Accelerated (5-year) B.S./M.S. Program
An undergraduate Computer Science Major at Stony Brook can apply to the Accelerate B.S./M.S. Program (also called "5-year program") in their junior year. The main benefits of the program are:
- It allows students to take two graduate courses in their undergraduate years and count them towards both the undergraduate and the graduate degrees. As a result, students can complete both degrees within 5 years.
- The application process is less cumbersome than the M.S. admission process, which requires filling out a much longer application form and taking GRE exams.
Admission into the program needs to be approved Computer Science Graduate Admissions Committee, and is competitive. (Note: Applicants that are in good standing in the Computer Science Honors program are expected to be admitted.)
- Eligibility A CSE major at Stony Brook that has completed at least three upper-division CS courses, and has an overall GPA of at least 3.25.
- Forms and Deadlines
- Application for admission to the Accelerated program: June 15 (Fall admission) and January 3 (Spring admission).
- Petition for undergraduate students to take graduate courses: Second day of classes in the semester in which the course is being taken
- Application to enter Graduate School: April 15 (for students completing their B.S. requirements in May or August) and November 15 (for students completing in Fall).
Description of the B.S./M.S. Program
Please read the entire description below carefully, so that you can avoid costly mistakes. In particular, note that a B.S./M.S. student remains an undergraduate student until the bachelor's degree requirements are completed.
- As an undergraduate, they need permission from the Graduate School in order to take graduate courses that will count towards both B.S. and M.S. (See item 3 below.)
- Before completing undergraduate requirements, they need to apply to enter the Graduate School. (See item 5 below.)
Students that don't follow these two steps will be terminated from the Accelerated program; if they want to enter the M.S. program, they will need to apply for admission to the M.S. program as described here.
- Admission to the Accelerated Degree program
Computer science majors may apply for admission to a special program that leads to a Bachelor of Science degree at the end of the fourth year and a Master of Science degree at the end of the fifth year. Students are encouraged to apply to this five-year program at the end of their junior year, though applications may be submitted up to one full semester before graduation, subject to the requirements below.
Application forms should be accompanied by the most recent transcript: For Spring admission, include grades for the preceding Fall; for Fall admission, include the grades for preceding Spring. In addition, include a resume and a statement of purpose, and arrange for two to three recommendation letters to be sent directly. All application materials should be sent to the Computer Science undergraduate secretary.
Applications are reviewed, and must be approved, by the Computer Science Graduate Admissions Committee. To be considered, applicants must have completed at least three upper-division computer science courses at Stony Brook and have a grade point average of 3.25 or higher, both overall and in computer science courses. In the past, most successful applicants have had A's and B's in most upper division computer science courses. Applicants interested in a graduate degree that do not meet these criteria are encouraged to apply to the M.S. program rather than the B.S./M.S. program.
- Selection of undergraduate courses
Students must satisfy the requirements for both the Bachelor's and the Master's degree. Before finalizing their selection of undergraduate computer science courses, students should read the Graduate Student Handbook which describes the requirements of the M.S. program. In particular, students should review the proficiency requirements for the M.S. degree, and ensure that they will be able to complete as many of them during their undergraduate degree as possible. Ideally, students would leave at most one proficiency area to be covered during their M.S. program. A student that has more than two unsatisfied proficiencies at the end of the B.S. program may have difficulty completing the M.S. degree requirements in a single year.
- Taking graduate courses
An advantage of the joint program is that students may take up to six credits of graduate courses as undergraduates. These credits can be counted towards the undergraduate as well as the graduate degree. Student must take a minimum of three credits of graduate courses in order to be able to proceed to the M.S. program. Student who fail to take any graduate course credits will be terminated from the B.S./M.S. program.
A B.S./M.S. student registering for a graduate course while being an undergraduate needs to petition the Graduate School for approval. See the relevant forms and deadlines earlier in the page. This requirement cannot be waived, nor is it possible to accept late petitions.
- Completion of the undergraduate degree
Students must satisfy all the applicable degree requirements. Up to two graduate computer science courses may be substituted for upper-division computer science electives. Each elective requires three credits and a grade of C or higher. Students who have completed one of the following courses, CSE 504, 506, or 532, with a grade of B or higher also qualify for a waiver of the undergraduate software engineering requirement, CSE 308.
Students must file for the bachelor's degree before the applicable deadlines and indicate on the application for the degree that they are in a five-year program. The undergraduate degree must be awarded before a student enters the graduate program to complete their M.S. degree.
- Admission to the Graduate School
Admission to the five-year program constitutes provisional acceptance to graduate study pending the award of the undergraduate degree. It is still necessary to fill out and submit this 1-page application form several weeks before the completion of B.S. degree requirements. (See deadlines posted above for exact dates.)
- Completion of the graduate degree
A master's degree requires thirty one graduate credits. Thus, students who have completed six credits as undergraduates may complete their graduate studies in two semesters of full-time enrollment: 12 graduate credits in one semester and 13 in the other semester. (However, there is no requirement that students should complete their M.S. degree requirements within one year.) A master's degree may be awarded when all applicable requirements have been met. On the degree application it should be clearly indicated that the student is in the B.S./M.S. program.