As a part of his or her degree requirements, each student in the MA in CS or MS in IS program is required to pass a written comprehensive examination or to write a Master’s thesis. Most students take the comprehensive exam, but each semester a few students write a thesis. Students in the MS in HI program must write a thesis. The rules for a thesis are described later in this section.

Master’s Comprehensive Examination

It is strongly recommended that a student who intends to take the comprehensive exam should take the exam in the term before he or she plans to graduate. (This allows for the possibility of failing the exam and retaking it the next semester without delaying graduation.) For example, a student who intends to graduate in the Spring semester (June), should take the exam the previous Fall semester. Students must register for the exam within the first month of the semester in which they wish to take the exam; see the Schedule of Classes for the exact date.

Rules for the Exam

The Master’s Comprehensive exam has exams in nine areas (the areas tested in each part are listed in the next section). The examination is three and a half hours long. Each part contains approximately one hour’s worth of questions. These questions are similar to those that would be asked on a final exam in the appropriate course. Each student must answer three of the nine parts. However, the student does not have to decide in advance which three parts to answer. In the examination room, each student will receive all parts of the exam and can make the decision at that time. Nonetheless, it is strongly suggested that a student plan in advance to answer certain parts, with the option to change his or her mind after seeing all of the parts.

Exam Areas

The Master’s comprehensive exam has nine parts (one area has two parts from which the student picks one part). Students must pass three parts. The nine parts are as follows (note that not all parts may be offered every term; when you register for the exam, check which parts are being offered):

  1. analysis of algorithms
  2. architecture
  3. artificial intelligence
  4. programming languages
  5. databases
  6. management information systems
  7. networks and telecommunications
  8. operating systems
  9. theoretical computer science

M.A. students must take the exam in Analysis of Algorithms, plus any two other exams. M.S. in Information Science students must take the exam in Management Information Systems, plus any two other exams.

Reading Lists

A set of reading lists is posted outside the department office. Students who expect to register for the exam can request a copy of the reading list.

Grading

Each part is graded individually. In order to pass the exam, a student must pass all three parts.

If a student completes all three parts of the Comprehensive Exam but passes only one part, the next time the student takes the Comprehensive Exam he or she need take only the two missing parts. The student will be given 2/3 of the total time to complete the missing parts.

If a graduate student completes all three parts of the Comprehensive Exam but passes only two parts, the next time the student takes the Comprehensive Exam he or she needs to take only the one missing part. The student will be given 1/3 of the total time to complete the missing part.

Students should be aware of the following Brooklyn College regulation (for more details, see the BC Graduate Bulletin): A student who fails the comprehensive exam cannot then write a thesis; similarly, a student who submits a thesis which is not acceptable may not then choose to take a comprehensive exam. Normally, a student is allowed to take the exam twice, but students can petition to take the exam for a third time

Students should be aware of the following Brooklyn College regulation (for more details, see the BC Graduate Bulletin): A student who fails the comprehensive exam cannot then write a thesis; similarly, a student who submits a thesis which is not acceptable may not then choose to take a comprehensive exam.

Thesis

Rules for Submitting a Master’s Thesis Proposal

The first step is for the student to select a thesis advisor. Normally this will be a full-time CIS faculty member, although there can be exceptions to this rule. The student submits a thesis proposal to the Graduate Deputy Chair. The proposal is then forwarded to the Graduate Curriculum Committee for its approval.

A thesis proposal must be submitted by the following dates: December 15 in order to register for the Spring semester and May 15 in order to register for the Summer or Fall semester.

The thesis proposal should be anywhere from 1-5 pages long. It must state clearly what the student intends to do. If appropriate, a short bibliography should be included as well. The proposal should contain the student’s name, social security number, address, phone number, and the name of the thesis advisor. The proposal must be signed by the thesis advisor.

In addition, the student should submit a list of graduate courses completed so far, together with the semester in which each course was taken and its grade. In general, before students start working on a thesis, they will be expected to have completed at least 15 credits with an index of 3.5 or above.

Registering for a Thesis Course

Students who want to register for a thesis course should submit their proposals by the date shown above. If necessary, they can register for their other courses, then register for the the-sis course when the proposal is approved.

If the thesis proposal is approved, the student will be notified and given permission to register for the appropriate thesis course: CISC 7990G, 7992G, or 7994G.

Students should be aware of the following Brooklyn College regulation (for more details, see the BC Graduate Bulletin): A student who submits a thesis which is not acceptable may not then choose to take a comprehensive exam; similarly, a student who fails the comprehensive exam cannot then write a thesis. Similar rules apply to students who want to do a research project in CISC 7900X.

Students should be aware of the following Brooklyn College regulation (for more details, see the BC Graduate Bulletin): A student who submits a thesis which is not acceptable may not then choose to take a comprehensive exam; similarly, a student who fails the comprehensive exam cannot then write a thesis.

Guidelines for Master’s Thesis Proposals

  1. The student must have a GPA of 3.5 or above.

  2. The student needs to find an advisor who will mentor him or her for the thesis research.

  3. With the advisor’s help, the student needs to write a research proposal that
    • includes a statement of the goal of the research,
    • gives a short background of the research area with citations of relevant research,
    • describes exactly what the student’s contribution will be,
    • describes the outcomes that are expected,
    • includes a timeline for accomplishing the research.
  4. The student sends the proposal to the Graduate Deputy Chairperson and the proposal is read by a committee of at least three faculty members that has been assembled by the advisor. Members of the thesis committee shall include a member of the Graduate Curriculum Committee and the thesis advisor. Once the proposal is approved, the student will be given permission to register for the thesis research course.

It takes most students at least a year to perform the research and write the thesis.