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PlusOne Program with MS in Data Science

Our PlusOne Accelerated Master’s programs empower motivated students like you to start earning your master’s degree while pursuing your undergraduate education. In the PlusOne Program with MS in Data Science, you can complete up to four graduate-level courses and apply them to both your undergraduate and graduate data science degrees. Gain foundational data science knowledge and experience while reducing the time it takes to complete a master’s from two years to one.

Program details: PlusOne with MS in Data Science

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Students must be enrolled in the data science major or a data science combined major, or the computer science or a computer science combined major, to be in this pathway. Students in a data science or computer science combined major with Khoury College are eligible regardless of their home college affiliation.

Students may complete up to four graduate (master’s) courses as an undergraduate. Please note:

  •  Only one graduate course may be completed per semester.
  • The remaining required courses must be completed as a master’s student (post-bachelor’s graduation).
  • Minimum 3.0 GPA required to request graduate course enrollment.
    • First-year students cannot take their first graduate-level course during the summer. Please plan to take your first graduate-level course in the fall of your second year at the earliest.
       
  • Students can request enrollment in graduate-level courses via a survey that is emailed out before each semester’s registration period.

Interested students should meet with their advisor no later than their third semester to discuss how the PlusOne pathway will fit into their academic plan and when they plan to complete their first graduate-level course.

Admission requires:

  • Minimum 3.0 GPA, both cumulative and within the major
  • Successful completion of a graduate-level Khoury College course
  • Submission of the online PlusOne Application form:
    • Academic advisors will share the online application form with eligible students
    • Application form should only be submitted after the above requirements are met
    • Admission into the PlusOne program does not guarantee admission into the master’s program upon graduation at the bachelor’s level
  • To continue in the PlusOne program, students must maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA and earn a cumulative 3.0 GPA in all graduate-level CS courses.
  • Students admitted into the PlusOne program maintain undergraduate standing and must continue to request admission into graduate courses each term.
  • Undergraduates are limited to one graduate course per semester, with a limit of four graduate courses (including withdrawals) total during the undergraduate degree. Placement is not guaranteed.
  • Students should confer regularly with their undergraduate academic advisor to ensure proper planning.
  • Students entering a graduate program via the PlusOne pathway are not eligible for the Double Husky Scholarship. If you have additional questions related to tuition or scholarship eligibility, please reach out to Student Financial Services.

Graduate replacements for undergraduate courses

Important considerations for course selection:

Undergraduate Course RequirementGraduate Replacement
CS 3000 Algorithms and DataCS 5800 Algorithms*
DS 3500 Advanced Programming with DataDS 5110 Essentials of Data Science*
DS 4400 Machine Learning and Data Mining 1CS 6140 Machine Learning
DS 4420 Machine Learning and Data Mining 2CS 6220 Data Mining Techniques
CS 2484 (formerly IS 4300) Principles of Human Computer InteractionCS 5340 Computer/Human Interaction
CS 4120 Natural Language ProcessingCS 6120 Natural Language Processing
Khoury ElectiveCS 5330 Pattern Recognition and Computer Vision
CS 4350 (formerly IS 4800) Empirical Research MethodsCS 6350 Empirical Research Methods
CS 4180 Reinforcement LearningCS 5180 Reinforcement Learning and Sequential Decision Making
CS 4100 Artificial IntelligenceCS 5100 Foundations of Artificial Intelligence
CS 3200 Database DesignCS 5200 Database Management Systems
CS 4550 Web Development CS 5610 Web Development
CS 4220 (formerly IS 4200) Information Retrieval CS 6200 Information Retrieval

Offered at this Northeastern campus (for both undergraduate and graduate studies)

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PlusOne student FAQs

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No. As an undergraduate, you can double-count up to four graduate-level courses toward both degrees. You must complete your bachelor’s degree first, then finish the final year of the master’s degree afterward.

Yes. Full-time status at the graduate level means two graduate courses per fall or spring semester.

Yes, though it’s optional. Keep in mind that adding a co-op will extend your time to complete the MS degree. If you’re interested, connect with the graduate co-op team as early as possible after starting the MS program to review requirements and get access to NUworks at the graduate level.

You’ll need at least one full-time semester of in-progress graduate coursework (8 semester hours) before you can conduct a full co-op search — so the earliest you could go out on co-op is the term following your first fall or spring semester in the MS program.

Yes. PlusOne students are expected to enroll directly into graduate study; there’s no option to delay or defer.

For the PlusOne pathway in Computer Science, students can choose to complete their graduate studies in Boston, Oakland, Silicon Valley, or Seattle once they’ve finished their bachelor’s degree and transitioned into the MSCS program. For all other PlusOne pathways, both degrees are completed in Boston.

For questions about your PlusOne participation and how it fits into your undergraduate plan, connect with your Khoury Academic Advisor. If you’re in a Khoury combined major housed in a different college, reach out to your assigned Khoury Secondary Advisor instead.

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Byron Wallace

Byron Wallace

Byron Wallace is the director for the undergraduate artificial intelligence program and the Sy and Laurie Sternberg Interdisciplinary Associate Professor at Khoury College. He applies machine learning and natural language processing methods in the health informatics space, with the goal of developing hybrid human–AI systems and streamlining the synthesis of biomedical information.

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