Welcome New Master's Students!

Today, we will discuss some topics you need to be aware of about the CS Graduate Program:

Advisors

This semester we have two Graduate Advisors: Dr. Stamp and Dr. Khuri.
Your advisor depends on the last two digits of your ID.
Besides general advice, one common reason to see your advisor early is with regards to course equivalents for classes you have already taken elsewhere.
If this applies to you, the work flow to get your units counted is to work with your advisor to fill in the equivalency form, then submit the form to the office, after which I get to do a final approval check.
Remember you can transfer at most six units! And only from classes you have taken in the last seven years!

As I understand it, you can enroll for three courses via the initial phone enrollment before the semester begins.
This will typically leave one more class that you need to enroll in.
Make sure to do this as quickly as possible: it will solidify your status in the grad program; some classes may be hard to get into if you wait too long; others, with low enrollment, might be cancelled if the official enrollment is too low.
Do not play chicken with paying your fees at the last minute. You might end up with all your classes dropped and a paperwork nightmare to re-add them!

To get a Master's in Computer Science at SJSU you need to meet the following course requirements:

Pass the Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement by either passing: CS100w, CS200w, or having a paper on which you are sole author published in a respectable journal or conference. i.e., refereed and with decent writing standards, not a paper mill.
Six CS Graduate Option courses from at least three (could be more) of the following subject areas: Foundations, Architecture, Systems Software, Software Engineering, Specialty, Topics.
Two elective courses from the list of approved elective courses or from a CS185/CS285 course depending on the topic. For the latter, you should get it in writing from the graduate coordinator before assuming it counts.
Complete CS297 and CS298 (Writing Project) or CS297 and CS299 (Thesis).

The typical way to pass the Graduate Writing Assessment requirement is to take either CS100w or CS200w.

You should try to get this out of the way early, so you can get started on your writing project.
CS100w requires that you pass the writing skill test (WST) before you take it.
CS200w does not have this requirement.

If your total GPA is less than 3.0, you will end up on academic probation.
You can score less than 3.0 (a B) on a course and not be on probation. However, you cannot use any course whose grade was less than or equal to a C- towards graduation.
Being on probation means you cannot graduate until your off probation.
It also means you will be disqualified from the MSCS program if your GPA is not above 3.0 in the next semester.
More information on this can be found on the MSCS FAQ.

To finish your master's degree you need to complete one of two culminating experiences:

A writing project course sequence CS297/CS298 and successful defense.
A thesis course sequence CS297/CS299 and successful defense.
The latter of the two course sequences has stricter requirements and a faster timeline.
For a thesis the writing is checked by the English department in addition to by your thesis advisor and committee.
For both a writing project and a thesis, you need to find a project advisor (to take 297 and 298 or 299 from) and two committee members (this should be done by CS298).
You should try (this is a suggestion not a requirement) to take a course from the person who you want as your advisor before starting work under that person.
You will probably have a better project experience if you choose an advisor that doesn't have too many students.
Usually, it is the advisor that comes up with project suggestion in consultation with what the student is interested in.