The Department of Computer Science & Engineering Master of Science degree program requires both breadth and depth. Broadly speaking, 600-level courses are used to fill the breadth requirement, while 700-level courses usually satisfy the depth requirement. Another requirement handed us by the graduate school states that students seeking a Master of Science degree complete at least 15 credits of 700-level coursework. That is, half your coursework should be at the 700-level. Considering these requirements, there are two ways to obtain a Master of Science degree:

Write a Master's Thesis

This requires a total of 30 credits, of which 6 are thesis credits, while the remaining 24 are coursework. Taking into account the breadth and depth requirements of the program, the coursework will therefore entail four 600-level courses and four 700-level courses.

Write a Professional Paper

This requires a total of 33 credits, of which 3 are professional paper credits, while the remaining 30 are coursework. Taking into account the breadth and depth requirements of the program, the coursework will therefore entail four 600-level courses, four 700-level courses, and two courses that may be either 600- or 700-level.

The rest of this document provides a semester by semester guide to getting through the Master's program, practical advice on choosing an advisor, and how to enjoy yourself in the process.

Whether you are new to grad school or new to the country, for most people, the first semester is usually confusing and full of new challenges and opportunities. If you have coursework deficiencies, you must get rid of them in the first semester. Register for between six to nine credits (two to three courses). Most students register for two 600-level courses or one 600- and one 700-level course. It is important to keep in mind that the level of competition in grad school is usually higher, expectations are more, and you may not find it as easy to do well. Whether you are going with the thesis option, the professional paper option, or are undecided, it is a good idea to start slow and only take two courses during your first semester. International students, however, must take at least 9 credits (three courses), unless they have a teaching assistantship, in which case they can take 6 credits (two courses).

During this semester you need to choose a thesis/professional paper advisor. Since this is probably your most important decision as a Master's student, please spend some time and effort toward this end. Two major factors influence your choice of advisor:

Research Interests

Yours and the prospective advisor's. In our department, if you have a particular research interest, you are pretty much stuck with one faculty member. It is therefore a good idea to learn about faculty research interests.

Faculty Expectations

Although the department follows uniform standards, it turns out that different students find it more comfortable to work with different faculty. Each of the faculty have their own way of working and their own set of expectations from their students. Since working together is as much a matter of personality as common research interests, talk to faculty informally and try to figure out what it would be like to work with them.

Since you should have had more than a couple of the faculty as instructors by this semester, you will have some information on which to base your choice. Often, current grad students who are almost done are a great source of information on their (and possibly your future) advisor. Once you have chosen your advisor, you will need to do some original research to graduate. Start working.

You will do most of your research during the summer months. No interruptions, no classes, no distractions - just work. Did you think you would have fun in summer? Whether you are doing the thesis or professional paper option, you must do original research to graduate. Summer is one of the best times to do research and you will get credit for it, commensurate with the work you have done, in subsequent semesters. You will really get to know your advisor during this time and you may even make it to a conference or two. There is a rumor that it is possible to enjoy summer and do research...

Although you will have done a lot of work over the summer, you will finally start getting results this semester. Of course, the results will not be what you (or your advisor) expected - thus begins the process of scientific research. Make a hypothesis (what you expect), run some experiments, analyze the results, modify the hypothesis or experiment, and run more experiments. In designing software/hardware, the design process has a similar cycle of specification and analysis. If you are doing really well, you may want to start writing an outline of your work in the appropriate (thesis or professional paper) format. You will also be looking for good conferences or journals in which to publish results. We now expect students to give a departmental colloquium explaining what you have done and the problems you face. You and your advisor will schedule the colloquium in conjunction with the departmental colloquium coordinator. A colloquium is good practice for an oral defense and the audience provides good feedback. Attending colloquia is a great way of learning how to do it and what kind of questions to expect during your defense. It is also fun to learn what others are doing, how your work may relate, and bounce ideas off each other. This semester is also a good time to finalize a graduate committee to whom you will defend your work. The committee is made up of your advisor, one other faculty member from the department, and one external faculty member. The external faculty member is someone from another department.

It is a good idea to take courses that are very, very closely related to your thesis or professional paper. Talk to your advisor. If you haven't given a colloquium yet, you should. Testing the waters with an informal departmental colloquium before a formal defense is usually a good idea. Writing a thesis or professional paper is probably going to be the hardest thing you ever do. Writing well is an art. You may have stunning results, but if you can't communicate these results to your audience, the results are useless. Writing well is not just a matter of having a good vocabulary, being grammatically correct, or being a native English speaker. Part of your advisor's job is to make sure you produce a well written document. Finally, fix a date and time and prepare to defend your work. Your advisor will know when you are ready and have a good chance of surviving the defense. You will, of course, be subjected to vicious, subversive attacks from the committee and whoever happens to come to your thesis or professional paper presentation. Bringing food and drink has been known to distract the committee enough for students to make their escape from the department and university with a Master's in CS.