faq for incoming students

Q. What is the Job and internship situation for CS students at UF?
A. There are plenty of opportunities for internship in summer. Many high profile companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Motorola, VMWare, Bloomberg and RIM (Research In Motion) etc. visit UF at the career fairs and/or the CDW (Career development workshop organized by CISE department). If they find the match for the required position, they interview the students either by coming to the campus or by phone. There are many other companies which offer internship opportunities as well, not only in summer but also for other semesters.

Also University of Florida has alumni in various smaller companies and start-ups as well who regularly announce the opportunities at their companies on the CISE Webmail. Almost all of these companies also have requirements for full time position. Those who get to do internship in these companies have higher chances of converting to full-time. Nevertheless, other students also get opportunity to give interview for full-time positions as well.

A list of upcoming career fairs and participating companies can be found here.

Q. How is the research and funding situation at UF?
A. There are ample opportunities and if you are interested in research then you can talk to interesting professors and can work with them and deserving students do get funding. It is also true that faculty prefer PhD students over MS students for RA. Nonetheless in some cases, MS students also get funding if they demonstrate the necessary skills and experience.

More information on faculty members and their research areas can be found here.

Q. What is the difference between CS/CE degrees from College of Engineering or College of Liberal Arts and Science?
A. There is no difference in terms of the way CS and CE students are treated by the CISE Department (that is the students get the same opportunities and the same policies are applied to them) but Achievement Award is only available through College of Engineering so most students who get admit from College of Liberal Arts & Science need to get themselves transferred to College of Engineering to avail the Achievement Award.

It has also been the experience of the CSE department that companies looking to recruit students prefer those with a CE degree than those with a CS degree, even though the requirements for both are the same. It may be advantageous, therefore, to pursue the CE degree.

Q. What is Achievement Award and what does it cover?
A. It is a partial waiver in tuition fees of the student, who have exemplary academic record at the time of admission. It generally pays approximately 40% of the tuition fees for the first 30 credits or during first 2 years of MS study. It is available only to those students in the College of Engineering.

Q. What are the Degree Requirements for MS in CS/CE?
A. CISE department requires that a student must complete at least 30 graduate level credit hours to be eligible to graduate. Generally each course covers 3 credit hours. In these 30 credits, any three core courses out of five core courses and the course "Algorithms" must be included.

More information on degree requirements for Masters can be found here and the same for PhD can be found here.

Q. What are the various Courses offered according to different specializations in the CISE department?
A. Please refer to the CSE department's course listing and the UF Registrar's website for courses scheduled for the upcoming semester.

Q. What are the thesis / non-thesis options in MS?
A. Students admitted into the MS program can either opt for graduation with thesis or non thesis. The decision has to be notified to the department by the end of second semester of study at UF. In case of thesis, the student has to decide on the panel of faculty advisors to supervise his/her thesis work. In case of non-thesis, the student must pass a general qualifying exam at the end of his/her MS studies.

More details can be found in the Degree requirements page here.

Q. What is the procedure to register for courses?
A. Before registering the courses, the student needs to clear his/her holds. The hold are for Emergency contact details, Health Insurance, etc. To see if you have any holds or not, login into ISIS and select "holds" on the left side. The registrar’s website details the start of registration period and other critical dates. It also lists the courses that are available for the semester. For the course list on the registrar's page, visit this page and select "course listings" for the appropriate semester.

For registration, visit the ISIS page and select "Registration" on the left side.

Q. What is CDW and how can I benefit from it?
A. CDW is a career fair initiative from the CISE department similar to the UF’s career fair event. It is a platform for the CISE students to interact with companies hiring students for internship/full time opportunities. It is specific to the CISE department. For more information visit CDW website.

Q. What were the courses that new students preferred for their first (Fall) Semester last year?
A. Many students preferred to take Analysis of Algorithms in their First Semester and also take courses like Advanced Data Structures and Computer Networks along with it. However few students preferred to take Computer Architecture or Distributed Operating Systems instead of Algorithms and a few students took Database Management Systems as well.
However, we would recommend all new students to look at all courses and select the best combination for themselves rather than follow the traditions. As a rule of thumb, one should only take one core course in the first semester. As listed by the CSE department, the core courses are:

• COT 5405: Analysis of Algorithms
• CDA 5155: Computer Architecture Principles
• COP 5555: Programming Language Principles
• COP 5615: Distributed Operating System Principles
• CNT 5106C: Computer Networks
• COP 5536: Advanced Data Structures

The one exception to this rule is COP 5536, Advanced Data Structures. Advanced Data Structures is a "lighter" core course that typically goes well when paired with a much more difficult course. This, however, is just a suggestion; in the end each person must make a determination as to which courses should be taken in the first semester.

Q. Which books will be required/ should I carry to the college?
A. The books required for the CS/CE depend on the courses you choose and the professors offering those courses. You can find information about these on the course webpages. Usually there are three types of books a course web-page would state:

• Required: These books are generally required as they might be referred to in class, assignments and projects.
• Recommended: These books are required for complete understanding and may help in solving assignments.
• Optional: These books are generally good for further reading.

The books required for the Fall 2012 semester are listed on the UF Registrar's website.

For any other queries that are not answered by the FAQ feel free to send an email to ascie-president@gmail.com