Combined Bachelors and Masters Programs in Computer Science The Computer Science Department has offered BA/MS and BS/MS degrees (simply Bx/MS, hereafter) for students who are majoring in Computer Science and have an interest in research for the last four year. We have decided to expand this program to include a professionally-oriented option for CS majors and a professionally-oriented option for non-cs majors. We have also revised the requirements for the research-oriented option to allow students to have more time to focus on research. This document describes these three options along with the process for applying to the program for the 2017-18 academic year. Option 1: Research-oriented CS majors Option 1 is designed for CS majors who are interested in research. Students pursuing a Bx with a Computer Science major currently have to take at least fourteen courses chosen from an approved program, 1 while obtaining an MS requires taking nine courses. The research-oriented option requires students to take a total of 21 courses: 12 which count only towards the Bx degree, seven of which count only towards the MS, and two which count towards both the Bx and MS degrees. The required courses for Option 1 are: Discrete Mathematics (CMSC 27100, CMSC 27130, or CMSC 37100) Algorithms (CMSC 27200, CMSC 27230 or CMSC 37000) Systems Core Course (See Table 1) Machine Learning (CMSC 25400, CMSC 35400, or TTIC 31020) Research Practicum (Autumn) Research Practicum (Winter) 1 See http://collegecatalog.uchicago.edu/thecollege/computerscience/ for the exact requirements of the CS major.
At most two courses can be drawn from the CMSC 2xx list and at most two courses can be counted towards both a student s CS major and MS degree. Students taking this option are required to take their electives from the department s CMSC 3xx offerings and selected TTIC offerings (See Tables 2, 3, and 4). Students in this option are required to complete a master s project, write a report describing the project, and give a public presentation. Master s projects are over seen a faculty member and evaluated by a committee of three faculty members, including the student s project advisor. The two required practicums are intended to help students get started on their projects early in their fourth year and to complete their projects in a timely fashion. Option 2: Professionally-oriented CS majors Option 2 is designed for CS majors who are seeking the opportunity to build upon their foundational skills and take some industry-oriented electives. As with Option 1, CS majors who are pursuing a joint Bx/MS are required to take a total of 21 courses: 12 which count only towards the Bx degree, seven of which count only towards the MS, and two which count towards both the Bx and MS degrees. Here is a list of the required courses for Option 2: Discrete Mathematics (CMSC 27100, CMSC 27130 or CMSC 37100) Algorithms (CMSC 27200, CMSC 27230, or CMSC 37000) Systems Core Course (See Table 1) Systems Core Course
At most two courses can be drawn from the department s CMSC 2xx offerings and at most two courses can be counted towards both a student s CS major and MS degree. Students in this option can take electives from the department s CMSC 3xx and MPCS 5xx offerings and selected TTIC offerings (See Tables 2, 3, and 4). With prior approval, students in this option are allowed to take up to one course from a UChicago graduate program outside of the CS department. Option 3: Professionally-oriented non-cs majors Option 3 is designed for students who are not CS majors and wish to combine a professionally-oriented MS in Computer Science with their undergraduate major. Students in this option are expected to complete nine courses, two of which can be also counted as electives towards a student s BA or BS. Discrete Mathematics (CMSC 27100, CMSC 27130, CMSC 37100, or MPCS 50103) or Core Programming (MPCS 51036, MPCS 51040 or MPCS 51100) Algorithms (CMSC 27200, CMSC 27230, CMSC 37000, or MPCS 55001) Systems Core Course (See Table 1) Systems Core Course Systems Core Course At most two courses can drawn from the department s CMSC 2xx offerings and at most two courses can be counted towards both a student s Bx and MS degrees. Students in the option are allowed to take electives from the department s CMSC 2xx, CMSC 3xx and MPCS 5xx offerings or selected TTIC offerings (See Tables 2, 3, and 4). With prior approval, students in this option are
allowed take up to one course from a UChicago graduate program outside of the CS department. Students who apply to this program must have completed one of CMSC 12100, CMSC 15100 or CMSC 16100 and either one of CMSC 12200, CMSC 15200 or CMSC 16200 or one of CMSC 27100, CMSC 27130 or CMSC 37110. Students who have completed CMSC 12200, CMSC 15200 or CMSC 16200 are required to complete Discrete Mathematics as part of their nine required courses. Students who have completed undergraduate or graduate Discrete Mathematics, but not one of CMSC 12200, CMSC 15200 or CMSC 16200, are required to take an MPCS core programming class (MPCS 51036, MPCS 51040 or MPCS 51100) instead of Discrete Mathematics. Admissions requirements Students must apply to the joint program, and be selected by a departmental committee. Prior to applying interested candidates must meet with their major advisor (Dr. Diana Franklin for CS majors), Dr. Borja Sotomayor, the CS department Bx/MS advisor, and Pete Segall, the College Bx/MS advisor. (For an appointment call the College Adviser s Reception Desk at 702-8615.) To be considered for the program, students must have earned a 3.5 average overall and completed: one of CMSC 12100, CMSC 15100, or CMSC 16100 and one of CMSC 12200, CMSC 15200, or CMSC 16200 with at least a B+ average or one of CMSC 12100, CMSC 15100, or CMSC 16100 and one of CMSC 27100, CMSC 27130, or CMSC 37110 with at least a B+ average. Also, students must have finished or nearly finished the Core requirements for their Bx degree. Applicants cannot have more than one or two Core courses left to complete in their fourth year. Third year students interested in entering the program for the 2017-18 academic year should submit the following to Karin Czaplewski (karin at cs dot uchicago dot edu) by email: a transcript,
a resume, a completed Bx/MS checklist, a completed Degree Program form obtained from Pete Segall, and a personal statement. Also, students must have two letters of recommendation, at least one of which must be from an instructor in a CS course, submitted by email to Ms. Czaplewski on their behalf. Each recommendation letter must include a scanned signed waiver form. The waiver forms may be scanned and sent with the letter or to Ms. Czaplewski directly. All application materials are due no later than Friday, March 24th at 5pm. Students interested in Option 1 should use their personal statements to describe either a specific project or the kinds of projects that would be of interest and to identify specific faculty as potential Bx/MS advisors. Students interested in Options 2 and 3 should use their personal statements to describe their career goals and explain how participating in this program will help them meet their goals. When completing the checklist, please include any courses you have taken and intend to use towards the degree along with the grade you received, any such courses that you are currently taking, and, to the best of your ability, a proposed course plan for next year. You may assume that the core courses will be offered in the same quarters as this year. We will not know which electives will be offered before the application deadline, so you may have to leave that section blank. Advising Diana Franklin is responsible for course advising and approval of degree programs for CS majors. Borja Sotomayor is responsible for approving degree programs of non-cs majors.
Table 1: Systems Core Courses Course Course Eligible Number Title Options CMSC 23000 Operating Systems 1, 2, 3 CMSC 23700 Introduction to Computer Graphics 1, 2, 3 CMSC 22200/32200 Computer Architecture 1, 2, 3 CMSC 32630 Advanced Implementation of Computer Languages 1, 2, 3 CMSC 33100 Advanced Operating Systems 1, 2, 3 CMSC 23300/33300 Networks & Distributed Systems 1, 2, 3 CMSC 33520 Data Intensive Systems 1, 2, 3 CMSC 23500/33550 Introduction to Databases 1, 2, 3 CMSC 23710/33710 Scientific Visualization 1, 2, 3 MPCS 52011 Introduction to Computer Systems 3 MPCS 52030 Operating Systems 3 MPCS 52010 Computer Architecture 3 MPCS 54001 Networks 3 MPCS 51300 Compilers 2, 3 MPCS 52040 Distributed Systems 2, 3 MPCS 53001 Databases 2, 3
Table 2: Approved Electives for Autumn 2016 Course Course Eligible Number Title Options CMSC 31150 Mathematical Toolkit 1, 2, 3 CMSC 33001 Topics in Systems: 1, 2, 3 Intermittent Computing: Desktops to the Cloud CMSC 33250 Introduction to Computer Security 1, 2, 3 CMSC 37810 Mathematical Computation I: Matrix Computation 1, 2, 3 CMSC 38815 Geometric Complexity 1, 2, 3 CMSC 39600 Topics in Theoretical Computer Science: 1, 2, 3 Analysis and Approximation of Boolean Functions MPCS 51200 Introduction to Software Engineering 2, 3 MPCS 51205 Topics in Software Engineering 2, 3 MPCS 53013 Big Data 2, 3 MPCS 53112 Advanced Data Analytics 2, 3 MPCS 56420 Bioinformatics for Computer Scientists 2, 3 SOCI 20253 Introduction to Spatial Data Science 1, 2, 3 TTIC 31120 Statistical and Computational Learning Theory 1, 2, 3
Table 3: Approved Electives for Winter 2017 Course Course Eligible Number Title Options CMSC 33251 Topics in Computer Security: 1, 2, 3 Cloud & Distributed Systems Security CMSC 33400 Mobile Computing 1, 2, 3 CMSC 38500 Computability and Complexity Theory 1, 2, 3 CMSC 39010 Computational and Metric Geometry 1, 2, 3 MPCS 51030 ios Application Development 2, 3 MPCS 51044 C++ for Advanced Programmers 2, 3 MPCS 51081 UNIX Systems Programming 2, 3 MPCS 51087 High Performance Computing 2, 3 MPCS 51200 Introduction to Software Engineering 2, 3 MPCS 51220 Applied Software Engineering 2, 3 MPCS 51250 Entrepreneurship in Technology 2, 3 MPCS 53110 Foundations of Computational Data Analysis 2, 3 TTIC 31040 Neural Networks for Computer Vision 1, 2, 3 TTIC 31050 Introduction to Bioinformatics 1, 2, 3 and Computational Biology
Table 4: Approved Electives for Spring 2017 Course Course Eligible Number Title Options CMSC 32001 Topics in Programming Languages: TBD 1, 2, 3 CMSC 33001 Topics in Systems: Methods for the 1, 2, 3 secure analysis of sensitive data CMSC 33210 Usable Security and Privacy 1, 2, 3 CMSC 33520 Data Intensive Computing Systems 1, 2, 3 CMSC 38700 Complexity Theory B 1, 2, 3 MPCS 56515 Computer and Network Security 2, 3 MPCS 51032 Advanced ios 2, 3 MPCS 51045 Advanced C++ 2, 3 MPCS 58001 Numerical Methods 2, 3 MPCS 51083 Cloud Computing 2, 3 MPCS 53111 Machine Learning 2, 3 MPCS 5xxxx Applied Data Analysis 2, 3 MPCS 52553 Web Development 2, 3 MPCS 51050 Object-Oriented Architectures: 2, 3 Patterns, Technologies, & Implementation MPCS 51031 Android App Development 2, 3 TTIC 31170 Planning, Learning, and Estimation 1, 2, 3 for Robotics and Artificial Intelligence TTIC 31210 Advanced Natural Language Processing 1, 2, 3 TTIC 31220 Unsupervised Learning and 1, 2, 3 Large-Scale Data Analysis
Table 5: Sample Schedule: Option 1 - systems-heavy Taken Type Course Number Course Name 2nd or 3rd year Theory Core CMSC 27100 Discrete Mathematics 2nd or 3rd year Theory Core CMSC 27200 Algorithms Fall Practicum Research Practicum Fall System Core CMSC 32200 Computer Architecture Fall Elective CMSC 33001 Topics in Systems - Intermittent Computing: Desktops to the Cloud Winter Practicum Research Practicum Winter Elective CMSC 33000 Advanced Operating Systems Spring Elective CMSC 33520 Data Intensive Computing Systems Spring ML Core CMSC 35400 Machine Learning Table 6: Sample Schedule: Option 1 - theory-heavy Quarter Type Course Name Course Name 2nd or 3rd year Theory Core CMSC 37110 Discrete Mathematics 2nd or 3rd year Theory Core CMSC 37000 Algorithms Fall Practicum Research Practicum Fall Systems Core CMSC 23000 Operating Systems Fall Elective CMSC 39600 Topics in Theoretical Computer Science: Analysis and Approximation of Boolean Functions Winter Practicum Research Practicum Winter Elective CMSC 38500 Computability & Complexity Spring ML Core CMSC 35400 Machine Learning Spring Elective CMSC 38700 Complexity Theory B
Table 7: Sample schedule: Option 2 Taken Type Course Number Course Name 2nd or 3rd year Theory Core CMSC 27100 Discrete Mathematics 2nd or 3rd year Theory Core CMSC 27200 Algorithms Fall Systems Core CMSC 33200 Introduction to Computer Security Fall Elective MPCS 51200 Introduction to Software Engineering Fall Elective MPCS 53013 Big Data Winter Systems Core CMSC 33000 Advanced Operating Systems Winter Elective MPCS 51030 ios Application Development Spring Elective MPCS 51032 Advanced ios Spring Elective MPCS 51083 Cloud Computing Table 8: Sample schedule: Option 3 #1 Taken Type Course Number Course Name 2nd or 3rd year Theory Core CMSC 27100 Discrete Mathematics 2nd or 3rd year Theory Core CMSC 27200 Algorithms Fall Systems Core MPCS 52011 Introduction to Computer Systems Fall Elective MPCS 51200 Introduction to Software Engineering Fall Systems Core MPCS 53001 Databases Winter Systems Core MPCS 54001 Networks Winter Elective MPCS 53110 Foundations of Computational Data Analysis Spring Elective MPCS 53111 Machine Learning Spring Elective MPCS 52553 Web Development
Table 9: Sample schedule: Option 3 #2 Taken Type Course Number Course Name Fall Theory Core CMSC 27100 Discrete Mathematics Fall Systems Core MPCS 52011 Introduction to Computer Systems Fall Elective MPCS 51200 Introduction to Software Engineering Winter Theory Core CMSC 27200 Algorithms Winter Systems Core MPCS 54001 Networks Winter Elective MPCS 53110 Foundations of Computational Data Analysis Spring Systems Core MPCS 53001 Databases Spring Elective MPCS 53111 Machine Learning Spring Elective MPCS 52553 Web Development