Graduation Information

Applying for Graduation
Graduating Senior Priority
Departmental Graduation Reception
Exit Survey
Degree Validation
Honors Degree Categories
Career Planning
Alumni Information
Job Offers/Graduate School Survey Results

Applying for Graduation

Graduation is not automatic. Generally, you should file for graduation two or three quarters before you plan to graduate (for example, file during autumn quarter if you plan to graduate at the end of spring quarter). If you are pursuing a double major or double degree, you will need to make an appointment with your other department, as well. If you have a minor, we will check your minor requirements at your CSE graduation appointment.

The last day to file your graduation application is the third Friday of the quarter you plan to graduate. You must see an advisor before then. (See additional information on Graduating Senior Priority deadlines below.)

To file for graduation, please follow these steps:

  1. Update your Co-Op/Internship and Scholarship Information by using the MyCSE page, which will allow us to update our records on where our students worked before graduating. This information is kept in an internal CSE database.
  2. Check your MyCSE page, undergraduate tab, to see if there is a graduation application date.  If there is a missing date and you think you came in, email ugrad-advisor@cs and we'll double check. If you don't think you have been in, you'll need to make a graduation application appointment.
  3. Graduation appointments: Email ugrad-advisor@cs, OR an advisor directly to book an appointment. Alternatively, you can try dropins if they don't look busy.

Graduating Senior Priority

Students who plan to graduate in winter or spring quarters and who wish to be eligible for Graduating Senior Priority (GSP) should schedule a graduation appointment with a CSE advisor before registration begins for the following quarter. If you are pursuing a second major, schedule an appointment with that department's advisor, as well.

You will have a maximum of two quarters of GSP. If, after two quarters, you do not graduate and continue to take classes, you will be eligible for regular senior registration according to the schedule outlined in the Registration Guidelines.

Departmental Graduation Reception

Graduating CSE majors and their families and friends are invited to a graduation ceremony and reception held the morning of the UW-Seattle ceremony, June 15th, 2013. Our departmental event is from 9-10:30 AM in Meany Hall on the UW Campus. There will be a reception following the departmental ceremony in the Paul G. Allen Center for CS&E atrium. Invitations with complete information will be mailed to graduating seniors in May. Students may also participate in the UW ceremony: our event is scheduled to allow time for both. Students must register for the UW Graduation Ceremony separately.

The attire for the CSE graduation reception is either cap and gown or business casual -- your choice. You will need tickets for the CSE event and for the UW Commencement ceremony. To park on campus on Saturday for the CSE event, you must register on the UW Graduation website.

Exit Survey

Please make sure to fill out the exit survey during the last quarter you are attending courses at UW. The information you provide will help assure the improvement of the undergraduate program.

 

Degree Validation

The UW maintains a directory of degrees earned. Prospective employers and others who need verification that you've earned your degree may access this information online.

Honors Degree Categories

There are several different categories of "Honors". We'll explain some of the more commons forms below.

  • University Honors Program
  • CSE Departmental Honors
  • Baccalaureate Honors: Cum Laude ("with praise"), Magna Cum Laude ("with great praise"), Summa Cum Laude (with highest praise")

    • Baccalaureate honors are awarded upon graduation to undergraduates earning their first bachelor's degree with at least 90 UW credits, of which at least 60 are numerically graded. Correspondence credits do not count as "UW credits."

    • These honors have nothing to do with whether you are in either the departmental or college honors program; unlike the invitation to join Phi Beta Kappa, they do not require any particular distribution of credits. In addition, earning quarterly and/or annual Dean's List recognition does not necessarily qualify you for baccalaureate honors.

    • All graduates earning baccalaureate honors are given a gold honor cord to wear at the Commencement ceremony.

    • For students graduating in spring, the honors listed in the commencement program, as well as honor cord distribution, are based upon your cumulative GPA as of the winter quarter since spring grades are not available for this determination.

    • Spring classes are ultimately included in the credit totals and GPA calculations for honors posted to your final record.

    • The GPAs for baccalaureate honors are set each year for the following year (autumn through summer) by a subcommittee of the Faculty Council on Academic Standards; they are based on statistics for the current year provided by the Graduation and Academic Records Office. Since 1995-96, cutoffs have been different for each of the colleges of the University. Check out the UW Baccalaureate Honors page for details.

Honor Societies

The UW Honors website has a link to all the UW-sponsored honor societies. We encourage you to view this page for more information on the following societies:

Career Planning

Please review our CSE Career Information page to find links to several online employment opportunities. Visit the UW Center for Career Services (134 Mary Gates Hall) to learn about upcoming workshops on conducting a job search, writing resumes and cover letters, and interviewing. Plan to attend an orientation, which will provide an overview of career services, campus recruiting procedures, and registration to use the Center.

Alumni Information

Make sure to stay in touch with the department and with your fellow alumni through our alumni directory. You'll also find information about e-mail forwarding, the latest happenings around the department, upcoming events, and additional items of interest to graduates.

For students who moved their CSE email accounts to the cloud computing system, you can keep your email there indefinitely, and your CSE net id login should remain current. As this process transitions, CSE advisors will have more updates for you.

You should also consider checking out the UW Alumni Association webpage for information about one free year of membership and how to set up your UW alumni email account (free).

Job Offers/Graduate School Survey Results

We poll our graduating classes to see where they head after graduation. Check out the graduating student survey page for details.

 

Last changed Wed, 2013-01-23 18:11