Proficiency Requirements for M.S. Degree
(applicable to students who registered before Fall 2010)
The proficiency requirements represent fundamental knowledge expected of any Computer Science graduate by the time of M.S. certification. These requirements are enumerated below:
| Proficiency and Courses | Approvers | |
| (1) | Theory of Computation: CSE 303 or CSE 540 | Leo Bachmair, Anita Wasilewska |
| (2) | Algorithms: CSE 373 or CSE 548 | Jie Gao, Himanshu Gupta |
| (3) | Programming Languages or Compilers: CSE 304, CSE 307, CSE 504, or CSE 526 |
CR Ramakrishnan, Scott Stoller |
| (4) | Computer Architecture: CSE 320 or CSE 502 | Larry Wittie, Jennifer Wong |
| (5) | Databases: CSE 305 or CSE 532 | Michael Kifer, Scott Smolka |
| (6) | Operating Systems: CSE 306 or CSE 506 | Eugene Stark, Erez Zadok |
| (7) | Networks or Graphics or Artificial Intelligence: CSE 310, CSE 346, CSE 328, CSE 533, CSE 534, CSE 528, CSE 537 |
Hussein Badr, Samir Das, Xianfeng David Gu, Klaus Mueller, IV Ramakrishnan |
The forms section below lists all of the required forms to fulfill the above requirements. Please follow the instructions for each, and turn in the forms to the CS Graduate Office by the end of the second semester in the program. Note that only the faculty listed in the "Approvers" column of the table may approve proficiencies for certain topics. Extensions can be granted only by the Graduate Academic Advisor.
Important- All proficiency requirements must be completed by the end of the second semester in the program. To be in good academic standing, your plan for completing proficiency requirements must be approved by the Graduate Academic Advisor before the add/drop deadline of the first semester.
- Undergraduate courses can be taken as CSE 587 for the purpose of satisfying proficiency requirements only if a similar course does not appear on your undergraduate transcript. The grade C or higher satisfies a proficiency requirement. For instance, earning a C grade for CSE 305 taken as CSE 587 satisfies the proficiency requirement in databases. Permission of instructor and of Graduate Academic Advisor is required to take CSE 587. The instructor will need to see an approved plan for satisfying the proficiency requirements before granting permission.
- You can apply credits from at most two CSE 587 (for the total of up to 4 credits) towards the 31 credits needed in order to graduate with an M.S. degree. This is allowed only if CSE 587 was taken as a proficiency requirement and provided that you received a grade of B or better.
Forms for satisfying M.S. Proficiency requirements (applicable to students who registered before Fall 2010)
- Plan for Satisfying Proficiency Requirement form
- (1) The Theory of Computation proficiency requirement form
- (2) The Algorithms proficiency requirement form
- (3) The Language/Compilers proficiency requirement form
- (4) The Computer Architecture proficiency requirement form
- (5) The Database proficiency requirement form
- (6) The Operating Systems proficiency requirement form
- (7) The Networks or Graphics or Artificial Intelligence proficiency requirement form