Advising

Introduction

Constructing a major for a degree is confusing at first, but really not that difficult when you become aware of some basic information and the online resources available to you. You know yourself and your interests, your graduation goals, and what you want out of your education better than anyone. What I hope to offer you is some guidance on untangling the process. That's why I've made these notes. 

Meanwhile, if I'm your advisor, please drop in and introduce yourself. You can use these notes to prepare for our discussions about registering for a semester of classes. I look forward to meeting you!

-- Daniel DeFrance

Using DegreeWorks 

Any student at MSU can see who their advisor is with DegreeWorks. Log into DegreeWorks through MyInfo. More instructions on that can be found on the DegreeWorks page.

During your first few semesters at MSU as a Computer Science major, you will get help setting up your classes from an advising professional through the main CS office in Barnard Hall room 357. After that, you will be assigned a faculty advisor.

Every semester you will register for next semester’s classes.  This happens around the middle of the semester.  You begin by making a plan in DegreeWorks. After you've done that, your advisor can review the plan, make any suggestions or answer any questions, and then give you the Registration PIN number that will allow you to register for classes online.

Required Classes, Elective Classes

MSU students need a total of at least 120 credits to graduate, but different classes offer different categories of credits, and you must have the proper mix. For example, any degree from MSU requires that at least 42 of 120 credits be upper division credits (ie: 300 level or higher). Also, of the 120 credits, a number of them must come from designated University Core courses.

Beyond that, when you declare a specific major, there are certain classes that are required and others that you may elect to take. Those classes will depend on your degree.

There are a few different types of Bachelors degree in Computer Science from MSU, and choosing one will impact the courses it is necessary for you to take. Of the 120 credits all MSU graduates must take, computer science majors must take a number of required credits (specific classes), a number of computer science elective classes (generally computer science classes that you choose based on your interests), and a few credits from any university course to bring the total number of credits up to 120 and/or to ensure that 42 of them are upper division credits (ie: 300 level or higher).

The details will depend on which Computer Science Degree you choose. See the Academic Information for Undergraduates page for more, especially the Graduation Worksheet for the degree you seek.

Timing is Important

In order to register for some courses, especially higher division ones,  it is necessary for you to have already taken one or more other courses beforehand. Those courses needed earlier are called "prerequisites." For example, in Computer Science, most of the upper division courses list CSCI 232 as a prerequisite. In turn, CSCI 232 lists CSCI 132 as a prereq, and CSCI 132 lists CSCI 127 as a prereq. CSCI 127 does not have a prereq, although it is recommended that students at least consider taking CSCI 107 beforehand.

In addition to considering prereqs into your time at MSU, you must also consider that not all courses are offered every single semester; some, for example are only offered during the spring semester, and some are only offered during the fall semester; a few may be offered every other year. If you are trying to plan a four year degree, it's important to take the prereqs you need in time to take the electives you want.

Again, the Academic Information for Undergraduates page can be very helpful here, especially the Semester-by-Semester Course Plan for the degree you seek.

More Help

Every semester your advisor has office hours during which time you can drop in and discuss your progress on your degree. In addition to that, the process of registering for classes at MSU requires students to get a DegreeWorks PIN from their assigned advisor -- always a good time to reach out for help.

Outside of your assigned advisor, every faculty member in the Computer Science department at MSU can help any Computer Science student get their DegreeWorks PIN and answer basic questions about the CS curriculum during their posted office hours. The Norm Asbojornson College of Engineering (NACOE) advising center can help CS students navigate their degrees. More broadly, there is a designated Academic Advising Center on campus that can help with more extensive needs. You can always change your assigned advisor too, if you feel like another faculty would be a better fit -- you can find out more about that in the main office.

Adding or Dropping Classes

Academic Calendar (find the detailed listing that shows drop/add dates)