Frequently Asked Questions

Q: I sent an email to grad advising some time ago and never heard back. What's up?

A: Unfortunately emails tend to get lost in grad advising's inbox. The best way to talk to grad advising is to make an appointment on Calendly, which is linked in the CS Advising Linktree

Q: When is my pass time for fall? When should I enroll?

A: Usually June. You can check your pass times for each quarter in GOLD under "Registration".

Q: Are spots reserved in classes for incoming students? Most classes are waitlisted already!

A: No spots are reserved for incoming students. However, we have a culture of waitlisting. This is because you must be enrolled in 12 units in order to waitlist a class, so this forces students to enroll in classes they may not want to take to get onto the waitlist of the class they want. If you want the class, waitlist it and (barring a few very popular classes) it's likely you'll get in.

Q: What classes should I take?

A: CS501 is the only required seminar for PhD students in fall (and any MS student who wants to TA), and anyone who will TA also needs to go to TA orientation in fall of their first year. Anything else is your pick as long as you're fulfilling your study plan (refer to the grad student handbook for more details). You are required to enroll in 12 units per quarter (including TAing units and research units), so students generally take 2 classes per quarter (usually 4 units each). This is because the absolute minimum to complete per quarter is 8 units, so if you have to drop a class at the end of the quarter (grad students can drop classes until the last week of instruction ends), you'll be able to without jeopardizing your degree. It's expected for PhD students to complete their coursework and their TA requirement ASAP (within the first two years), and PhD students must also complete 595N in their first year (usually offered in Winter).

Q: Are there prerequisites for any classes?

A: Only if specified. You are free to take any computer science courses, but if you want to take any courses outside of the department, you will likely need approval from the department. If you have no background in a subject, you're expected to do any extra work necessary to complete your assignments, and you can choose to enroll in undergraduate courses to fill in any gaps you may have.

Q: I'm an MS student and I haven't been assigned an advisor yet. Is this normal?

A: Yes. MS students are usually assigned their academic advisor sometime in their first (fall) quarter. If you need advice on which classes to pick, feel free to ask in the CS Grads Discord, or ask a mentor or friend. Details about requirements are in the grad student handbook, and area classifications are linked above.

Q: Why can't I add a car through the TPS portal to get my parking pass?

A: TPS needs to manually approve your car registration, so students cannot add a vehicle through the portal themselves (or so I'm told). It's easiest and fastest to go to the TPS office in my experience, but you can also try emailing. Once the car is added, buying new permits through the portal should not be an issue.