Welcome to the CS Department at SFSU!
Our desire is to work with you to ensure you are successful in our program and meet your individual goals.
The purpose of this letter is to let you know how to obtain Computer Science Graduate Advising, and where to find information you need to plan your Program of study. The CS Graduate Advising assistant can be reached via email at csgrad@sfsu.edu, by telephone (415-405-3950) or in person in the CS Department Office (Thornton Hall 906, please contact the CS office for hours of availability). Although the primary responsibility of the Graduate Advising Assistant is maintaining the CS Department’s graduate files, the assistant can also answer questions and/or direct your questions to the appropriate office on Campus.
Please familiarize yourself with the content found at these links on the CS Department web site:
- General Information for our graduate students: http://cs.sfsu.edu/grad/graduate.html
- Overview of graduate program by CS Chair: http://cs.sfsu.edu/grad/ppts/GraduateProgramOverviewSpring09.ppt
Please note the following important points drawn from our web site:
- English Level I Requirement: Computer science students admitted to the M.S. program are required to satisfy English Level One prior to the end of their first year of study at SFSU. As a departmental policy, no waivers are given. Level One is satisfied by obtaining either a) a score of 4 or better on the GRE Analytical Writing Exam or b) a score of PASS on the Graduate Essay Test (GET, administered by the SFSU Testing Center) or c) a passing grade in SCI 614 or CHS 514 (international graduate students are strongly encouraged to enroll in Eng 670, if it is offered). Students may enroll in CHS 514 if all sections of SCI 614 are full. SCI 614 is strongly recommended for all students who wish to develop their skills in professional writing. Students are allowed to take the GET only once, preferably prior to their first semester of enrollment.
- The Computer Science MS Degree requirements are posted in the SFSU Bulletin: http://www.sfsu.edu/~bulletin/current/programs/computes.htm - 1815. Course descriptions of both Undergraduate and Graduate courses are posted in the SFSU Bulletin as well: http://www.sfsu.edu/~bulletin/courses/discplns.htm.
- All new students MUST schedule a meeting with a graduate advisor upon start of graduate studies either on the CS Department Advising Day or shortly thereafter. Students should schedule meetings with advisors by going to the department office or sending an email requesting an appointment to csgrad@sfsu.edu. When you schedule an appointment with a graduate advisor be sure to indicate whether you were admitted to fully classified status or conditionally classified status.
All new students MUST attend the first Graduate Seminar during their FIRST term. The seminar will take place on a Wednesday at 5:30pm and the date will be posted on the web site. The Chair will discuss many important issues regarding our graduate program at the seminar.
All new students are strongly encouraged to attend the Chair’s welcome meeting on Advising Day.
In summary, new students should attend the Advising Day meeting with the Chair, see a graduate advisor the same day or shortly thereafter and attend the first meeting of the Graduate Seminar. Subsequently, students should meet with an advisor at least once per term.
- Graduate Advising will formally begin on Advising Day. (Please check the university calendar for the exact date). On Advising Day, Graduate Advisors will be available to meet with students for Academic advising. Prior to that date, informal advising will be available via email (csgrad@sfsu.edu), messages will be forwarded to an advisor as necessary, or in person by appointment (please schedule an appointment through the Graduate Advising Assistant so that your files can be prepared before your meeting).
If you are not sure which courses to enroll in then you can either:
- Sign up for candidate courses and later drop those courses that will not be required (there is a small administrative fee for this option, and pro-rata tuition charges for any reduction in units after the first day of instruction, see the information posted by the Bursar’s office for details: http://www.sfsu.edu/~bursar/Feepayment/index.htm ). This strategy will allow you to register in courses that might otherwise be closed due to over-enrollment; or
- Wait until you arrive on campus and register for courses after advising; however please be aware of the university fee payment schedule. See previous link for details.
Most of the usual questions that incoming graduate students have are answered on the university or department web site. The University web site (http://www.sfsu.edu/) has an excellent search engine, so if you don’t see what you are looking for in the following list you might check there as well. Here are some of the most useful University Web Sites:
Best of luck in your graduate studies at SFSU!
Professor Barry Levine
Computer Science Department Graduate Coordinator
