This FAQ should answer most of the questions you might have about the BS/MS program. If you have questions not addressed here please contact the Associate Chair of the appropriate division: Prof. Frank Merat for ECE or Prof. Meral Ozsoyoglu for CS.
Yes, Computing and Information Sciences was the original name of the Computer Science degree program and still remains the formal name for degree purposes.
Plan A (thesis) BS/MS students are required to take 18 credit hours (six courses) of classes. Plan B (project) BS/MS students are required to take 21 credit hours (seven courses). All MS students (including BS/MS) are allowed to take ONE 300-level; the remaining classes must be at the 400-level or higher. A final restriction is that the 300 level course must be a open or technical elective in the student's undergraduate degree program; it CANNOT be a required course for the student's undergraduate degree.
This is one of the key attributes of the BS/MS program. Up to nine credit hours of MS classes (any 400, 500 or 600 level class including project and thesis) may be double counted towards the BS degree. Engineering students typically count MS thesis or project towards their undergraduate senior project requirement. Computer science students typically count graduate classes towards their undergraduate technical elective requirement. Other combinations are possible and should be discussed with your MS advisor.
Subject to the nine credit hour limit one three credit 300-level class may be double counted in your MS Program of Study.
Double counted classes should be specifically indicated on your MS Program of Study.
There are very few graduate classes specifically required by the different EECS programs. You should check the most current requirements for your specific MS program at: Computer Science has a distribution requirement from a list of courses. Computer Engineering requires EECS 419. Electrical Engineering has no specifically required classes. Systems & Control Engineering has no specifically required classes. In general you are required to take six courses (18 credit hours) for the Plan A (thesis). You are required to take seven courses (21 credit hours) for the plan B (project). Note that BS/MS students are only allowed to include ONE 300 level course in their MS program of study.
No. Graduate classes taken before you are officially accepted into the BS/MS program cannot typically count towards the MS degree.
You should typically apply for admission to the BS/MS program in the spring semester of the junior year and/or the semester in which you obtain senior status (90 credits) and definitely before you take any graduate classes.
No. Typically CWRU graduates and CWRU students do not need to take the GRE's to apply to any School of Engineering graduate program.
The computer "rules" used to place courses into categories such as "technical electives" or other categories on your DPR are pretty broad. What you need to do is to correct your DPR using the DPR Correction Form . You will need to fill out the form and place the errant course into the correct category such as "Extra courses." Classes which are being double counted towards the BS degree should be made to appear in the correct position on the DPR. The DPR Correction Form will need to be signed by your advisor.
You are officially listed as an undergraduate student until you complete the necessary requirements for the BS degree. As soon as you complete the undergraduate degree requirements, you will be required to graduate with your BS degree. At that point you will officially become a graduate student. This distinction can be important because undergraduate and graduate rules are often different. For example, to be a full-time undergraduate student you must register for at least 12 credit hours for that semester whereas graduate students are only required to register for 9 credit hours to be full-time students. See also the question about when you should graduate.
All EECS degree programs require EECS 651 for the MS degree. However, the project course requirement differs by the degree program.
For computer engineering and computer science it is EECS 602, for electrical engineering it is EECS 649, and for systems & control engineering it is EECS 621.
Note that once you begin registering for EECS 651 Thesis you MUST register for it in each following semester (summers are excluded) until you graduate. You only need nine credit hours of thesis and, although you typically register for thesis in increments of three credit hours, you may register for it in any amount from one to nine hours per semester. This should be discussed with your advisor
You only need to register for thesis/project during the summer if you are planning to graduate during the summer semester. This should also be discussed with your advisor
The simple answer is: "Yes." Both the MS project and the MS thesis MUST be defended in an oral presentation before a committee of at least three faculty. The committee must include your thesis/project advisor. Typically, your faculty advisor recommends the committee based upon their potential interest, but you are responsible for contacting each member to determine their general availability for the committee and for all committee meetings including the defense.
There may be additional requirements for each program. For example, systems & control engineering requires that the committee must meet at least once per year. Please check the published MS requirements for your program to be aware of any additional committee requirements.
There are two deadlines which you must watch closely. These are the deadlines for applying for graduation and for completing the degree. You are responsible for checking with either the Office of Graduate Studies (in Baker Building) or the EECS Graduate Coordinator (Ms. Beth Fuller in Glennan 715) to learn the exact deadline dates for Applying for Graduation and for turning in all graduation requirements to the Office of Graduate Studies.
School of Graduate Studies Fall 2002 Graduation Deadlines. The exact deadlines vary from semester to semester and are set by the School of Graduate Studies.
You must apply for graduation at the beginning of the semester in which you are expecting to graduate. The deadline is typically about 4-6 weeks after the semester begins.
The MS must be defended before your committee and and all materials turned in to the Office of Graduate Studies approximately four weeks before the end of the semester in which you are graduating. There are no exceptions to this rule. The student is responsible for scheduling the oral presentation. This means that you must contact all committee members to determine a mutually acceptable time. You must also contact the EECS Graduate Coordinator (Ms. Beth Fuller in Glennan 715) to publicize the presentation at least one week before the presentation.
All MS theses require a written thesis which must follow the format established by the School of Graduate Studies. All MS projects require a suitable written report; there is NO specific format for this report although the thesis format is recommended. All MS theses and projects must be defended in an oral presentation before a committee of at least three faculty. You must provide your thesis/project committee with a copy of your thesis/report 10 days before the oral presentation.
Samples of student theses and projects,some including presentations:
This is actually the most critical part of the BS/MS program. In general, all BS/MS students are required to follow the Plan A Thesis. Plan B may be allowed under special circumstances. Please check with the appropriate EECS Associate Chair if you wish to pursue the Plan B Project.
There are two important aspects of finding an advisor and a thesis topic.
First, you need to study the research the faculty in the department are performing. We have assembled some materials to help you know more about current faculty research. More information about the individual faculty member's research including past theses and dissertations will be forthcoming. Once you have identified some faculty whose research interests you, you should make an appointment to talk to them about opportunities for theses research with them.
Second, you need to understand what research is. Prof. Dennis S. Bernstein at the University of Michigan has published "A Student's Guide to Research" which will help you understand what research is all about.
The EECS Department has no involvement with undergraduate financial aid or with the Office of Financial Aid. Undergraduate scholarships typically last till the end of the eighth semester, or until you graduate with your BS degree (whichever comes first).
The Office of Undergraduate Studies will require you to graduate with your BS as soon as you have completed your undergraduate degree requirements. As soon as you have completed adequate thesis or project work to satisfactorily double count for senior project you may apply for your MS degree. Typically, your advisor can certify that you have completed thesis or project work adequate for double counting for senior project towards your BS degree even if you have not fully completed your MS work.
There are few programs which provide financial aid for the MS degree. Please check the EECS Department Web pages for links to financial aid programs which may be applicable.
Organizations which may support MS Fellowships include the National Science Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security, and NASA.
You can use your undergraduate financial aid until it expires. A few students who entered with advanced placement credit and who have taken extra courses each semester have managed to complete their BS and MS requirements in four years.
As long as you are registered for EECS 651 each semester, you will be certified as enrolled full-time for loan deferment purposes. The US Department of Education will require at least 6 hours each term for you to obtain any additional Federal loans, but the prior loans will not require repayment until you graduate with your MS. The Office of Financial Aid has made arrangements with SALLIE MAE for a graduate student who is taking at least 1 credit hour per term to be classified as full-time for purposes of their private Signature Loan. The rate on the Signature Loan could be as low as 4 % (Prime minus 3/4 %). This can be an excellent backup if you run out of funding.
There are limited (typically three) department fellowships available for the MS component of a BS/MS program of study. These have provided 50% of your tuition and a half-stipend (on the order of $675/month) for one year. These are applied for in the beginning of the spring semester of the fourth year and will be applied towards the fifth year program of study. There is no formal application form; however, a letter requesting consideration for the fellowship, a current resume, and a letter of recommendation from your advisor are required. These should be delivered to the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies no later than February 1st.
You might consider searching for a professor who is willing to support you as a research assistant on a research contract. You would need to contact the individual faculty to determine if they have funded research and are looking for a research assistant. Such positions typically require you to work on very specific research projects which may also be suitable for a thesis. BS/MS students are given preference for department jobs such as graders and recitation leaders.
The Office of Undergraduate Studies will require you to graduate with your BS degree after your eighth semester at CWRU as soon as all your undergraduate requirements are completed. If you are double counting your master's thesis or project for your senior project, you may apply for your BS degree for the semester in which progress on master's thesis or project will be adequate to satisfy the senior project requirement. Your adviser must certify with the Office of Undergraduate Studies that you have completed work adequate for the senior project; however, your MS work and MS thesis need not be fully completed. Note that Undergraduate Studies is not requiring you to graduate UNTIL after you have completed eight semesters so you should be able to preserve your undergraduate scholarship until then.
Thesis and project do not receive conventional letter grades. You will receive either a "S" indicating that you are making satisfactory progresss towards your thesis/project or you will receive a "U" indicating unsatisfactory progress.
Your thesis/project advisor is the sole judge of when your research is complete. Note that experimental theses (such as designing an integrated circuit) will often take longer than theses which involve mathematical analysis or computer software. Typically, the MS program takes five years; however, some students have done it in four years while others have taken as long as six years to complete their research.
Many students do not know that you can still turn in your materials to the Office of Graduate Studies after the deadline for that semester. In this case you will not be listed as graduating in that semester. As an example suppose you planned to graduate in the Fall semester, missed the deadline, and turned in your thesis to the Office of Graduate Studies in mid-December. You would then be listed as graduating in the Spring semester (i.e., May) as opposed to the Fall semester (i.e., January). Even though you would be listed as graduating in the Spring semester you would not have to register (i.e., pay tuition) for the Spring semester. As long as you turn in all your required degree materials (a thesis for Plan A students and the appropriate form from the members of your committee certifying that you successfully defended your thesis) before the first day of the semester you do not have to register for that semester, yet you will be listed as having graduated in that semester.
BS/MS students must satisify ALL requirements of both the BS and MS degrees they are pursuing. However, by double counting EECS 651 as EECS 398 or EECS 399 for the undergraduate degree, you are using EECS 651 to fulfill your undergraduate senior project requirement. The total number of hours required for each degree remains the same — you are simply allowed to double count nine credit hours.