Frequently Asked Questions

Students may request a one-time deferral of one, two or three terms from their original start date. Please send an email request to graduate@cs.dal.ca, stating the term you wish to defer your admission and the reason why you are deferring your admission.

For information on tuition fees, please visit Money Matters.

Usually within two months of receipt of the completed application package.

Yes, you can apply and if you are accepted, a condition of your acceptance will be to complete the current programme (with a minimum B average) and submit a final transcript as proof.

If you are enrolled in courses during the current academic year (from September 1st to August 31st) at a post-secondary institution, list the courses you are taking.

If you require a leave of absence from your program please fill out the "Request for Leave of Absence" form which can be found on the Faculty of Graduate Studies forms.

When you change your address you need to update your information at Dal Online - Web for Students.

REGN 9999 is the Registration Course that students in programme fee degrees are required to register for each term (in addition to all required courses including their thesis). Scholarship funds can not be processed unless you have registered for REGN 9999. CRNs are available in the Academic Calendar.

CSCI course numbers group related courses using a digit in the course number.  It is the “hundreds” digit in graduate courses:  the position of the topic T digit in CSCI 5Txx and CSCI 6Txx.

The subject groupings occur as follows, relating to the T digit:

• 0 – generally accessible or broad CS topics
• 1 – theory, algorithms, data structures, and math-like topics
• 2 – computer organization and architecture, operating systems, platforms
• 3 –development of software like software engineering, programming languages, architectures, and frameworks
• 4 – data management, databases, big data, and data-centred topics
• 5 – artificial intelligence and machine learning
• 6 – human computer interaction, graphics, and visualization topics
• 7 – computer networks, network security topics, web and mobile development
• 8 – cross-Faculty courses, notably bioinformatics
• 9 – unclassified topics, including administrative courses

If all of your degree requirements have been met, then you do not need to register for the fall term.

For formatting requirements please visit the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Every graduate student in a thesis programme is required to submit an Annual Progress Report to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, through their supervisor, graduate coordinator, and head/chair/director. The report is due on an annual basis, one month prior to the anniversary of the student's admission date.

If you do not submit the necessary progress report form, your registration will be suspended until you have completed and submitted the form.

Students wishing to transfer from the MACS to MCS program need a minimum average grade of A- for at least four CSCI graduate courses (excluding CSCI 6901 Direct Studies and CSCI5100 Communication Skills), and two recommendation letters from CS faculty. The four CSCI graduate classes can be a combination of CSCI5xxx and CSCI6xxx level classes (note the exclusions). A formal application should then be submitted to the FCS Graduate Office, including 1) a letter of request for transferring from MACS to MCS signed by both the student and the supervisor, 2) a copy of the transcript, 3) the two recommendation letters. 

Once submitted, your application & background will then be considered.

Students wishing to transfer from the Master of Computer Science to the Master of Applied Computer Science program will be evaluated on an individual basis.

The decision will be made based on both the suitability of the student for the MACS program, as well as the capacity within the program.

No. Course audits are only allowed for MACS students if they are approved by MACS administration prior to the audit.

If MACS students take courses on audit, without prior approval, they will be charged an additional fee for the course.

The condition for scheduling a thesis defence is that the supervisor has read the first draft of the thesis, approved the core chapters of the thesis and made recommendations for a refined draft. The timeline for a final supervisor approved version before submitting to the Defence Committee should be based on the agreement of both the supervisor and the student, it is recommended to have two weeks for the supervisor to read and provide recommendations, and two weeks for the student to make changes for submitting to the Defence Committee.