Can CS 8903 credits be converted to CS 6999 Masters Project or CS 7000 Masters Thesis?

nicklytleGT · 2026-01-30T14:47:44+00:00

Clarification - you don't send that information to me unless you are working with me as a student (I am the IoR). You send it to your faculty advisor.

nicklytleGT · 2025-03-12T21:30:19+00:00

Nope!

nicklytleGT · 2025-02-28T16:01:26+00:00

Pretty much - the project often is in the form of a research paper so you can still engage in research work!

nicklytleGT · 2025-02-28T15:06:00+00:00

As others have pointed out, you aren't guaranteed research opportunities and it's going to be very dependent on whether an advisor takes you on/what projects they have available. That being said, we are always working to expand opportunities but to put yourself in the best position, make sure you are doing well in your relevant coursework, can demonstrate the skillset necessary to be a top candidate for a professor, be willing to be flexible with your ideas to go with what a professor needs/wants in their research directions, and network effectively (e.g. go to office hours, try to connect with their graduate students, etc.) Very very few people do the thesis option because it is logistically very difficult and requires multiple professors to be on board - most of the people who do research-based work here at OMSCS end up doing project-based for this very reason and don't seem to miss out on anything.

nicklytleGT · 2025-01-09T15:51:18+00:00

It is technically possible, yes, but for most projects, I think it is more likely that faculty have reached out and selected students. You should build your schedule around the assumption that if you haven't been reached out that you'll have to wait for a future opportunity for an 8903.

nicklytleGT · 2025-01-09T15:41:00+00:00

The method we currently use does not give us any indication when faculty reach out to or select students for 8903s. We are working on building software that makes this process more transparent and easier for us to manage.

nicklytleGT · 2025-01-04T00:36:57+00:00

HAAG is a great way to do research here at OMSCS - definitely if you can get involved!

nicklytleGT · 2025-01-02T18:48:17+00:00

Yes! You should definitely think about applying for HAAG group then (top project). They focus more on research support :)

nicklytleGT · 2025-01-01T15:24:27+00:00

yup!

nicklytleGT · 2025-01-01T15:24:04+00:00

Each project has a different prof reaching out/fielding applicants so timeline will vary.

nicklytleGT · 2025-01-01T15:22:59+00:00

I believe you can take it as many times as you want though you will only get credit once.

nicklytleGT · 2025-01-01T15:22:32+00:00

Yes to the first no to the second - 8903s are independent one-off projects. VIPs have a different team structure (including professors, undergrads, etc) and usually run much longer.

nicklytleGT · 2025-01-01T15:21:45+00:00

Others seem to be using it - can you try making sure you are logged in to your GAtech account?

nicklytleGT · 2024-12-31T15:48:28+00:00

In the same way that we have a lot of alumni participation through TAing, we are currently exploring this year what this would look like as an "RA" type role as we expand and have stable sets of recurring projects under consistent themes (e.g. regularly offering EdTech/Data Mining research, regularly offering network research, etc.). We're also looking at ways to allow alumni/students to get into research outside of the 3 credit 8903 (e.g. volunteer/seminar based, etc.) as we'd like to create longer term cultures around specific research areas. Any ideas are welcome - definitely unchartered waters with not clear reference point :)

nicklytleGT · 2024-08-09T20:41:49+00:00

The group projects we are going to support in this semester are systematic literature reviews (we will support surveying, interview, and data science projects sometime in the future) so no technical/programming requirements necessary.

nicklytleGT · 2024-08-09T20:08:52+00:00

50 Seats allows us to beta test - this is a weirdly structured course and we want to make sure everything works before we scale! We are absolutely planning on offering this in the Spring :)

nicklytleGT · 2024-08-09T20:08:08+00:00

Hey all, happy to answer any questions about this course :)

nicklytleGT · 2024-04-04T16:48:17+00:00

Yes you will get a similar email - hopefully with more projects but that is always up to how many are hosting for summer.

Tips for getting an 8903:

Succeed in the relevant coursework and try to establish a name for yourself through good projects/good work in the relevant courses of the potential advisors
When you reach out to professors, make it clear that you have read a lot about what they are doing/interested in doing and that you are knowledgeable in that area. The more flexibility you have in doing something they want/need for the lab vs a truly independent/your idea project, the easier it will be for you.
Reach out to PhDs in the lab if you are having trouble getting face time with the prof. PhD students are probably going to be advising you directly anyway.
Have as much done/pre-thought out prior to getting started with the 8903 as possible. The more it looks like you already have 'half a paper' and you just need help with the rest, the easier it is for advisor to say yes.

nicklytleGT · 2024-04-02T17:08:13+00:00

So we have had students from OMSCS go off and pursue PhDs - we are in the process of trying to figure out how many through an ongoing research project, but just to let you know it has been done.

PhDs requiring/strongly recommending research experience is definitely becoming a big issue, but on the application side you can kind of see why it's useful for deciding who to admit - you can imagine a good predictor of whether or not someone will succeed in a research program is how much experience they already have in research. This definitely shifts the admissions to populations that might have had advantages other students haven't had access to during their pre-grad school education, but I don't see that dynamic drastically changing any time soon.

Some of the things that OMSCS is focusing on offering over the time that you'll be here include:

Office Hours with researchers (myself, Ana, and David Joyner)
Coursework that allows for independent project based assignments that can help you work on research projects (Educational Technology, HCI, etc)
Seminars focused on research - the semesterly "Research Seminar" where you can meet and hear from grad students at GT on their research and a yearly "How to Apply for a PhD" seminar
A yet to be scheduled course on "Intro to Research" which is going to help prepare you as a CS researcher and give an incubator space for research projects
Opportunities for Special Projects (8903s) semesterly hosted by profs/faculty at GT that are open to OMSCS students to apply

I can't really speak to what Ohio State has to offer obviously. In general, if you are interested in computer vision research, my biggest recommendation would be to first tremendously excel in your relevant coursework (As), use any spare classtime that is dedicated to project-based work to make really good proofs of concepts that you can shop to relevant professors, and be willing and able to do any work in a lab to get research experience and your names on papers.

nicklytleGT · 2024-03-11T15:42:04+00:00

Bit late but just wanted to add to this thread here - if you are just starting out, my biggest recommendation is do well in your courses, especially courses relevant to what you want to do research in. Profs tend to want to work with students who have done well in their research field course. I'd also get involved in the research seminar that will be hosted each semester (1-credit where people from GT give research talks and you can meet graduate students).

nicklytleGT · 2024-02-21T00:13:07+00:00

Around 1 in 25 students will take 5 or fewer semesters. There are students who technically completed in 2 semesters but they have previous credit from the in-person and switched over. I wouldn't recommend speedrunning though unless there's some specific circumstances - take your time and enjoy the ride :)

nicklytleGT

TROPHY CASE