4+1 (COMBINED B.S./M.S) PROGRAM
Are you interested in doing a Master? The 4+1 Program might be for you.
The principal advantage is to reduce considerably the amount of time to obtain the Master’s degree.
Do you have to do the Master in one year? No. It’s a short path, but you can take 1 class per semester and finish your degree in 5 years. Your company can finance it.
To complete the work for both degrees within five (4+1) years, students must make a commitment to the B.S. Eng. / M.S. Eng. program before the end of their junior year and must take two 5000-level graduate courses as their technical electives in their senior year. If the grades in these courses are “B” or better, they will count toward the M.S. Eng., as well as the B.S. Eng. degrees.
You can transfer 12 credits from BS to MS, but only 6 credits can double count.
Basically, you need a 3.0 GPA and the recommendation from a Faculty. You can apply here.
For any question, please contact the Department or Prof. Therrien directly.
Only 30 credits, with or without the Thesis Research
The objective of the core requirement is to guarantee broad analytical strength for the MS Engineering students. Please visit the official webpage.
Required Core Courses for MS in Electrical Engineering (choose 3 courses)
Required Core Courses for MS in Computer Engineering (choose 3 courses)
Technical electives are any 5XXX or higher course offered by the ECE department. Grad level courses outside of ECE may be taken with prior approval from Prof. Therrien. It is worthwhile considering this if a course will benefit you in building a portfolio.
Changing between EE and CpE majors at the master’s level is done through an academic petition. You do not need to reapply. But, remember that the required core courses will be different. You still are required to complete three of them.
I do not recommend students retake a course they took as an undergraduate. At UML courses that are 4xxx/5xxx combined do not typically differ in the material covered, just the level of difficulty of the coursework. You should not need to spend money to retake a class that you are already familiar with. If this cuts into the possible core courses that you are able to take, talk with Prof. Therrien to work out an alternate arrangement.
Concentrations do not formally exist, despite certain websites suggesting otherwise, and they do not show up on your degree. The courses listed are suggested for students wishing to specialize in the defined areas. Although a scattershot approach to subject selection in the master’s program is inadvisable, there can be benefits from drawing course selections from two concentrations.
It is the position of the department that 4XXX level courses will not be accepted for transfer. The student must petition to have the course re-designated as a 5XXX level prior to requesting it be transferred. Be aware that it is at the sole discretion of the instructor of the course whether or not to allow that re-designation and if it is allowed, the petition will be scrutinized at the department and dean’s levels.
You are allowed to count two courses with passing grades of B- or lower towards your degree. If you have more than that you will have to petition to have the courses not counted. The first course will be allowed through an academic petition. Any additional courses will require approval by the associate dean for graduate studies and possibly by the Graduate Policies and Affairs Committee (GPAC).
If you are in the US on a student visa, you are required to be enrolled in a minimum of nine credits during the semester. Often students find that they have less than nine credits remaining to complete their degree. There is a one-time allowance in the last semester to take a reduced courseload. You will need to contact ISSO to request this reduced courseload. If you are doing a thesis, your thesis advisor will need to sign off on the request otherwise I will be the one signing off on it. ISSO will prepare the form and make contact with either your thesis advisor or Prof. Therrien; you only need to let ISSO know who to contact.
If you are in your last semester you will need to fill out and submit a Declaration of Intent to Graduate (DIG) form to Prof. Therrien. He will not sign off on a DIG prior to the student being in their last semester. The only exception are students who are anticipated to graduate in the summer and wish to participate in commencement.
You need three core courses in order to graduate. Exceptions to the listed core courses must be approved by Prof. Therrien prior to taking the course.