The training of M.S. graduates in computer science should provide them with the knowledge and skills to hold professional positions in the development and design of computer systems, and in the design and implementation of new software applications; to hold administrative positions that require planning and evaluation of computer-based systems; to teach in computer science; and to be prepared for further study and research at the doctorate level.
Because of the rapid rate of change in the field, students must be well grounded in the basic aspects of computer science and be capable of learning new ideas by following the research and professional literature, and of adapting independently to changes in approaches, languages, and system. Furthermore, they must have experience with computer projects of a realistic scale so as to develop confidence in their ability to think and work independently.
Most of the graduate classes start at 2:50, 4:30 and 6:10, and some at 7:30. The exceptions are advanced research seminars. Students who have a job can get a Master's degree in our Program provided they can get some time off in the late afternoon one or two days a week. Probably it will not be possible for a student to obtain a Master's degree by taking classes only after 6PM and fairly unlikely if only taking classes that start at 4:30 or later.
(Short descriptions of undergraduate courses offered by the department can be found in section 6.4 of this brochure.)
Applicants who have adequate knowledge of the above subjects but who have not completed all academic courses in these areas must show proficiency by obtaining a high score on the GRE Subject Test in Computer Science. All applicants are required to take the aptitude part of the GRE examination (verbal, analytic and mathematical reasoning sections), and the Computer Science Subject Test.
Criteria for admission currently include:
For the procedures to be followed in applying for admission, see the first page of this brochure.
(1) The department offers teaching assistantships. For 2005/2006, these carried annual stipends around $18,500 for the academic year. These provide additional grants to cover the cost of tuition and include health benefits. They require part-time duties in the department, so the normal course load for a teaching assistant is two courses per term. The duties are those involved in counseling students in the practical computer sessions and may include teaching, correcting assignments, consulting on programming problems and grading examination papers.
A small number of teaching assistantships are available in the summer, and students who are TAs during the academic year may be awarded a summer TAship for one summer during their career as a graduate student here. Otherwise, the student is expected to find other means of support for the summer.
Since the number of teaching assistantships is limited, there is competition among students for obtaining them. TAs will be selected and renewed according to these criteria: the needs of the department, the resources available to the department, the candidate's scholastic standing, the department's assessment of the capability of the candidate for the position, and the approval by the Graduate School of the department's recommendation. Each TAship is given for one academic year. TA appointments are reviewed annually; renewal is not automatic. Normally a student who enters with a Bachelor's degree who wishes to obtain a PhD degree and who satisfies the criteria may be awarded a TA-ship annually for two years with a possibility of a third year, in order to complete the degree. All students are subject to these limitations.
Students admitted without being awarded a TA-ship may fill out an additional form available in Room 390 once they are here. These forms are occasionally consulted by the department in case additional TA positions become available.
(2) Faculty in the department offer research assistantships, usually awarded to students who have already been in our program for one or more semesters. A student who wishes to apply for a research assistantiship should make arrangements directly with the professor who would be suppervising the work. The stipend for Research Assistants is in the same range as for Teaching Assitantships, plus tuition and health benefits. In some cases, summer support for Research Assistants is also available. The duties of a research assistant are determined by the professor in charge of the research project.
(3) A very small number of special fellowships are awarded every year. Some fellowships are available to students who are already enrolled and have been doing outstanding work. The applications of incoming students who will be full-time students and who request any kind of financial aid are automatically considered for any available fellowships. Some students hold fellowships that are not administered by department, but are given directly by government or industry. For information about fellowships not administered by the department, please consult the Graduate School Bulletin under Financial Aid. See also section 9 of this booklet.
In all three categories, letters of recommendation are required. The letters of recommendation required for admission will usually serve also as letters of recommendation for teaching assistantships. A person who wishes to be admitted must fill out the application obtained from the Graduate Admissions Office (see the first page of this booklet). A person applying for admission who is interested in obtaining a teaching assistantship should fill out the appropriate places on the admissions form. The completed form and all credentials should be sent to:
Office of Graduate and Professional Admissions
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
18 Bishop Place
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8530
All awards will be based on merit, including, when applicable, previous record in the Department of Computer Science at Rutgers.
Applications for admission with a request for any kind of financial aid are due on or before February 1, although awards are occasionally available at later dates. In all cases application should be made by letter and sent to the address above.
Warning! A student can register for as many as 15 credits without special permission. A student wishing to take more than 15 credits must first get a letter of approval from the Computer Science graduate director, and then take it to ask for special permission from the Graduate School (Barbara Pleva, ext. 7449). However, the Graduate School will discourage a student from taking more than 18 credits and will not allow, under any circumstances, a student to take more than 20 credits. A student who does not comply with this rule is likely to be deregistered by the Graduate School without prior notice.
In order to ensure that the students have good preparation in several of the basic fields of computer science, the department has specified two categories of courses:
Category A 509,510,513,514,521,522,524,As a ``breadth requirement'', each student must take at least two courses from each of categories A and B, and complete them with a grade of B or better.
527,529,538,540,556
Category B 505,507,515,516,519,520,523,528,530,531,
533,534,535,536,541,545,547,550,552,553
Note that this classification of courses is not set in concrete. The Graduate Committee may add and remove courses from this list, or change the placement of a course in this partition, as it deems necessary (for example, to respond to changes in course content or scheduling, or to incorporate new course offerings). Such changes will be posted in a timely fashion on both physical and electronic graduate student ``bulletin boards.''
Courses that are relevant to the graduate program in computer science may also be taken in the following Rutgers programs: Cognitive Science, Computer and Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering. Linguistics, Mathematics, Philosophy, Psychology, and Statistics. A list of relevant courses in some of these departments is given below in Section 6.3.
Students may also take courses of special interest to them at Princeton University (Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Philosophy), in accordance with a cooperative arrangement between Rutgers and Princeton (see section 8.2).
In addition to the 4 courses of the breadth requirement and the essay, the student must take:
In addition to the 4 courses of the breadth requirement and the thesis credits, the student must take:
To complete the MS degree, students must present 30 credits satisfying the requirements listed above, and yielding a B average.
There are several forms that must be filled out and submitted by the appropriate deadlines in order for the student who has fulfilled the above requirements to receive a Master's degree. (The approximate deadlines are listed in section 9.) It is the student's responsibility that all this paperwork be done on time. Information and forms can be obtained from the graduate secretary.
Incompletes: An incomplete grade (IN) is received when insufficient work has been handed in to the instructor in order to be assigned a regular grade. The student then has the choice of either making up the missing work within a year, and receiving a regular grade, or converting the IN to a permanent incomplete (PIN). A PIN cannot be made up. A student may make a formal request, in a letter, to extend an IN beyond a year if the faculty member who gave the IN agrees. In such a case, the faculty member must write a letter in support of the student request. Both letters should be sent to the Graduate School (c/o Barbara Bender) with copies for the graduate secretary. The Graduate School also has a rule on incompletes: you may not register if you have more than one incomplete that is not a PIN. In such situations, a student may request that an IN be converted to a PIN earlier; to do so, the student should contact the Graduate Secretary for the appropriate forms.
Students can be separated from the program if they receive more than one F, or more than four grades below B.
Students will also be terminated from the Program for violations of University Policy on Academic Integrity. (See the section on ``Policy on Academic Integrity--Summary'' in the catalog of the Graduate School-New Brunswick.) A few examples of cheating include: copying from or giving others assistance on an examination, unauthorized copying or collaboration on a programming assignment, quoting directly or paraphrasing without proper acknowledgement on a term paper, essay or thesis. Difference in cultural background regarding academic integrity will not be accepted as an excuse for violations. The Graduate School offers seminars and orientation on academic integrity, should anyone be in doubt about what behavior is expected in this matter.
The Graduate Program in Computer Science permits up to 6 credits of A's and B's to be transferred toward a M.S. degree. (The Graduate School is more lenient, permitting up to 12 transfer credits.) Note that transfer courses will not be accepted toward satisfying the breadth requirement of two course each in Category A and B.
Evaluation of transfer of credit is deferred until 12 credits have been received at Rutgers. The evaluation is done by the Graduate Committee. When the time comes to apply for credit transfer, the student should obtain the appropriate forms in Room 302. (Other details about the transfer process can be found in the Graduate School Catalogue under Degree Requirements--Transfer of Credit.)