One Year M.S. Degree

A William & Mary undergraduate can, with proper preparation, complete a conventional four-year undergraduate B.S. or B.A. degree in an appropriate concentration area and then, with one additional year of study, earn the M.S. in computer science with a specialization in Computational Operations Research (COR). The one-year M.S. degree is based on the standard 32-hour, non-thesis M.S. degree option, but completed in just a year of intensive graduate study.

The coursework for the program consists of eleven, three-hour Computational Operations Research graduate courses. To complete a M.S. degree in just one year of study, three of these eleven courses must be taken for graduate-level credit while still an undergraduate. The other eight courses would be taken, four per semester, in two intensive semesters of graduate study.

A student's schedule of study would be as follows.

1. During the four years of undergraduate study take a minimum of CSci 141, Math 111, 112, 211, 212, 214 and one other appropriate mathematics class (thereby obtaining a minor in mathematics ).
2. By the end of the junior year, meet with Professor Kincaid, Leemis, or Phillips to express your intent to apply to the Computational Operations Research graduate program with an interest in the One-year M.S. Degree. To be eligible, you must have at least a 3.0 QPA overall. Following registration, an advisor will be assigned, if needed, to help with subsequent course scheduling during the junior and senior years.
3. In the senior year take any three of the following courses for graduate-level credit: Math 551, 524, 552, CSci 503, 526 or any 600-level CSci class ending with the digit 8. A petition to the Dean of Arts & Sciences is necessary to complete the third class. These three classes are over and above those required for completing the undergraduate degree at William & Mary.
4. During the Fall semester of the senior year, apply for regular admission to the Computational Operations Research graduate program, clearly indicating an interest in the One-year M.S. Degree Program in Computational Operations Research.
5. In each of the following Fall and Spring semesters, take four graduate courses subject to the M.S. degree requirements stated in the College's current Graduate Catalog. If all requirements have been met, the M.S. degree will be conferred in the May commencement.

Rules governing undergraduates wishing to register for graduate courses for graduate credit can be found in the Undergraduate Program Catalog in the section on Academic Regulations under Student's Program. The current catalog states:

"Undergraduate students of the College who have a grade point average of at least 3.0 may take for graduate credit in their senior year up to six hours of courses normally offered for graduate credit, provided that these hours are in excess of all requirements for the bachelor's degree and that the students obtain the written consent of the instructor, the Chair of the department or Dean of the School, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, and the Graduate Dean of Arts and Sciences, at the time of registration. Such students will be considered the equivalent of unclassified (post baccalaureate) students as far as the application of credit for these courses toward an advanced degree at the College is concerned."