Bx/MS FAQ - Prospective Students

• The best place to start is this page and the Joint BX/MS in CS catalog page.
• Our information session is open to all UChicago students, regardless of how far along you are in your undergraduate degree. This session is typically held in December or January. Please feel free to write to jdgarza@cs.uchicago.edu in the Autumn quarter if you would like to be notified about the upcoming session.
• Advising appointments can only be made by third-year students who are planning to apply or are actively applying to the Bx/MS program.

Students apply to start the Bx/MS program in:

• Autumn of their fourth year, graduating in the following Spring
• Winter of their fourth year, graduating in the following Summer or Autumn

This program has two admissions cycles: one in January/February to apply to the Autumn start, and one in June to apply to the Winter start. Students interested in starting in a Winter start should not apply in the first admissions cycle.

• Sorry, no. This is a strict policy and not one we are able to grant exceptions to. 
• We cannot advise you on how to complete 3900 credit units. You should reach out to your College Adviser or work with the myPlanner tool to see what possibilities there are.

You should reach out to your College Adviser. We cannot speak to what the University accepts or how AP credits translate to your degree requirements.

You should reach out to your College Adviser to get an answer to this question.

Yes. We review applications holistically. If you are under the 3.5 GPA requirement, you should aim to strengthen your application in other ways.

• Yes. We review applications holistically. If you don’t meet the grade average for the lists below, you should aim to strengthen your application in other ways.
  • one of CMSC 12100, CMSC 14100, CMSC 15100, or CMSC 16100 and one of CMSC 12200, CMSC 14200, CMSC 15200, or CMSC 16200 with at least a B+ average in the two, or
  • one of CMSC 12100, CMSC 14100, CMSC 15100, or CMSC 16100 and one of CMSC 27100, CMSC 27130, or CMSC 37110 with at least a B+ average in the two.

Sorry, no. Admission is contingent upon you being on campus for your fourth year.

• No. When completing your application you are able to indicate that you plan to register for one of the second courses required.
• Please note, your admission is contingent on meeting the required grade threshold.

• BX/MS students are only permitted to register for more than three classes in situations where it is required for them to graduate with their BX and MS degrees. Specializations, honors, or other designations are not considered necessary for this purpose.
• This situation occurs most commonly when a student needs to take three courses to complete their BX degree requirements in their fourth year.

You are allowed to double-count at most two courses.

You are allowed to count at most two 2xx-level courses towards your MS requirements.

All application materials, including letters of recommendation, are due the same day as the application deadline.

This is because application review begins immediately after the deadline to ensure that admission decisions are returned quickly to avoid impacting your pre-registration choices for the upcoming quarter.