Student Resources

Graduate Student Checklist:

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Intent to Enroll in Graduate Studies:

Submission Page

Study Plans

M.S. in SAE:

Graduate Certificate in SAE:

Advisement

Luis Saballos

Director of Student Affairs

OHE 500Q
213-821-4234
lsaballo@usc.edu

Prisila Cisneros Vasquez

Assistant Director of Student Affairs

OHE 500U
(213) 764-7919
prisilac@usc.edu

Schedule Appointment

Frequently Asked Questions

New graduate students will have undergraduate prerequisites reviewed and may be required to take remedial courses prior to enrolling in graduate courses. Student should make appointments with student services advisor well in advance of their registration appointment time.

All SAE and ASTE M.S. and Ph.D. students meet with Luis as he is the primary advisor for these student populations.

Luis Saballos
Director of Student Affairs
OHE 500Q
(213) 821-4234
lsaballo@usc.edu

B.S. ASTE students contact Prisila for any questions. Contact her when Luis is out of the office.

Prisila Cisneros Vasquez
Assistant Director of Student Affairs
OHE 500U
213-764-7919
prisilac@usc.edu

You may talk to departmental faculty if you would like advice on career paths and electives. Students are strongly encouraged to meet or otherwise communicate with the Student Services Advisor each semester. Approval of electives, prerequisite courses, or any deviation from program requirements should be sought from the Technical Director. Students may contact Student Service advisors at (213) 821- 4234 or emailing saeinfo@usc.edu

All M.S. and Ph.D. students contact Luis as he is the primary advisor for this student population.

Luis Saballos
Director of Student Affairs
OHE 500Q
(213) 821-4234
lsaballo@usc.edu

Based on our initial review, you have not satisfied the program pre-requisites listed in the Graduate Program Handbook (pdf). Upon your arrival at USC, we will make a more thorough review to determine which, if any, prerequisite courses you will need to take at USC as part of your degree program. While these pre-requisites may reduce your flexibility when choosing electives, they usually do not require a longer than normal program.

In the admissions process, we determined that your undergraduate GPA or GRE scores are below the program’s minimum standards. Because you otherwise show promise, you have been admitted to the program. However, admission is conditional to your performance in the first 6 units completed at USC in your first semester. If, for some reason, you are unable to attain a GPA in excess of 3.0 in the first 6 units the program will consider remedies.

If a course has a "D" designated after the 5-digit class number (such as 35100D), departmental clearance ("D-clearance") is required prior to registration. It is rare for on-campus section SAE courses to need D-clearance. Contact Luis Saballos in the case that an SAE on-campus course is listed with a "D." You will find that this is often needed for classes in other engineering departments, so contacting their designated advisor is necessary.

All DEN@Viterbi sections of classes require D-clearance! If you are a DEN student, you must use the online D-clearance request process via the DEN Desire2Learn website/DEN@Viterbi Tools option. Additional information can be found here: DEN@Viterbi Course Registrations.

For engineering courses outside of ASTE, please contact the appropriate department.

Please note: AME, BME, CE, CSCI, EE, ENE, and ISE require students to complete D-Clearance requests via the D-Clearance Request Manager on myViterbi. Please pay special attention to the departmental announcements on the myViterbi system indicating when non-major students are eligible to request D-Clearance.

A master student may transfer a maximum of 4 units of graduate course work taken elsewhere before your admission to USC. The graduate coursework cannot apply to previous graduate degree. Before a transfer course can be applied towards your degree program, the course will need to be evaluated for transfer credit. You need to contact the Degree Progress in the Office Academic of Records and Registrar at (213) 740-7070 or degreeprogress@usc.edu to request a graduate transfer credit evaluation on the transcript from which the course was taken. The Degree Progress Office will determine whether the course is available for transfer credit. If it is determined the course is available for transfer, then your faculty advisor will determine whether the course applicable towards your degree program.

The STARS report is a detailed listing of a student's degree requirements that have been met and those that remain to be fulfilled (if any). It can found under OASIS. STARS reported are manually updated by your advisor. In case of any discrepancy, see your academic advisor for assistance. STARS reports are unofficial internal academic documents and are no longer accessible after a student graduates.

If you are registered in an on-campus section of a course that also includes a section delivered via at DEN@Viterbi, you will have access to the course via DEN's course management system, including webcasts, course documents, and access to other interactive tools to communicate with your professor and other students. To officially enroll into a DEN section as an on-campus student, fill out the DEN Petition. For more information about the petition, visit https://viterbigrad.usc.edu/den-petition/.