B.S./M.S. Program

Overview

The rules for the BS/MS program are described in the Undergraduate Catalog.

The application process is the same as for the MS degree program, however the applicant must indicate that they are applying for the BS/MS program.

Students enrolled in the BS/MS program may count certain courses towards both their undergraduate and graduate degrees. The Undergraduate Catalogue states that for the BS/MS the conversion equivalence is:

1/3 WPI undergraduate unit = 3 WPI graduate credit hours

i.e., one undergraduate course maps to one graduate course.

Note: Courses, whose credit hours total no more than 40% of the credit hours required for the master's degree, and which meet all other requirements for each degree, may be used to satisfy requirements for both degrees. This means that only 4 courses can be shared between the BS and MS degrees.

The Regulations section (below) details which courses may be shared between the two degrees.

Process

An undergraduate student may begin to sign up for BS/MS credit for 4000-level courses before formal application to the CS graduate program. The department recommends that students formally apply to the combined BS/MS program after taking at least two 4000-level courses for BS/MS credit, and prior to their final two terms as undergraduates. The student's performance in these two courses is considered in the admission process.

For each undergraduate course (up to 4) taken for BS/MS credit, the student needs to fill out a course selection form (PDF) and obtain the instructor's signature admitting them into the course for BS/MS credit.

The student is responsible for informing the instructor that the course will be part of the combined BS/MS program. A course instructor may choose to assign additional work to the student in order for an undergraduate course to count towards the graduate degree.

Regulations

The CS department allows only selected 4000-level undergraduate courses to count towards the MS degree. Students must inform the instructor of their intent to count the course towards the MS Degree; extra work may be assigned by the instructor. Table 1 lists those 4000-level courses that may be counted towards both degrees.

Table 1: Courses that may be counted towards the BS and MS Degrees

Course #	Course Name
CS4120	Analysis of Algorithms
CS4123	Theory of Computation
CS4233	Object-Oriented Analysis And Design
CS4241	Webware: Computational Technology for Network Information Systems
CS4341	Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
CS4432	Database Systems II
CS4445	Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery in Databases
CS4513	Distributed Computing Systems
CS4515	Computer Architecture
CS4516	Advanced Computer Networks
CS4533	Techniques of Programming Language Translation
CS4536	Programming Languages
CS4731	Computer Graphics
CS4732	Computer Animation
-	Undergraduate Independent Studies, with permission of instructor and either the Graduate Committee or the Department Chair
-	CS graduate courses except CS501, CS505, and CS507

Certain pairs of undergraduate and graduate courses cover similar material. In most cases, students may not receive credit for both the undergraduate and graduate versions of the same course; exceptions arise when the graduate course covers extensive material beyond the undergraduate course. Table 2 summarizes the restrictions on credit for similar courses across the undergraduate and graduate programs.

Table 2: Restrictions on Overlapping Undergraduate and Graduate Courses

Course #	Undergraduate Course	Credit Not Also Allowedfor Graduate Course	Credit Not Allowed for UndergraduateCourse if You Previously Took
CS4120	Analysis of Algorithms		CS504
CS4341	Introduction to Artificial Intelligence	CS534	CS534
CS4432	Database Systems II	CS542	CS542
CS4513	Distributed Computing Systems	CS502	CS502
CS4516	Advanced Computer Networks	CS513	CS513
CS4533	Techniques of Programming Language Translation		CS544
CS4536	Programming Languages	CS536	CS536
CS4731	Computer Graphics	CS543	CS543

Undergraduate courses listed in Table 2 are viewed as mapping to the graduate courses listed in the last column. If an undergraduate course maps to a graduate course that satisfies a bin requirement for the MS degree, the undergraduate course satisfies that bin requirement. For example, a BS/MS student can satisfy the systems bin requirement for the MS by taking CS4513.

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Last modified: May 08, 2009 20:15:07