MS CMPE Frequently Asked Questions

Visit this site frequently for updates

1. Have degree(s) equivalent to a four-year U.S. undergraduate baccalaureate degree.
2. Have academic degrees in computer related fields including Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Computer Science.
3. Have an undergraduate degree where the medium of instruction was English or have passed the TOEFL exam with a score of at least 550 paper based, 213 computer based, or 80 for the Internet based test.
4. B (3.0) or better of the last 60 technical semester units.
5. Have GRE General Test if the applicant does not have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited university in the United States or Canada. Minimum GRE requirements are 650 Quantitative score and 1000 combined Quantitative and Verbal scores.

No. Academic and professional references are not required.

visit http://www2.sjsu.edu/gradstudies/Prospective/Index.html

Online application may be obtained from the following link: http://www2.sjsu.edu/gradstudies/Prospective/How_To_Apply.html

The MS in CMPE program has an expedited admissions process for applicants from India, and can evaluate an application for admission (and the necessary I-20) as soon as the 7th semester mark-sheet is available.

Applications are submitted using the graduate admissions selection at CSUmentor.org. The following are some hints for filling in the application pages. (1) Page 1: Applicants should select Engineering-Computer Engineering (MS) as the Major/Program Objective. (2) Test Scores: GRE and TOEFL test scores should be routed to San Jose State University, code=4687. No department code is required.

Yes. But your application will not be processed by the evaluator until SJSU Graduate Studies and Research Office receives your official GRE scores.

In general, CMPE Department does not offer any of the above to new students.

A student who has been admitted to another SJSU graduate program can apply to transfer to the MS in CMPE program before the beginning of the second semester at SJSU. The student must submit a Change of Major Form to SJSU Graduate Studies and Research office. Transfer students have the same admission requirements as new applicants.

A new graduate student has to take at least one course during his/her first semester at SJSU. Otherwise, the student forfeits the admission to current semester and has to re-apply to SJSU. By notifying SJSU Graduate Studies and Research office, you might not have to resubmit all required documents.

It is not required. However, attending the new student orientation session is required. The Program Director/Coordinator will email you information regarding the new student orientation session.

Almost all single-section CMPE graduate courses are offered after 6:00 p.m.

The MS degree in Computer Engineering requires a minimum of 30 units of graduate-level course work plus the completion of the Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR).

The degree requires 6 units of degree core course, 9 units of specialization core courses, 9 units of technical electives, 6 units of project or thesis, and Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR).

A student can’t take CMPE 200 if the admission conditions of CMPE 124 and 127 are not cleared. Likewise, astudent can’t take CMPE 220 if the admission conditions of CMPE 126 and 142 are not cleared.

A student must take at least three courses from one of the four specializations: System Design, Network Systems, Embedded Systems, and Secure Systems.

A student must declare a specialization during the first week of taking CMPE 295A or CMPE 299A

Besides taking three courses form the specialization, each student must take at least three technical electives. An elective can be any CMPE graduate course except CMPE 271, 298, and 298I. A student can take at most two electives from other departments. A student must submit an official request and receive a documented approval from the program director before taking a course from another department; otherwise the course will not be counted toward to the student’s degree program.

You can take eletive courses only after (1) completing all admission conditions, (2) both degree core courses, and (3) two specialization core courses.

If you were admitted before Fall 2006, you can follow either the old or the current requirements, but you can’t mix them. A student admitted from Fall 2006 and on must follow the current requirements.

No. But, you must take three courses from the published list of “Computer Engineering Program” courses.

No. You have to take at least three 'program' courses from the published list of pre-approved courses for the MS in CMPE program. After taking three 'program' courses, you can take any graduate-level 'department' course as your non-program elective (except CMPE 271, 298, and 298I). If you want to take a special topic course (CMPE 297) as a 'progrm' course, then you must receive a documented approval form the Program Director before taking it.

You can transfer at most two 3-unit courses. However, none of the courses taken during or after you submit the admission application can be transferred.

A thesis has a more rigid requirements of contents and reporting style. A student will receive a credit (CR) or no-credit (NC) grade for the thesis course. A project course has letter grades.

A project-track student must enroll in CMPE 295A and CMPE 295B in two consecutive semesters A thesis-track student must enroll in CMPE 299A and CMPE 299B in two consecuive semesters. Summer enrollments are optional.

Your project/thesis topic must be closely related to your specialization. Your advisor must be an SJSU instructor with expertise in the area of your specialization.

1. Completed all admission conditions and in good standing
2. Completed CMPE 200 and 220
3. Completed two specialization core courses (or two MS in CMPE program courses for student admitted prior to Fall 2006) (See note.)
4. File a candidacy form before the class drop deadline
5. Completed graduate writing assessment requirement (e.g., completed CMPE 294) or taking CMPE 294 concurrently

Note: all three specialization core courses (or all three MS in CMPE program courses for student admitted prior to Fall 2006) must be completed before taking CMPE 295B or CMPE 299B.

The prerequisites are

1. Admission to Candidacy of Master Degree
2. CMPE 295A or CMPE 299A

The completion of GWAR (e.g., receiving a passing grade of CMPE 294 or ENGR 200W) is required to obtain a passing grade of CMPE 295A or CMPE 299A. At the end of the semester, a student has not completed GWAR will received a failing CMPE 295A or CMPE 295B grade and must enroll in CMPE 295A or CMPE 299A again and restart the project or thesis

If a student can’t complete CMPE 295A, 295B, 299A, or 299B in one semester, then the student will receive an I or NC grade. The student must enroll in CMPE 298 in each of the following spring and fall semesters until completing the course and receive a passing grade

The department highly discourage a student to take a single semester master project. However, it is possible to take CMPE 295 if you were admitted before Fall 2006. You have to submit a transcript printout from my.sjsu.edu and a program of study to the Porgram Director/Coordinator to prove that this is your last semester.

The students who get “I” in their 295(A/B) should enroll into 298. RD is a new name for “I”. The same policy applies

No. They cannot count towards the minimal requirements for an MS degree.

No. C is a passing grade for a graduate course (but C- is not). You have to maintain at or higher than 3.0 overall GPA in order to avoid probation.

GWAR stands for Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement and it is a degree requirement for all SJSU graduate students. You can meet GWAR in on of the following ways:

1. Complete CMPE 294 or ENGR 200W
2. Met writing requirement as an undergraduate at a California State University (e.g., ENGR 100W at SJSU)
3. Sole author in professional publication - requires approval by AVP Graduate Studies and Research
4. Completed technical writing course at another university - requires approval by COE Technical Communications Director and AVP Graduate Studies and Research
5. Scored very high on Writing Skill Test (WST)

However, most Computer Engineering Department students meet GWAR by taking CMPE 294.

A student can enroll in CMPE 294 regardless of the student’s WST score. CMPE 294 offers an Entry Writing Test (EWT) for students who has not passed (including who has not taken) WST. EWT will be given only at the first class of each CMPE 294 section. A student who has not passed (including who has not taken) EST must take CMPE 294 and ENGR 90W concurrently. A passing grade of ENGR 90W is required to obtain a passing CMPE 294 grade. Questions about EWT and ENGR 90W should be directed to Professor Vicki Perry.

WST stands for Writing Skill Test. A high WST score allows you to be waived the CMPE 294 requirement. A passing WST score allows you to be waived the writing evaluation test at the beginning of CMPE 294.

Passing the WST is not required. However, a student without a passing WST grade has to complete an evaluation test in CMPE 294, and may have to enroll in a tutoring course if the evaluation indicates a need.

Passing WST with a particularly good grade will waive the CMPE 294 requirement altogether.

Take it concurrently with CMPE 295A or any time before taking CMPE 295A. Due to the severe consequence of failing CMPE 294, it is prudent for you to take CMPE 294 before CMPE 295A.

You should follow the study sequence shown below:

1. admission condition courses,
2. degree core courses (CMPE 200, CMPE 220),
3. specialization core courses
4. graduate writing requirements (CMPW 294)
5. technical electives
6. master projects (CMPE 295A, 295B) or thesis (CMPE 299A, 299B)

The instructor, not program coordinator or graduate advisor, makes decisions. If you believe you have sufficient background to take the class, you can enroll in the class and then request the instructor's consent. If the instructor denies your request, you must drop the class during the first two weeks of the semester.

The catalog prerequisite for both courses is “classified graduate standing or graduate advisor consent”. Although you are conditionally classified, if you have satisfied both CMPE 124 and 127 requirements/conditions, then you have the graduate advisor consent to take CMPE 200. If you have satisfied both CMPE 126 and 142 requirements/conditions, then you have the graduate advisor consent to take CMPE 220. CMPE 200 and CMPE 220 instructors will honor graduate advisor's recommendations.

If a student's overall GPA is not below 3.0, a pre-registration advising is not necessary. The student just follows the sequence describe above. A student with an overall GPA below 3.0 must seek the advise from the program Director/Coordinator before enrolling in any class. For an overall GPA below 3.0 student, any course taken without the program Director/Coordinator's prior written permission will not be counted towards the student's degree program. The student must keep all written permissions in order to complete the “Graduation Candidacy Form” when the student takes CMPE 295A.

Register on-line (my.sjsu.edu), but pay attention to fee payment deadlines. Since graduate students can’t enroll in undergraduate courses directly, you have to request permit codes to CMPE 101 and 180 from the department office (see Q605). After the add class deadline, you can request a permission code from the instructor to add to the class.

A new graduate student has to take at least one course during his/her first semester at SJSU. Otherwise, the student forfeits the admission to current semester and has to re-apply to SJSU. After the first semester, a student must file a Leave of Absence form for not taking any course during a semester.

It is not required to file a POS. A POS will be established for special events such as CPT, on-probation, etc.

There is no maximum load limit. In general, a student should not take more than 9 units of graduate courses.

A newly admitted student must take at least one class in the first semester in order to keep the student status. A student will lose his/her active status if the student does not take any class for two consecutive semesters. Students must file a Leave of Absence Form prior to the first semester of leave to avoid losing active status while on leave. Otherwise, the student must reapply to the university to regain active status

Full load (9 units) per semester is required. If a student takes less than 9 units of a semester, the student must file a Reduced Load Request during the first week of the semester. The approval of a request is based on the student’s specific situation such as “the last semester”, etc. The student must go to the department office to submit a Reduced Course Load” request.

Except for CMPE 200, 220, 294, 295A/B, and 299A/B, the prerequisites of any CMPE graduate (CMPE 2xx) or undergraduate course (CMPE 1xx) can be waived by the course instructor (not the Program Director/Coordinator). A student must attend the first session of a class and present the student’s background to the course instructor in order to obtain a prerequisite waiver

CMPE 298 (Special Problems) is a non-letter-graded (A, B, C, D, F) graduate course with two possible grades - CR (credit) or NC (no credit). CMPE 298 can be taken for the following purposes:

1. As a supervised independent study course. Although the course is not conducted in classroom, the independent study must under the supervision of a CMPE Department faculty (the faculty supervisor), with a clearly defined study scope and a written study plan pre-approved by the faculty supervisor, the CMPE Program Graduate Advisor, and the Department Chair.
2. As a catch-up course after a student failed to complete his/her MS project courses (CMPE 295A, 295B) or thesis courses (CMPE 299A, 299B) in a semester he/she planned to complete. The student must register 3 units of CMPE 298 in the subsequent semester. These units will not be counted toward MS degree.
3. As a requirement for students enrolled in practical training (CPT) or internship programs, enrolling in CMPE 298I.

The student must register 3 units of CMPE 298I. Again, these units will not be counted toward the minimal requirements for the MS

Go to the department office to complete a CMPE 298 enrollment form.

You have to go to the department office to file a Course Overload Request.

It is counted towards your degree as one or the electives.

Contact Spartan Book Store.

Go to the first day of class and ask your instructor (not project advisor, graduate advisor, or program director) for the permit code.

You should complete all admission conditions as soon as possible to avoid the delay of your graduation. If you havn't completed all admission conditions in two semesters, you must see the program director to work out a program of study.

You can satisfy it by passing a challenge exam, receiving a B or better grade of the class, or receiving a CR (credit) of following corresponging CMPE 180 class.

• CMPE 124 – CMPE 180 Section 24
• CMPE 126 – CMPE 180 Section 26
• CMPE 127 – CMPE 180 Section 27
• CMPE 142 – CMPE 180 Section 42

Any grade other than CR/NC (credit/no credit) will be counted toward your overall GPA.

You must contact following course coordinators during the first 5 working days of the coming semester and take the exams before the third week of the semester. In general, course coordinators are not available during summer and winter breaks.

• CMPE 124 – Professor H. Ozemek
• CMPE 126 – Professor L. Wesley
• CMPE 127 – Professor H. Li
• CMPE 142 – Professor S. Shim

A student can take the challenge exam for any course at most once.

You have to satisfy CMPE 101 requirement before taking CMPE 126 (CMPE 180-26). CMPE 101 requirement can be satisfied by passing either CMPE 101 exam or CMPE 101 class. If you'd like to take the exam, you can enroll in CMPE 126 (CMPE 180-26) first and then take the exam at date/time posted at the CMPE Website. If you failed the exam, then you have to drop CMPE 126 (CMPE 180-26) during the first two weeks of the semester and enroll in CMPE 101 class. A student must attend the first CMPE 101 session in order to receive a permission code from the instructor to enroll in the class.

The prerequisites of a CMPE 180 class may be waived by the course instructor.

Passing a graduate course does not waive an admission condition, e.g., passing CMPE 240 does not waive the CMPE 124 condition.

All letter-grade courses you attempt count towards your GPA, even if they do not count towards the minimal requirements for the degree. However, courses graded credit/no credit do not count towards the GPA. Therefore we recommend that students clearing a condition should enroll in the CMPE 180 section corresponding to the course they are attending (e.g., CMPE 180-26 for CMPE 126, CMPE 180-42 for CMPE 142, etc). The CMPE 180 sections require attendance and a grading basis identically to the corresponding regular course. In order to achieve a grade of “credit” (clearing the condition), the student will have to achieve results good enough for a grade of “B” or better in the corresponding regular course. A “B-” or less results in a grade of “No Credit” and the course has to be retaken.

No. your status will be changed when you file a Departmental Request for Candidacy and Graduate Degree Program Form when you take CMPE 295A. During that time you have to present a Web printout transcript with the passing grades to the Program Director.

During the first month at SJSU, you have to deliver a copy of the GRE record to the Computer Engineering Department office with attention to the Program Director. The department office will issue you an receipt. You have to present this receipt to the Program Director when you take CMPE 295A. Your status will be changed accordingly.

You have to take at least 24-unit courses within the graduate computer program. You can transfer up to 6 semester units form other universities, other SJSU departments, and SJSU undergraduate programs, and/or SJSU Open University.

You can transfer up to 6 semester units from the graduate program of an accredited US university. You need to fill out the Request for Validation of Transfer Graduate Credit Form. This form can be obtained from the office of Graduate Studies and Research, and must be approved by the Program Director and the Graduate Studies office. If a course you intend to transfer was taken from a quarter-system institution, you must multiply the credit units of the course by a factor of 0.667.

You can transfer up to 6 semester units from your undergraduate course work at SJSU (must be credible graduate-level courses and beyond your required undergraduate units). You need to fill out the Request for Award of Graduate Credit for Units Completed as an Undergraduate Form. This form can be obtained from the office of Graduate Studies and Research, and must be approved by the program director/coordinator.

Open University classes are not available to students who intend to apply for a degree program. Requests to transfer open university courses to the MS in Computer Engineering degree program will be denied if an application to the MS in Computer Engineering program was submitted while the course was in progress.

You can transfer up to 6 units from graduate Open University courses from SJSU. Note also that open university courses must be transferred into a degree program. You need to fill out the Request for Validation of Transfer Graduate Credit Form. This form can be obtained from the office of Graduate Studies and Research, and must be approved by the Program Director and the Graduate Studies office.

No.

It depends on which of the CMPE or SJSU course it is equivalent to.

Yes but the courses must be offered by the Computer Engineering Department.

You should submit the following:

1. a petition for Advancement to Candidacy by filing the Departmental Request for Candidacy and Graduate Degree Program Form (Candidacy form in short).
2. an application for award of MS degree by filing the Application for Award of Master’s Degree Form (Degree form in short).
3. your thesis or project final report.

Your Departmental Request for Candidacy and Graduate Degree Program Form ( should be filed when you take CMPE 295A. Roughly, applications for Candidacy and Degree should be submitted 8 months and 4 months respectively, before your graduation; thesis or project reports should be submitted 2 months or 1 month respectively, before your graduation date.

Your candidacy form will be approved after you complete the Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR). As a practice, you’ll receive a notification from the Graduate Studies and Research Office to indicate that your form is not processed if you haven’t complete the GRAR.

Go to the department office and file a Course Substitution Request.

You must complete all admission conditions, have completed two contiguous semesters of full-time (9 units) study, enroll in project or thesis, and not on probation. You also have to enroll in a 3-unit CMPE 298I (see section 5).

A maximum of two is permitted. A winter term CPT can be counted as part of a spring or fall CPT.

Go to the department office and file a CPT or OPT Request.

If the student's cumulative GPA falls below 3.0. A student with GPA below 3.0 must make an appointment eith the graduate advisor/director immediately.

If the student is on probation and fails to achieve a semester GPA above 3.0.

Go to the department office and submit a Reinstatement request.

A leave of absence can be taken by a student that will allow them to skip one or multiple semesters of enrollment. When they return a graduate student will still be classified as an active student and will not have to re-apply. However, there are very strict rules and guidelines to taking a leave of absence. Here are the two types of leaves that are allowed by graduate studies.

Go to the department office to file the request. Following is a list of the requests:

1.1 CPT

1.2 OPT

1.3 Reduce course load

1.4 Letter for change of status to F1

2.1 Transfer from other program

2.2 Reinstatement after disqualification

3.1 Establish and update Program of Study

3.2 Take non-CMPE department or program course

3.3 Transfer non-SJSU or Open University course

3.4 Waive a core course

4.1 Waive technical writing requirement

4.2 Take CMPE 298 to extend CMPE 295 and 295B

5.1 Remove advising hold

5.2 Overlapping course registration

5.3 Late Enrollment

7.1 File Candidacy form

7.2 Course substitution

7.3 Apply for graduation

8.1 Leave of absence

8.2 Withdraw from the university

The department office will not process requests to change classification, enroll in a class without prerequisites, update program of study, and late drop.

In general, it takes a week to process a request. Some requests willl take longer. For example, Transfer Non-SJSU Course and Waiving Technical Requirement will not be processed during the summer and winter breaks.

1. The student goes to the department to completes Information Section of Request Form, Checks the student section boxes of Request Form, and Submits all required documents
2. The department office create a Request Folder and issues you a receipt with a Tracking Number and time stamp.
3. Program Director and/or Department Chair process the Request Folder
4. You pick up documents and takes actions per instructions

No. Only if it is required by the department.

There is useful information at the Computer Engineering Department's web site http://www.engr.sjsu.edu/cmpe/. However, the MS in CMPE Yahoo Group updates its contents more frequently.

This group is located at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sjsu-mscmpe/ This site posts information and announcements related to the MS in CMPE program. Please visit this site regularly. The answers of most students’ questions will be included in the FAQ file of this site. This group is moderated by the Program Director. In order to join this group, you must enter your real name into the Real Name field of your Yahoo Public Profile. A request with a nonconforming real name will be denied. A member will be deleted if the real name field is modified. Your real name must be entered exactly in the SJSU system format: last_name,first_name middle_name. In other words, your real name in the SJSU system is: Chang,Lee C A typical path to set up your real name is: www.yahoo.com → My Yahoo! → My Account → Password → Edit Public Profile → Edit → Edit Profile Information → Real Name → Save Changes.

More complete, accurate, and updated information (such as the exact deadlines and graduation dates, as well as the forms you will need to fill) is available from SJSU's Office of Graduate Studies and Research web site at http://www.sjsu.edu/gradstudies/Current/.

You may send emails to the Graduate Advisor at lee.chang@sjsu.edu for questions that are not on this FAQ. The answer to a common question will be posted on this FAQ. The answer to a unique situaion will be emailed to you.

1. Your question is not on this Website.
2. After submitting a request to the department office, the department requests you to meet with the Program Director and/or the Gradaute Advisor.
3. Your overall GPA is below 3.0.
4. You are on probation.
5. You are disqualified.

For Summer 2008, please contact CMPE department office to make an appointment for advising.