Frequently Asked Questions

Please review our important dates page for further details on any important upcoming periods.

Please see important dates on the Academic Calendar for upcoming 100% and 50% tuition refund deadlines.

Email your Graduate Coordinator 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. A minimum of 70% (University of Waterloo converted grade) is required for transfer credit.

All official University letters are provided by The Centre. If The Centre requires any confirmations from your Graduate Coordinator, they will contact us directly once you have ordered the requested letter. 

To apply for Graduate Conference Funding from the CS Department please submit the PDF application to this Graduate Coordinator. 

Conference funding applications must be received at least one week before the conference start date.

Please note that the School of Computer Science can match your supervisor’s contributions up to $500. 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 can provide up to $500 per student per fiscal year (April 30 – May 1) for conference funding (based on available funds) 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.

To switch between a PhD and a Master's program, please reach out to your Graduate Coordinator. You will need to complete a program plan change form.

Please note that your funding levels may change depending on the program.

If you are switching from a Master's to a PhD, your term count will carry over. However, you will be considered a PhD student from a Bachelor's background (as you have not completed a Master's degree), and you will need to complete 8 courses at the PhD level.

Be sure to thoroughly review the PhD program requirements before making this decision.

Discuss the formatting of your research paper with your supervisor(s).

There are no formal guidelines regarding formatting the research paper as there are for the thesis. Your research paper should be similar to any research paper you would submit for a course but more in depth as it is equivalent to one course.

We do not admit directly into the Research Paper program. Students may transfer into this program with the support of their supervisor(s).

MMath Research Paper students are not guaranteed funding.

The Research Paper program requires the completion of 7 courses along with the submission of a research paper.

Students can switch into the Research Paper option by sending a completed Program Change Form to their graduate program coordinator.

You will need to be in the co-op program for two academic terms before your first work term. 

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. 

Review our Master of Mathematics (Computer Science) page for more information about MMath Co-Op.

Co-op students will be assessed the co-op fee over the course of three terms: 

1. During their pre-recruitment term. 
2. Each subsequent work term. 

MMath students can apply for the co-op option in their first or second term. Please contact your graduate program coordinator for more details.

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. 

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

• Complete the mandatory WIL601: Career Foundations for Work-Integrated Learning course two terms prior to their first work term.

We recommend any students interested to please email your graduate program coordinator and attend our termly co-op information session. 

Please review the MMath Co-op Option page so you are aware of all the requirements for the program. 

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.

30 days after finishing your final work term, you are required to submit one co-op work term report to your graduate coordinator.

For more information please see our MMath Co-op Option page.

Email your Graduate Coordinator 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. A minimum of 70% (University of Waterloo converted grade) is required for transfer credit.

All official University letters are provided by The Centre. If The Centre requires any confirmations from your Graduate Coordinator, they will contact us directly once you have ordered the requested letter. 

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.

*Note that PhD course requirements and the Comprehensive I are two separate program requirements.

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.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.

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.
• Note UW course equivalents on the comprehensive I form. 

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.

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
• Note where and when the internship took place 

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.

Please review our PhD Program Overview page to learn more about the PhD internship program.

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.

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 $500. 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.  

Yes and no, the way we choose over eligible (OE) students is based on experience of what courses are left.

No, you must be a full-time student to be assigned a TA.

No, we try out best to accommodate preferences, however, it is all depending on what courses are being taught and how many TA that course can have.

Your TA pays $4,380 before taxes per term.

No, ideally, we don’t have students doing 2 double TA in a row.

No, you will only receive double TA pay, but your Graduate Research Studentship (GRS) will be lower than it would be for 1 TA.

No, the expectation is that you're in the country and on-campus when completing a TA.

Your 'decline' will be counted as 1 TA unit towards your total entitlement.

Your funding will be $4,000 when doing a single TA unit, and $1,000 when doing a double TA unit.

Your funding will be $6,818 when doing a single TA unit, and $2,628 when doing a double TA unit.

Your funding will be $3,439 when doing a single TA unit, and $1,000 when doing a double TA unit.

Your funding will be $6,059 when doing a single TA unit, and $1,679 when doing a double TA unit.

Your Graduate Research Studentship funding will be disbursed to you as a lump sum at the beginning of the term (unless there are delays with getting authorization).

Your TA pay will be disbursed to you monthly, at the end of each month.

If you switch from full-time to part-time, you will no longer recieve Graduate Research Studentship funding.

Please reach out to csgtaschol@uwaterloo.ca.
 

Please reach out to Grad Payment Students and Awards.