Frequently Asked Questions

How do I transfer credits?

Email your Graduate Coordinator and the CS Graduate Director with the 1-2 courses you want to transfer, along with your transcript and course descriptions.

The CS Graduate Director will review the courses for approval.

Transfer credits must be "unused" credits, i.e., they must not have been credited towards an earlier acquired degree or other academic credential. Transfer credits must be specified in writing at the time of departmental recommendation for admission. A minimum of 70% (University of Waterloo converted grade) is required for transfer credit.

Transfer Academic Credit

I need a letter; how can I get one?

All letters are provided by The Centre. If The Centre requires confirmation from your Graduate Coordinator, please send an email clearly stating the details needed and ‘CC’ The Centre.

How can I apply for conference funding?

To apply for Graduate Conference Funding from the CS Department please submit the PDF application to your Graduate Coordinator. Found here under 'other'.

Conference funding applications must be recieved at least a week before the conference start date.

Please note that the School of Computer Science can match your supervisor’s contributions up to $1000. Please ensure sections 1-5 are complete before submitting the application. A week before your travel date, your Graduate Coordinator will contact you with details on how to obtain your reimbursement.

GSPA provides $500 per student per fiscal year (April 30 – May 1) for conference funding through a separate award. To apply for the GSPA funding you must apply for the Graduate Student Research Dissemination Award (GSRDA). If your application is approved, the award will be added to your Quest account before the conference. If you have any questions about this award, please contact Laura Frazee.  

• This program was designed to include two work terms. You cannot graduate from the co-op program without completing two work terms.
• There is a required work term report that students must complete 30 days after their final work term.
• Your last term must be an academic term to enable you to complete your co-op work report, outstanding courses, thesis or research paper.

MMath Co-op Option

• Have at least 2 academic terms as well as completion of 4 courses toward your coursework requirements before doing your first co-op work term.
• Have completed all remedial course requirements (if applicable and noted in your offer of admission) and be in good academic standing.

MMath Co-op Option

To apply to the co-op program, you will need to fill out a program plan change form and sequence change form. These forms get sent to your graduate coordinator with your supervisor’s signature (if applicable). 

Along with these forms, to add the co-op option, students must:

• Complete the mandatory MMath Computer Science Co-op Series 

• You are responsible for notifying your CS Grad Coordinator that you have completed these by following the instructions in the ‘Confirm completion of MMath Co-op Series’.

International students must apply for a work permit. We advise students to consult with Student Success Office for questions regarding work permits. Please refer to the co-op option page for more information.

Email your Graduate Coordinator and the CS Graduate Director with the 1-2 courses you want to transfer, along with your transcript and course descriptions.

The CS Graduate Director will review the courses for approval.

You are permitted to carry over any extra courses from your MMath program at UWaterloo. Please note for a course to be considered extra it must not have been used toward another degree and must be noted as ‘extra to degree’ on your transcript. Please inform your Graduate Coordinator that you have extra courses that you want used toward your PhD course requirements.

If you are looking to transfer extra courses from another institution, please follow the transfer credit process.

Course requirements are courses to be taken during your PhD.

PhD admitted from a Master’s degree are required to take:

• 4 one-term graduate courses
• At least 3 of the courses must be above the 600-level
• A minimum of one 800-level course
• Any required remedial courses

PhD admitted from Bachelor’s degree are required to take:

• 8 one-term graduate courses
• At least 5 of the courses must be above the 600-level
• A minimum of three 800-level courses

Students are permitted to carry over any extra courses from their MMath program at Waterloo.

The comprehensive I is a separate breadth requirement. A student must have at least 1 advanced course in 6 of the eleven areas, including at least 1 from each category.

In your first term, you must submit the comprehensive I form to your Graduate Coordinator outlining your plan to complete the breadth requirement. Your plan will then be approved by the Graduate Director. If you are past your 1^st term and haven’t submitted this form, please do so immediately.

On the form you can note advanced undergraduate courses (400+ level), courses taken at the master’s level and any courses planned to be taken during your PhD.

If you want to include courses taken outside of UWaterloo please include:

• Course syllabi indicating textbooks used, schedule of topics covered and method of evaluation.
• Descriptions of prerequisites or co-requisites, and references to university catalogues (web-based or otherwise accessible).
• Transcripts for all courses indicated.

Please compile all course documents in order of occurrence on the form into one PDF file with the comprehensive I form as the first page and submit it to your Graduate Coordinator via email.

After your plan has been approved and you have received all of the final grades for courses noted on the comprehensive I form – inform your Graduate Coordinator who can then award you the milestone.

Comprehensive I form can be found under 'milestones' 

More Comprehensive I form details

If you are enrolled in the PhD internship program, you must complete at least one internship term and submit an internship report when the work term is completed.

The work report should:

• Describe a topic that is relevant and that is not deemed confidential by your employer
• Contain constructive criticism, conclusions and recommendations
• Compare and evaluate several items or alternatives using various criteria
• Discuss the underlying problem, your approach to solving the problem, and the progress you made

Please let your Graduate Coordinator know when you have completed all the internship terms you desire, and they will be able to award you the milestone.

This program is designed for International students. Please reach out to your Graduate Coordinator if you are a domestic student wanting to complete an internship.

To begin the process please submit a Program Plan Change form and state you are changing your program to PhD Internship. Obtain the appropriate signatures from your supervisor and submit the form to your Graduate Coordinator for processing.

Then when you are about to go on a work term you would submit a Change of Enrollment form to your Coordinator and select full-time off campus.

To apply for Graduate Conference Funding from the CS Department please submit the PDF application to your Graduate Coordinator. Found here under 'other'.

Conference funding applications must be recieved at least a week before the conference start date.

Please note that the School of Computer Science can match your supervisor’s contributions up to $1000. Please ensure sections 1-5 are complete before submitting the application. A week before your travel date, your Graduate Coordinator will contact you with details on how to obtain your reimbursement.

PhD Forms