Michtom School of Computer Science

The COSI Master's Student Handbook should be read closely because it contains lots of useful information about being a master's student in our program. It contains course and registration information along with links to various important offices at Brandeis, such as the Registrar, ISSO, and the housing office that you can save to your contacts. On page 3 is a "To Do" checklist to help get you started.

The mandatory COSI Orientation was held at 9:45 a.m.-1 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023 in Rapaporte Treasure Hall in the Goldfarb Library, so please mark your calendars.

F-1/J-1 Immigration Session: Maintaining Status in the U.S.
Date: Thursday, July 27, 2023
Time: 8:00  -  9:00 a.m.
Zoomlink:  https://brandeis.zoom.us/j/96151543489

The Graduate School of Arts and Sciences will hold an optional, discipline-based library session:
Division of Science Session (Biochemistry & Biophysics, Biotechnology, Chemistry, Computational Linguistics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Molecular and Cell Biology, Neuroscience, Physics, Psychology)

Date: Monday, August 28, 2023
Time: 2-3 pm
 Rapaporte Treasure Hall, Goldfarb Library

Welcome Ice Cream Social!

Join GSAS as we welcome new graduate students to campus with our annual ice cream social!
Date: Thursday, August 31, 2023
Time: 2:30 – 4:00 pm
Location: Feldberg Lounge and Patio, Hassenfeld Conference Center

Upcoming Orientations (to be announced)

• Brandeis Grad English Language Diagnostic Exam (online)
• Brandeis TF/TA/CA Orientation. All students potentially interested in serving as a Teaching Assistant, Grader, or in any other course-related role at any point in their graduate career must attend. More information can be found here.
• Division of Science Grad Student Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Session
• In addition, there are other helpful presentations open to all, such as "Accessing Healthcare at Brandeis: What You Need to Know."

Log onto LATTE,  our course management portal, with your Brandeis username and password in order to access the courses listed below by searching for the course “Graduate Student Resources and Information” and self-enroll. Courses include:

1. Renting in Boston

2. Transitioning to Graduate School

3. Graduate Student Support and Resources

4. Academic Support and Resources

Workday Student is the system for course enrollment which you will use to view and manage personal information, register for classes, add or drop classes, view class schedule and grades, view financial aid and more. This system does not allow graduate students to register for undergraduate courses (those with course numbers less than 100). For MS4's, we will work with the registrar to enroll you for the courses you need after you have an opportunity to take the placement test.

The registration period for classes will open for all students on Tuesday, December 5, 2023  through January 24, 2024. However, for MS4's (non-majors on the 12 course track), we will be manually enrolling you in COSI 12b and 29a because the system does not allow you to enroll in undergraduate courses.

You are able to enroll in an elective that does not require a pre-requisite or a 100-level or higher cross listed class that you have the pre-requisites for. The elective is COSI 102, Software Entrepreneurship. Here is the list of offered classes.

As master's students, you are guaranteed a spot in all foundation classes and most elective classes. Again, the system does not allow graduate students to register for undergraduate courses (those with course numbers less than 100).

MS4's have been sent a link to the Placement Test which should be taken once during the summer. This test will reopen in late August to allow students that did not pass, to test again before the start of classes on Aug. 31. For those MS4 students who have had little to no programming, we recommend taking an on-line programming course over the summer. Once you have passed the test, the registrar will enroll you in the appropriate course.

For questions about housing, please refer to the Graduate Student Affairs website. You can also email Mai Dewees specific questions.

If you are still searching for housing, please use our off-campus housing platform. Make sure you log in with your Brandeis email to use the Roommate Finder section (within which you can search for Brandeis housemates and there may be some cheaper options). You can also click on "View Rentals" and then sort by "Closest to Campus" to see lots of options that are cheaper and closer to campus than what is usually in the two front-facing columns.

Although we have now retired the Campus Passport and our mandatory, high-frequency surveillance testing program, we will continue to assess and adjust our protocols to make compassionate, respectful and data-informed decisions about how we continue to respond to COVID-19 on our campus.

Please fill out this Google Survey that we will use to assign you an advisor. You can find a list of all faculty, their research and contact information on our website.

We ask that you please submit this by Monday, Aug.7! If you are unable to make this deadline, we will assign you an advisor. During orientation, you will receive your advisor's name and be asked to set up a meeting with your advisor during the first week of classes to discuss your curriculum and academic goals.

The CS Department hosts a webpage with student bios that is a great way for your colleagues to get to know you and may also be helpful in building your professional profile. If you would like to be included (and we strongly encourage you to participate), please fill out this Google survey by Friday, August 11. For an example, please see the current students bio page for master's students.