CSE Undergrad News

Reminder, the application for the fifth year masters (officially known as the combined BS/MS program) closes at midnight on June 1st.

http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/ugrad/current/bsms/admissions.html

For those of you planning to apply to graduate school this year, this is important to keep in mind.

Hello Undergraduate and Graduate Advisors,

Many of you have already read President Obama’s speech to the National Academy of Sciences, April 27^th.    The plan is for NSF to triple its Graduate Research Fellowship awards beginning with the fall 2009 application round.  Please encourage your soon to be Seniors and First & Second Year Graduate Students to begin thinking about their applications and lining up mentors and support letters.  Applications are usually due the first week of November.

The COE Office of Research & Graduate Studies will host a workshop in the fall once the new NSF GRF announcement comes out.   I will be posting examples of outstanding support letters on the web.  *Essential elements besides good GPA:  A focused research plan, meaningful and detailed support letters, plus student integration in the science & engineering community through lab research and outreach.*

*************************************************

Excerpt from President Obama’s speech:

“My budget also triples the number of National Science Foundation graduate research fellowships.  This program was created as part of the space race five decades ago. In the decades since, it’s remained largely the same size — even as the numbers of students who seek these fellowships has skyrocketed.  We ought to be supporting these young people who are pursuing scientific careers, not putting obstacles in their path.”

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-at-the-National-Academy-of-Sciences-Annual-Meeting/

Mary J. Heusner

Director, Research

Office of New Initiatives
College of Engineering

The Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering is hosting an information session for all students interested in user-centered design and graduate programs in HCDE. We are hosting one session in Seattle (5/6/2009) and one in Bellevue (5/13/2009).

Seattle Information Session
What: UCD Certificate / MS in HCDE Information Session
When: Wednesday, May 6th, 2009 at 6PM
Where: Sieg Hall, room 420

Bellevue Information Session
What: UCD Certificate / MS in HCDE Information Session
When: Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 at 6PM
Where: 2445 140th Ave. NE (Park 140), Bellevue, WA
Cheers,

Gian Bruno
Academic Adviser
Phone: 206.543.1798
Email: gbruno@u.washington.edu
423C Sieg Hall
http://www.hcde.washington.edu
HCDE Blog: http://depts.washington.edu/tc/wordpress/

University of Notre Dame is launching a new one-year master’s program that may appeal to students considering the CSE Combined BS/MS program. The Notre Dame degree is designed for science, CS, math, and engineering graduates who will not go on to a PhD, but want to utilize their undergraduate degree in a different way.  There is some financial aid available. The deadline is soon, but the application is straight-forward and the GRE is not required this year. Read on for more info! (more…)

We want you to know about a Fellowship Opportunity. Prospective engineering and computer science students are invited to apply for a $30,000 interdisciplinary doctoral fellowships in computation transportation science (CTS) at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Visit http://cts.cs.uic.edu <http://cts.cs.uic.edu/>  for complete program details and application information.

The Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholarship awards up to $50,000 per year for up to 6 years to college seniors or recent graduates with excellent academic records and financial need to attend graduate or professional programs beginning fall 2009. Each UW campus can nominate up to 2 students to compete in the national competition for this award. The campus application process and additional information about the Jack Kent Cooke Scholarship are available at the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships & Awards website.

To be eligible, students must have:

• Senior standing or have graduated from UW within the past five years.
• A cumulative undergraduate grade-point average of 3.50 or better.
• Demonstrated unmet financial need.
• A bachelor’s degree by the start of the fall 2009.
• Not previously been nominated for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship.
• Plans to begin their first graduate degree program at an accredited college or university in the fall of 2009.

(more…)

Email from Cynthia Matuszek advertising the NSF Essay Review this Friday:

This Friday at noon, we’ll be having an essay proof-reading session in CSE 403.  Bring a few copies of your essays if you get a chance; or, if they’re not done, bring whatever you have, and let fellow students offer help on getting finished.
Or, if nothing else, come and proofread!

Last year’s applicants found this session helpful, so don’t miss it.  Remember, essays are due to NSF next Wednesday.

* WHERE: CSE 403
* WHEN: Fri 10/31, 12:00pm – 1:30pm
* BRING: Your NSF essays or parts thereof
* COSTUME REQUIRED: No

We’re unlikely to score leftover Indian this time, so feel free to bring food if that’s your lunchtime.

–Cynthia

If you’re applying to graduate school this year, we strongly encourage you to attend the CSE or the College of Engineering NSF Fellowship workshops (or both!). November 5 is the NSF fellowship application deadline for CSE majors, and our workshop is Friday, October 17.

(more…)