Graduate Studies in Computational Linguistics

Aside from COSI 136a - Automated Speech Recognition (which is offered every Fall) and COSI 132a - Information Retrieval (which is generally offered every Spring), CL elective courses tend to rotate each term and year, so that distinct courses are offered in each of the four terms that a full-time student would be enrolled. This is designed to allow students a variety of elective options over the course of their time in the program.

The additional courses COSI 216a - Topics in Natural Language Processing and COSI 217b - Natural Language Processing Systems are rotating-topic courses, and vary between intermediate-level and advanced-level material. These courses are often used to pilot new course topics before submitting them to be approved as regular courses. COSI 216a generally involves more theoretical/modeling-based topics, while 217b typically involves more applied topics. (Within linguistics offerings, LING 190 - Topics in Linguistics is also generally used to pilot new course topics, some of which are relevant to CL students.)

Students are welcome (and in fact encouraged) to undertake internships, with or without academic credit for the internship, prior to the point at which they are academically ready to satisfy the exit requirement. This typically begins during the summer following the first year, and sometimes continues into the second year. For non-international students, such internships are typically done without getting academic credit. International students, in contrast, must get course credit in order to be involved in such an internship, and in these cases should enroll in the course COSI 293g–Master's Research Internship, which counts for one-fourth of a full course (i.e., for one total credit).

Such cases do not count as satisfying the exit requirement for the CL MS degree, as there is a distinct course taken (namely COSI 293b - Computational Linguistics Research Internship) for the exit requirement.

Very importantly, international students who enroll in an internship on or off campus may be required to obtain Curricular Practical Training (CPT) authorization from the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) BEFORE beginning the internship. International students interested in completing an internship, whether for their Exit Requirement or just for elective credit, must email the ISSO to schedule an appointment (in-person or via phone) with their ISSO advisor to determine if such authorization is required. For more information regarding CPT, please visit the ISSO website.