Students who pursue a BS degree and are approaching their senior year in Computer Science and have earned at least a 3.2 overall GPA may, upon recommendation from three faculty members, apply to the department to enroll in the combined BSCS/MSEM pathway. Students must also submit an online application to the University Graduate School for admission to the MSEM program. In addition to the admission requirements of the MSEM program, students must meet all the admission requirements of the University Graduate School.
Students need only apply once to the combined degree pathway, but the application must be submitted to Graduate Admissions before the student starts the last 30 credits of the bachelor’s degree program. A student admitted to the combined degree program will be considered to have undergraduate status until the student applies for graduation from their bachelor’s degree program. Upon conferral of the bachelor’s degree, the student will be granted graduate status and be eligible for graduate assistantships.
Students enrolled in the combined degree program could count up to three Computer Science graduate courses toward satisfying both the BSCS and the MSEM requirements, for a total saving of 9 credit hours. Students are required to take four courses from the following list. Additional courses may be selected with approval of the program director.
- CEN5011 Advanced Software Engineering
- COP5725 Principle of Database Management Systems
- COP5614 Operating Systems
- COT5420 Theory of Computation I
- COT5407 Introduction to Algorithms
The combined BSCS/MSEM pathway has been designed to be a continuous pathway. During this combined BSCS/MSEM pathway, upon completion of all the requirements of the BSCS program, students will receive their BSCS degree. Students may elect to permanently leave the combined pathway and earn only the BSCS degree. Students who elect to leave the combined pathway and earn only the BSCS degree will have the same access requirements to regular graduate programs as any other student, but will not be able to use the 9 credit hours in both the BSIT and MSEM degrees.
For each of the graduate courses counted as credits for both BSCS and MSEM degrees, a minimum grade of “B” is required. Only graduate courses with formal lecture can be counted for both degrees. The students are responsible for confirming the eligibility of each course with their undergraduate advisors.
Students interested in the combined pathway should consult with their undergraduate advisor on their eligibility to the pathway, preferably during their junior year, since appropriate planning of coursework is required in order to achieve the full nine-credit benefit. The student should also meet the MSEM Program Director to learn about the graduate program and available tracks/courses before completing the application form and submitting it to their undergraduate advisor. Final decision for admission to the MSEM program will be made by the University Graduate School upon recommendation by the Engineering Management program director. Applicants will be notified by the Engineering Management Program and the University Graduate School of the decision on their applications.