Advising-Grading-Registration Information

Each incoming student is assigned an initial faculty "academic" advisor who helps determine which courses the student should take. Students should plan to meet with their advisor at least once per quarter prior to registration.

Once a student finds a thesis topic, the thesis advisor takes over the student's guidance from the academic advisor. Students who have chosen a thesis advisor should notify the Student Services Counselor (SSC) and their academic advisor.

Students are also welcome to contact the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) at any time for advice on any academic issue.

FINDING A THESIS TOPIC

Please see the the site PHDAdvice which, while directed towards PhD dissertations, also contains some useful hints for MS theses.

REGISTRATION

After discussing coursework with their advisor, a student may register on-line through the MyUW site ( http://myuw.washington.edu) site.

The quarterly Time Schedule is available on the Web at: http://www.washington.edu/students/timeschd/.

Biostatistics courses are listed under School of Public Health & Community Medicine near the bottom of the school/dept list.

Entry codes are available from the department Curriculum Coordinator (currently Alex MacKenzie, alexam@u.washington.edu).

A full-time course load is 10 credits per quarter. Students who hold assistantships (RA, TA) or fellowships (trainees) need to register for 10 credits during Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters. Students whose primary appointment is either a TA or RA need to register for 5 credits in Summer quarter; students whose primary appointment is a traineeship need to register for 3 credits in Summer. Credits for RA/TA (600B,C courses, see below) count towards the credit total.

MATH 574-5-6 

The Math Department's real analysis series, which is recommended for most PhD students, has two sections: the 424-5-6 section is for undergraduates and the 574-5-6 section is for graduate students. Both undergrad and grad students meet together for the course; the division is used for grading purposes only (due to different University grading scales for undergrads and grads). Be sure to register for the graduate-level (574-5-6) section.

BIOST 580 (Seminar)

The Biostatistics Seminar course number (580) has three sections: A, B, and C.

BIOST 590 (Consulting course)

All M.S. and Ph.D. students are required to take one quarter of Biostat Consulting (BIOST 590) in order to graduate.

To receive credit for Biostat 590, students need to take the Statistics department course #598: Techniques in Statistical Consulting (lecture series). The reason for taking these lectures is to learn the techniques of statistical consulting before doing actual consulting projects.

It is recommended that students attend the Stat lecture series, if at all possible, during or before the quarter in which they take Biostat 590 (Consulting). Stat 598 is offered only Autumn and Spring quarters. (Biostat 590 is offered every quarter.)

Usually students attend Stat 598 and register for Biostat 590 in their second year (or later), when coursework has been completed in statistical application and their first-year qualifying exams have been passed. Students with prior training or experience in applied statistics may, however, choose to do otherwise.

Space in Biostat 590 is limited. If you plan to take consulting the coming academic year, please check with Alex MacKenzie (alexam@u.washington.edu) as soon as possible. Please be aware that while every attempt is made to give people their choice of quarters, students who plan to graduate in the coming year have priority. Others may be moved to later slots to accommodate such students if needed.

BIOST 600 (Independent Study)

This course number is used for three types of credit:

BIOST 700/800 (Thesis)

Biostat 700 (Master's Thesis) and 800 (PhD Dissertation) credits: you may register for these only after you have identified a topic and advisor, and have passed all qualifying exams. PhD students do not need to complete the Biology Project prior to taking 800 credits.

S/SN OPTION

The University allows students to take numerically graded courses on a satisfactory/not satisfactory basis if approved by either the graduate program advisor or the supervisory committee chair person. The choice must be indicated at the time of registration or by the tenth day of the quarter. The instructor submits a numeric grade which is converted by the registar's office ("S" is 2.7 or above). The Biostatistics program does not allow the S/NS option for required courses or for methodology elective courses that are to be counted toward degree requirements. Occasionally, students may be allowed to take a non-methodology biology elective with the S/NS option if the student does not have the appropriate background for the course; this required the permission of the Graduate Program Coordinator.

C/NC COURSES

Some Biostatistics courses, particularly special topics courses, are graded on a credit (C)/no credit (NC) basis for all enrolled students. These courses may be counted toward the degree requirements for methodology elective credits.

AUDITING

Students may audit a course with the instructor's permission. Students must satisfy University rules about the role of auditors. See http://www.washington.edu/students/reg/audit.html. Audited courses do not count towards full-time course load or graduate program requirements. Please also see the UW policies on registration (adding/dropping/changing etc) at: http://www.washington.edu/students/reg/wdpolicy.html.