The Department of Computer Science offers a combined BS/MS degree. This combined degree allows students to confer both a BS and MS degree in 5 years, rather than six. Up to nine credits of graduate courses (500 or 600 level courses) may be applied toward both the BS and MS, making the 5-year completion possible.
Admission Process
Students classified as semester 6 should submit the usual Graduate School application to the Graduate Committee for admission. Supporting documents required include a Purdue transcript, a recommendation or comments from the student’s academic advisor, two additional letters of recommendation, and a term-by-term plan of study. It is expected that students follow the submitted plan of study. Changes to the plan must be approved by the undergraduate advisor and the chair of the Graduate Committee.
Admission Requirements
Students who apply should have a GPA of at least 3.5 in CS and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0. A students’ plan of study should show the completion of at least 100 of the 124 credits required for the BS before entering the combined BS/MS program. Admission to the Graduate School will normally be at the beginning of the semester in which the student is classified as a semester 7. The student will then have dual status as an undergraduate students (classified as 7 or 8) and as a graduate students.
Students admitted to the program may withdraw from the BS/MS program and continue as undergraduate students. However, if they are awarded the BS and become graduate students at a later date, courses applied to the BS will not apply to the MS. Students that do not complete the combined program in five years or who are not following a plan of study that will enable them to complete the program in five years, will not be permitted to continue in the program.
Degree Requirements
Students may use up to nine credits of graduate courses taken after entering the BS/MS program both toward the MS and as free electives in the BS program. Graduate courses in excess of all BS degree requirements can be used for the MS under the usual requirements, but on the MS plan of study the number of such credits plus the number of credits used toward both degrees cannot exceed nine. Students may choose which courses to use toward both degrees. The BS must also be awarded prior to or simultaneously with the award of the MS.
Program Policies
After admission to the program, a student is handled primarily as a graduate student, but will have an advisor for each degree. As a graduate student, he/she must take at least one three-credit graduate course each semester.
Students pursuing a non-thesis MS should take two graduate courses in semesters 7, two in semester 8, three in semesters 9, and three in semester 10, to complete the required 30 credits.
For students who choose the thesis option, two graduate courses can be replaced by thesis research (a total of six hours of CS 698, some or all of which might be taken in the summer). CS 698 cannot be used toward the BS.
Sample Plan of Study
Student may review a sample plan of study here.
