Admission

Applicants are only considered for admission to the CE major at the time of initial application.

Admission to the CSE department is offered to students who have had CS/CE experience.

Program Length

48 units; 2 years (full-time students)

40 units; 1.5 years (full-time students)

Class Requirements

The CE major is its own concentration within the ECE department. For a degree in this concentration/major: 1 required core course (4 units), 5 “additional units” courses (20 units), to be chosen from a list of 20 ECE and CSE options, and 6 technical elective courses (24 units). Students must take 16 units of ECE courses.

There are 12 concentrations available to students within the CSE department. For a degree in any concentration: 4 required core courses (including a 1 unit seminar – 13 units), 3 “concentration courses” offered from the list provided for each concentration (12 units), and 5 technical elective courses (20 units).

Degree Requirements

Students must complete 48 units of coursework and either Plan I (Thesis) or Plan II (Comprehensive Exam)

Students must complete 40 units of coursework, including a capstone project and either Plan I (Thesis) or Plan II (Comprehensive Exam)

Thesis

Up to 8 units of research (ECE 299) can count toward the degree.

8 units of research (CSE 298) are required.

Comprehensive Exam

The ECE Course-Hosted Comprehensive Exams are practical exams designed to evaluate students' abilities to apply what they have learned in the course. The exam will take the form of the specific course's final or midterm exam.  Please read the Comprehensive Exam guidelines for detailed information. 

There are 2 Comprehensive Exam options for CSE. The Standard Plan exam includes coursework from CSE, and the Interdisciplinary Plan exam includes CSE courses, as well as a secondary concentration from another, pre-approved department (i.e. COGSCI, ECE). Both exams consist of a project presentation and an oral exam.

GPA Requirements

All courses used toward the degree must be taken for a letter grade, except ECE 299 which can only be taken S/U.

A cumulative GPA of 3.0 is required to remain in good standing; each quarter a GPA of 2.0 is required to remain in good standing.

All courses used toward the degree must be taken for a letter grade, except CSE 293 and CSE 298 which can be taken S/U. Core courses must be completed with a “B” average. All courses must be passed with a grade of B- or higher. 

Admission

Applicants are only considered for admission to the CE major at the time of initial application.

Admission to the CSE department is offered to students who have had CS/CE experience.

Time Limits

Students must advance to candidacy by the end of 4 years. Total university support cannot exceed 7 years. Total registered time at UC San Diego cannot exceed 8 years.

Students must advance to candidacy by the end of 4 years. Total university support cannot exceed 7 years. Total registered time at UC San Diego cannot exceed 8 years.

Degree Requirements

Students entering the program with a B.S. and electing to obtain an M.S. must complete 48 units of coursework as outlined in the Computer Engineering degree planner.

Students entering the program with an M.S. should work with their faculty advisor to determine courses to take for their degree plan.

All Ph.D. students must complete 49 units of coursework as outlined in CSE’s course requirements. This includes breadth and depth requirements along with 12 units of electives.

Competency Requirements

There is no formal competency requirement. Students are encouraged to work with their faculty advisor to select courses that will prepare them for their Ph.D. studies.

Ph.D. students must demonstrate competency in six undergraduate CSE courses.

Exam requirements

Ph.D. students are required to take 3 exams:

• Preliminary Exam*

• University Qualifying Exam

• Dissertation Defense

*Students will be tested on two ECE courses for the preliminary exam.

Ph.D. students are required to take 3 exams:

• Research Exam

• University Qualifying Exam

• Dissertation Defense

GPA Requirements

All courses used toward the degree must be taken for a letter grade, except ECE 299 which can only be taken S/U.

A cumulative GPA of 3.0 is required to remain in good standing; each quarter a GPA of 2.0 is required to remain in good standing.

Breadth requirement – 3.3 GPA

Depth requirement – 3.4 GPA

Electives -  No grade lower than C-

Note: Only S/U grades are allowed for CSE 291, 292, 299, and 500

Teaching Assistantships

Teaching Assistantship experience is not required, but is available to students.

One quarter of Teaching Assistantship training is required.