BS/MS in Computer Science
The joint BS/MS program is a well-integrated program that permits students to complete both a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in computer science in a reduced time frame with a reduced total number of credits.
Requirements
Completion of the joint BS/MS program requires a minimum of 145 semester hours, including a minimum of 33 semester hours of graduate study. All specific requirements for both the BS and the MS degrees must be met. Students in the joint program may apply up to twelve credits of graduate coursework to both the undergraduate and graduate degrees simultaneously. Students in the joint program may register for CSC 500 – Discrete Structures – which will satisfy the undergraduate Finite or Discrete Math requirement and will simultaneously be applied as a general graduate elective. Two graduate courses may be applied as undergraduate “Advanced” computer science electives. One or two other graduate courses (depending on whether students earned credit for CSC 500) may be applied as undergraduate unrestricted electives. Graduate bridge courses, other than CSC 500, may not be applied simultaneously to both degrees.
Status
A student enrolled in the joint program will be considered to remain in undergraduate status until the completion of 124 semester hours, and thereafter tuition and fees will be charged at the graduate level. The BS degree will be awarded at such time as all the requirements for that degree are satisfactorily met. Students are expected to complete their BS program requirements prior to pursuit of the MS degree except where those two programs overlap.
Academic Standing
Continued matriculation in the joint program requires maintenance of a GPA of 3.0 for courses taken at SUNY Poly in each of the following categories: (a) all courses applicable to the undergraduate degree; (b) computer science courses applicable to the undergraduate degree; (c) all graduate courses. Students with a GPA of less than 3.0 in any of these categories will be placed on academic probation in the program. Students who are on academic probation for any two semesters or who have a GPA of less than 2.50 in any of these categories will be academically dismissed from the joint program. Students who are academically dismissed but have not yet completed the baccalaureate program but whose performance constitutes satisfactory performance in the undergraduate program will automatically be placed in that program.
Admission to the BS/MS Program
Admission to the BS/MS program may be achieved, and enrollment maintained, in one of the following ways:
- As an entering freshman; continued enrollment in the joint program requires achievement of grades of B or better in CS 108, CS 240, CS 249, MAT 115 (or MAT 413), and a mathematics elective (calculus, linear algebra, or statistics). In addition, students must have an overall GPA of at least 3.0 at the end of the semester in which the first 60 credits have been completed.
- Upon initial transfer to SUNY Poly; students must have earned grades of B or better in CS 108, CS 240, CS 249, MAT 115 (or MAT 413), and in a mathematics elective (or in their transfer equivalents), and must have a transfer GPA of at least 3.0.
- Subsequent to initial enrollment at SUNY Poly; students must receive grades of B or better in those courses (or their transfer equivalents) listed in A) and B) above, have an overall GPA of at least 3.0 for all courses taken at SUNY Poly, and have a GPA of at least 3.2 for courses in their major.Students entering the joint BS/MS program must not have completed more than 94 credit hours toward their Bachelor’s degree, and must be able to complete all requirements for the Bachelor’s degree within the first 124 semester hours earned.
Under special circumstances students not meeting the above requirements may be admitted at the discretion of the department.