MS Advising FAQs

International students on a student visa are required to take 9 credits during every semester until their last when they can enroll in one. 

The department does not recommend taking 12 credits. Students need to request permission from the Academic Programs office. 

The Manning College of Computer and Information Sciences has one or two courses available each summer.  Keep in mind that you can take courses outside of the department that can count towards your Computer Science MS. 

If you are an international on-campus MS student and it is your LAST SEMESTER, you CANNOT TAKE ONLY ONLINE courses during any term.

Yes, you can take graduate-level classes outside of computer science. Here is a list of the pre-approved non-CS classes .   

Seminar courses that are 600 level or higher do fulfill the 600 level requirement for MS students. 

Yes! If you take a 600-level class in another department or college at UMass, as long as it is pre-approved or you were granted approval, it will count toward the 600-level classes you need for your MS degree. 

If you are an international student who is part of the on-campus/residential MS program (you are in the US on a student visa), taking 9 credits, you can only take ONE ONLINE course each semester.  If you are an international student in the online MS program, you can take as many online courses as you wish.  If you are a domestic student both in the US and outside the US, you can take as many online courses as you wish.

If you are an international student, on a student visa, taking 12 credits in one semester, or 4 classes, TWO can be online classes. This is because you are going over, above, and exceeding your required classes per semester, which is 9 credits. 

If you are an international student who is part of the on-campus/residential MS program (you are in the US on a student visa), and it is your LAST SEMESTER, you CANNOT TAKE ONLY ONLINE nor only independent study style (any course ending in 96 is an independent study) courses.  This rule applies to winter and summer courses as wel

No, not all online classes are UWW classes, and not all UWW classes are online. 

If a course is online it will NOT have a classroom listed on Spire. TBA is not a classroom, nor is remote learning. A course needs to have a classroom listed for it to be in-person.

Yes, you can audit a class. When you audit a class you will be able to sit in on the class, participate, have access to the online materials, but you will NOT EARN CREDIT for the class. The class will be billed at the full tuition rate. Instructions on how to audit a class can be found on the Graduate Student Registration page.  

Please Note:  Once you've enrolled in a course as an audit, you can't change back to a letter grade.

Unfortunately, no. That policy is only for undergraduates. You do need to have a 3.0 GPA to graduate with an MS, but keep in mind this is a 3.0 across all of the 30 credits you are using to graduate. The F will always be present on your transcript. 

You can drop a class after the add/drop period, however, doing so will result in having a DR (for dropped) on your transcript. You must complete the Graduate School Late Add/Drop form.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN THE ON-CAMPUS MS PROGRAM- You must be enrolled in 9 credits every semester except for your final semester. Therefore, if you are an international student, you cannot drop a class if that would bring your enrollment down to less than 9 credits. The only exceptions to this are explained  on the IPO website- https://www.umass.edu/ipo/iss/exceptionsftenrollment. Read these carefully and consult with IPO if you believe they apply to you. 

CICS has an office dedicated to supporting graduate students in the job search process! CICS Careers can help every part of the job and internship process. CICS Careers can assist with resume review, interview preparation, negotiating offers, and finding positions. 

It can be difficult to meet the requirements to do a CPT during the semester.  The only way to hold CPT during the Fall semester WITHOUT the Field Experience Concentration, is laid out below:  (without the Field Experience Concentration international students can only do 20 hours of CPT for a MAX of 20 hours a week during an academic semester)

1. You must be full-time (9 credits), in the US, and in the residential MS program
2. You can only take one course per semester that doesn't require your physical presence
3. You must take at least one course that requires your physical presence at UMass Amherst and independent studies are not considered needed a physical presence
4. In your last semester, you don't have to follow rule #1, but you still have to meet requirements #2 and #3.
5. You cannot delay your graduation.
   1. You cannot even APPEAR to delay graduation. 
   2. You cannot do CPT in your final semester if you have already earned 30 credits/completed the MS requirements before the final semester.

So....if you are in your last semester in the Spring and think that you can take 696 remotely and work at Amazon in Seattle, you can't. If you have no courses left to take, you can't do a CPT because of rule #5. You can work from Amherst remotely or at a local company, as long as the work is 20 hours a week or less.  All of this is for your benefit to make sure you don't run into serious problems in the future.

Yes, international students who are part of the Field Experience Concentration can carry out CPT for more 20 hours a week or more. If students ARE NOT in the Field Experience Concentration, they max number of weekly CPT hours students can hold are 20 hours or less.  20 hours or more of CPT during the Fall or Spring semester is only allowable if the following criteria have been completed:

1.  Student has passed or will pass BOTH the AI and Systems Courses required for the Field Experience Concentration before the CPT starts,
2.  Student will have been in the US, on a student visa, for at least one whole semester before the CPT starts,  
3. AND Student has completed the Field Experience Concentration pre-application, before the CPT is approved. 

When an international MS students are carrying out full-time CPT during an academic semester, as part of the field experience concentration, the student is not required to enroll in any courses except the required 1-credit required CPT class. Students are able to take no classes, one class, or two classes while carrying out full-time CPT.  These courses do not need to be in-person, nor do they have to be within computer science.

Yes, international MS students are carrying out full-time CPT during an academic semester, as part of the field experience concentration, are considered full-time students even if the student is enrolled in only the required 1-credit required CPT class. 

CPT is available to MS students enrolled in the residential MS program after completion of one full-time semester in the US via the Field Experience Concentration. If students ARE NOT a part of the Field Experience Concentration, CPT is available after two full-time semesters in the US. 

You can find those directions on the CPT Process for Internships page.

No, you cannot have two concentrations with your MS degree.

Every professor is different. Start by identifying an area that you want to do research in, then see if you can find faculty members or Ph.D. students to speak with. Some will offer independent studies to MS students, some don't.  Some have zero MS students they work with, some have 20.  Some will want to see you get an A in their course before doing research with them, some do not require you to take their course.  It is truly an individual experience, but generally, you will have to take the initiative to find research opportunities. You also may be able to work with Ph.D. students in their labs, too!

No, COMPSCI 701 is not counted as an independent study. It is seen as a 600-level or higher course. 

You should take 701Y (Y for year-long) which carries three credits in each of two semesters. You will receive a "Y" for the first 3 credits, and then you will receive a letter grade after all 6 credits are complete.  This does not affect your credit requirements for Visas.  

Admissions for the Ph.D. are separate so you will have to apply to that program. Keep in mind that the CICS Ph.D. program is even more competitive than the MS program. The thing that will really put your application over the top is to have a CICS faculty member say that you should be admitted to the Ph.D. program because they want to work with you. Approximately, 2-3 MS students are accepted into the Ph.D. program every year.

Yes, all courses that end in X69 are independent studies, including CS 696DS. 

If you are an international student on a studentv visa, in your final semester, you cannot take an independent study, including, CS 696DS as your only class. You will need to enroll in another class, even just a 1 credit class, inside our outside of CS, that meets in person, on the UMass campus. 

Students not on a student visa, can take an only an independent study in their final semester. 

MS in CS students are limited to 6 credits of SAT and or independent studies. With this in mind, a student who takes no classes with SAT grades can take 6 credits of independent studies. A student who takes one independent study, can take one class with an SAT grade. 

The grade of Satisfactory (SAT) may be assigned as an alternative to a letter grade. Students should check with their instructor at the beginning of the semester regarding the instructor's policy about pass/fail grades. The grade of "SAT" is equivalent to "Passing for Graduate Credit", which requires an underlying letter grade of C or higher.  Students do earn credit for classes where an SAT is earned. 

Unsatisfactory grades are F grades. UNSAT does not appear as the grade, but rather an F does. 

Students should ask each professor for each course about if the professors offers SAT grading and what the deadlines for requesting SAT are. Some professors will set a deadline of the middle of the semester, others will have later or earlier deadlines. SAT grades must be requested during the semester, not after. 

SAT grades are binding. They are not reversible. 

SAT grades do not fulfill a core requirement. 

SAT grading is acceptable for a 600-level class. A 600-level class where an SAT is earned will count towards your MS degree and the 600-level requirements.

SAT grades are a C grade or higher. Therefore, classes were an SAT is earned cannot count as a core class. Core classes are required to have a B or higher grade.

MS in CS students are limited to 6 credits of SAT and or independent studies. With this in mind, a student who takes no independent studies can take 6 credits of SAT grading. A student who takes one independent study, can take one class with an SAT grade. 

Unfortunately, no. MS students who retake a class they failed do not replace the F grade. The F is always on the transcript and it is always factored into the GPA on the transcript. 

Classes were F's are earned cannot count towards your MS, as no credit is earned. 

When MS students apply to graduate they list the ten classes they took that complete the MS. The F grade would not be included. MS students can save this graduation application and calculate their MS degree GPA according to the courses on that form. 

Unfortunately, no. MS in CS students cannot do part time CPT in their final semester. This is hard rule and does not change due to a student's concentration. 

Part time CPT is allowed, 20 hours a week or less.  However, students must be enrolled in in-person classes, and CPT must be filed and approved before the end of the add/drop period.