Frequently Asked Questions

Applicants are required to have a B.S. degree from an accredited 4 year institution. Official transcripts must be sent. We are looking for students who have university-level coursework comparable to our undergraduate degree in Computer Science. The specific courses are listed here. Applicants are required to submit GRE general exam scores.

Even within the same country, grading schemes can vary, but in order to get credit for the required courses mentioned above, you need the equivalent of a B or better in a lecture course (as opposed to a laboratory course). For universities in India, this generally means at least a "1^st class" grade (usually 55% or better) as opposed to simply a passing grade (usually 40% or better). We do want to see students succeed and reserve the right to require higher grades if we find that students are not prepared for what we expect of them.

The standards for admission vary with how many applicants we receive. Generally, successful applicants should have over half of their Mathematics and Computer Science courses at a B- level or better. Because there is a limit to how many students we can take, we cannot accept all qualified students.

On your admission letter, you were notified of any admission prerequisites that you needed to complete as a condition of admission to the MS CS program. By enrolling at the university, you accepted these conditions for admission. That said, if an error was made in evaluating your transcripts or new information is available which would affect your set of admission prerequisites (for instance, transcripts for the last semester of your undergrad degree that were not submitted initially), you may see the graduate coordinator who will review them with you. Please note that, in the vast majority of cases, review does not result in a change in the set of required prerequisites.

Review of admission prerequisites may only be requested in your first semester of attendance at East Bay.

The department has a limited number of teaching and grader positions available. An announcement is sent out over email each semester to let students know when they can apply. Please contact the department office about these positions. Please note eligible students must have completed all their prerequisites, have a 3.0 GPA at East Bay and no academic dishonesty forms filed.

CS 692 is a course that summarizes the core of our program. It is offered in the Fall and Spring terms. Students take a sequence of 3 exams to demonstrate their understanding of the material. You must have completed all program prerequisites from your admissions letter, the 3 required courses in the master's program (CS 601, 611, 621) and meet the minimum unit total before taking CS 692. 

Yes, in all cases. You must satisfy the requirements listed on your admission documents in order to become a Classified Graduate student. You cannot take the capstone if you have not satisfied all of your prerequisites.

Unfortunately, no. The original grade will still appear on your transcript, and will be averaged with the new grade to compute your overall GPA. For example, if after receiving a C for CS 301 you retook the course and earned an A, your GPA calculation for the course will be 3.0 (a 2.0 for C and a 4.0 for B, divided by the two attempts).

As a graduate student, you are required to maintain at least a 3.0 average. If you fall below this number, you will be placed on academic probation. Students who have a GPA below 3.0 for 2 consecutive semesters are academically disqualified from the program.

Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to: copying part or all of an assignment done by another student, collaborating with another student unless the assignment is expressly designated as a collaborative assignment, cheating on exams, etc. Please see the university catalog if you are unsure of the definition

Students caught committing academic dishonesty once will lose the right to sign up for CPT or internship as well as teaching or grading positions and any scholarships or awards.