. Petitions go to the Director for Undergraduate Studies, who, with the Academic Standards Committee, will determine if the course meets the definition of “technical” and whether the course in in category A or B. A petition must be accompanied with a syllabus of the course indicating the textbooks used and the types of assignments that will be given. Petitions should be sent to orie-ug-support@cornell.edu.
 
Out of the 12 credits required for major approved electives, at most 3 credits (in total) can come from undergraduate research, team project courses, and TAships combined. Depending on the details of the research/project/TAship, this credit may be counted towards either Category A or Category B, as determined by the ORIE Director for Undergraduate Studies and Undergraduate Coordinator. This 3 credit limitation is applicable to those students who affiliated to the ORIE major in Fall 2023 and later. Other students should refer to the ORIE student handbook from their year of affiliation to the major. If you have any questions, please reach out to the ORIE Director for Undergraduate Studies and the Undergraduate Coordinator.

List of Major Approved Electives (Excel)

Advisor Approved Electives

Advisor approved electives are any courses mutually agreed upon by a student and their faculty advisor that are relevant to the student’s academic or career goals.

For a course to count as an advisor approved elective, a student must meet in-person with their advisor to discuss the course before getting approval. Advisors approve courses in this category if the course is considered to be relevant to the student’s educational objectives. For students who matriculate, courses in this category must be approved before or during the semester the student enrolls in the course.

Approval Process

Follow the steps below to get a course approved as an advisor approved elective:

• Meet with your faculty advisor to discuss the approval.
• If your advisor approves the course, fill out the Advisor Approved Elective form.
• You will receive a notification once your advisor approves or denies your request.
• If you are unable to access the form in step #2 above, contact the Undergraduate Coordinator at ORIE-UG-Support@Cornell.edu

Data, Decisions, and AI

Many students are interested in focusing on the elements of the ORIE curriculum that highlight an understanding of the emerging interactions among “data, decisions, and AI.” In fact, there is an ongoing process to make the following set of courses into a Focused Elective. Students graduating in Fall 2026 or later will be eligible to complete the Focused Elective. The courses included in the Focused Elective are as follows:

Use the following course to fulfill either an Advisor Approved Elective or liberal studies requirement:

• CS 1340 Choices and Consequences in Computing

and take at least 3 of the 5 courses:

• ORIE 3320 Optimization for AI
• ORIE 3741 Learning with Big Messy Data
• ORIE 4570 Reinforcement Learning with Operations Research Applications
• ORIE 4740 Statistical Data Mining I
• ORIE 4750 Foundations of Causal Inference for Data-Driven Decisions (first offered in AY 2026-2027)

Within the 3-4 Major Approved Electives in the ORIE major, include the following:

• CS 3700 Foundations of AI Reasoning and Decision-Making
• 1 course from the list of electives for the AI Minor that is a) an ORIE course or b) has CS 2800 as a prerequisite.

Note: The Engineering Communications Requirement must be met and may be taken as a liberal studies, Advisor Approved Elective, or Major course.