 I'm so excited to see so many people that have joined our session. Welcome everyone. We're going to begin with just a little bit of some housekeeping information. The first is this is a session for University of Wisconsin Milwaukee students who are admitted to the computer science master's program for fall 21. As we go through the presentation we have a handful of people that are here to talk to you today. And in order to make it go as smoothly as possible we are requesting that everyone in the session that's not a presenter. Please keep your cameras off and please keep your account muted. That makes it a nicer and a smoother presentation for everyone that's listening, especially those that may have some connectivity issues. So if you're just listening into the session if you're not presenting please keep your cameras off and your computer muted so your microphone muted so that we can have as clear of a presentation as possible. You'll notice in the zoom format there is a chat option. If you have questions along the way. Please feel free to use the chat function to submit your questions we will have plenty of time to answer those questions. That's how you can let us know what you're wondering about and we're happy to answer those questions. For those of you, if you could take a look at the name that you have on your zoom account. If it doesn't match the name that you use to be to apply and be admitted to WM. If you could please change it to that for us. WM our College of Engineering and Applied Sciences has these really fancy engineering pens there there are a pen but it has several tools incorporated in it and they're really great for engineers and we're happy to give one to you as a reward for attending this session today. We'll give it to you when you arrive on campus but the only way we can do that is if we know who you are. So if you could please go into your zoom account and change your name to the name that you applied and were admitted to WM that would be fantastic it would really help us know who attended the session today and make sure you get that fancy pen when you arrive on campus. Thank you. So we're going to start the discussion for today. We have some different people on if you've attended one of these sessions before you'll be excited to hear that we have some new people to talk to you today. So I am Jen singer some of you know my name I'm part of the international admissions team at UWM and work with you when you submitted your documents and other things so thank you it's so nice to meet all of you. I look forward to seeing you in person. We also have Professor Molly here from the computer science program. He is one of the faculty members and he'll be talking to you about the computer science program. We also have a kathir who's a current computer science master's program, and then we also have pre all Shaw, who was UWM representative in the South Asian region. So each of the each of these people are going to talk to you a little bit today about some important things. So let's get started. I'd like for pre all to please introduce yourself and just talk to you about the kinds of things that pre all does and, and the reasons that you might be interested in Thank you for y'all. Thank you so much. Hi, everyone. Good evening, I'm real sure it is it is good to meet everyone in the session like this. I've been working with the University of Wisconsin will office in class since past three, three years. I have been handling the overall admissions and operations for the South Asia region. And it has been fantastic. I like our students who have any queries related to the application procedure or like a program information or any queries would like to know. I like, you know, would love, would love to like, you know, help, and in every way I can and I have over nine years of experience in education sector and I'm based out of India. We have our Facebook, like, you know, page which is like, you know, face University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, South Asia page. So you can also check because like, you know, it is updates you like, you know, can get on the, like, you know, Facebook page also in chat I will mention my details you can read out to me you can email me you can call you can I'll be more than happy to assist in every ways I can. So, thank you, I'll be like, you know, happy to connect with you all I'm pretty much sure like you know students from South Asia will be already have connected on falls and you will have my details. So, like, if you have any questions for me, please feel free to reach out to me. I'll now hand over to Jen. Thank you for y'all. I know that not all of our students here today are from South Asia, but many are and and you probably have already connected with pre all she's fantastic and a wonderful resource so if you need any help please feel free to reach out to her. Next, I'd like to turn it over to a cough, who is a current student in the computer science master's program. A cough if you wouldn't mind just introducing yourself and telling them a little bit about yourself and then I have some questions for you. Thank you. Hi, everyone. I'm like, I'm currently a master's students at UWM, and I'm also doing an internship in Milwaukee to currently. And so, first of all, I would like to congratulate you guys because you're coming to a wonderful university with like everything is so well designed over here. I like you're definitely going to have a very good time over here. Yeah. Jen, you can ask me the questions. Sure. So the first is, can you tell us about your experience in the computer science master's program. And specifically, I know that you're in the professional track, can you tell us what you like about that and your favorite courses. Yeah, so for me, because I was from an electronics background, I didn't have like a hard coding experience but like not to a level which they taught over here at UWM. And even you know, if I being through like the level of coding which they teach in India and like the depth which they go over here at UWM is you know, very much so like from the point of professional track like being in a professional like the best advantage is that like you get lots of hands on coding assignments and hands of coding practice. So like you'll have a really good hold over coding stuff and like then it goes down to the algorithm for the next part of your master's and like the algorithm courses like Professor Cheng, she's really good. And like you're really going to have very good hold over algorithms too if you attend that class and like which can make you, you know, job ready any day like that is what you need for a like to get a job at the United States. Akath, you mentioned getting a job. Can you share with the students on the call today about your experience with having a job and an internship? Yeah, so about getting a job, you know, it depends on your luck too but it's just that I feel like if you put in all the hard work, you will definitely get the job. And like from being like, what do I say? It's like about making connections. How do you reach out to people? How do you like connect over LinkedIn? You can reach out to anyone. Now there is like this career fair at UWM and I got my job through the career fair which took place, which was a virtual meeting which they had and like I met Melvock, he told my employer over there and like I talked to them. You just need to you know, you just need to tell them like what you are doing and how much like you're interested in learning and what are your passions and trust me like you'll definitely get an interview call after that and like if you have like all the Like if you're done the assignments correctly, if you have solved a bit of lead code, I think not just the easy questions. I think you are good enough to like get a job over here. Like in the Melvock region. Yeah, and the thing is, like, if you talk about Melvock, like a lot of the companies which are over here in Melvock, all of the people who like the employees who work there, they are an alumni from UWM. So they actually have an idea like how the course work over here at UWMS. So like whenever you say something to them like it makes sense to them because you know they have also been in the same shoes some years back. So like, if you want to get a job in Melvock, like getting a master's degree from UWM will definitely boost up your chances of getting a job. Akatha, would you be willing to share with the students what your internship is and the types of things that they're that you do so they have an idea of what they could potentially expect. Yeah, so it basically depends on the profile which you go for. So I'm a software engineer intern. So what Melvock tool is very much for you know a product based company. So what my task is like I have to like we are making smart tools. So I so we basically collect the data from the tools because of some chip it has and like we process the data in such a way like so that people can perform analytics and that data. And basically I work with the front end as well as back end and my job is basically you know to like in basically more of it is front end so I work with the reactor lot and I have to like make the front end look good for the website and how you we just our job is to make the work easy for the service people as well as the people who are working with the tools like they have this app or they can open you know the website for the tool and I basically work in that website. Thank you that sounds very very interesting. You mentioned earlier about making professional connections. I'm wondering about personal connections. Can you talk a little bit about social connections and how you connect with other students and you know what's it like to be a student outside of the classroom. What's it like to be a student at UWM. Well being true you know like when I came the pandemic had hit so you know I couldn't get out much like to make a lot of friends but the thing is like once. So it's like everything. There are a lot of things through which you can get social you know like there is this on campus job and UWM is best about that because every student gets an on campus job over here. So when you go to the on campus like to do your on campus job you meet a lot of people from different backgrounds and so like you get more exposure you know and on top of that like people over here in Milwaukee are very friendly too. So if you just go to the beach which is right by you know right near the university so you can see a lot of people over there and they even invite you to play games with them so you can go over there play volleyball the beach volleyball or you can just sit in the stand and you can like really make a lot of friends over there and you know I luckily met some people in the bus to like when I was traveling to and from and in the university like if you'll see. I like there are a lot of student organizations like you know which actually help you to socialize but the fact was like because I was when I came it was like the pandemic had just started so like not many student organizations took with that active. So yeah like I was not that much social like in the if you could say in the university but I was like more I have made more friends to the on campus job as well as like outside. It must have been a very challenging way to start your studies at UWM right at the beginning of the pandemic. Yeah it really was like you know when it the pandemic wasn't there like you used to the good you used to go to campus you would see a lot of students over there and you know like there were some of the other events going on every day. You know so like you you can just go and say go there and say hey I want to take part in this event and they're like small events you know like just for 15 to 20 minutes it will take. Like happy to help and you know best part is you even get something free out of that like some free gifts or something and it's like fun. Very nice. I do agree with you that at the very beginning of each new semester our campus is very busy with activities. There's a lot of opportunities. Of course because of the pandemic that has slowed down but we're starting to open up again and so we're hoping to have that fun atmosphere again this fall. So share with the students what you like about Milwaukee and then also your access or experience in enjoying Chicago as well. Okay, like I'll just answer persona once persona I'm interning with Milwaukee tool currently like she asked me a question and about Milwaukee you know like the best part about Milwaukee is like what should I say like if you come here and like if you get a job here. There was this ranking which came and like if you're starting your career early in the United States Milwaukee was the second best place to live in and the reason about that is like you know in Milwaukee the thing is everything is really cheap over here. Very very cheap because I went to Chicago and over there a gallon of milk was something like $4.5 and here in Milwaukee it's just $1.5 so you can just see the difference like how much money you'll be saving. Like when you'll come when you'll be coming to Milwaukee and the another good part about Milwaukee is like you know it's it's like not as fast paced as Chicago or California, but at the same time it's not that slow as well like you can get every good things over there there's a lot of malls lot of good places to roam nearby and there are a lot of islands to like if you get a chance to explore. So it's like it is like if you have if you're free in weekends you can visit a lot of places over here and then one more another good part about is like the MCTS like the bus transportation like I haven't been to much places in United States but I can see like the places which I have been to Milwaukee had the best connectivity like the MCTS buses which run over here you can like you know go from one corner of Milwaukee to any corner like that to free because like university pays for that like we get free bus passes. So initially like not everyone has a car so you don't need to worry about transportation at all. So like there's also some good things about Milwaukee and yeah it's like when it is December I know like it's very dull over here like after November for six months but yeah that's okay like anywhere you go in Midwest it's the same. So but the thing is when it's summer the city gets you know how much dull it was 10 times more you know it is like very much sporty it is very much alive. So it's a really good city if you are like starting your career early in the United States. Thank you Akath. I'm amused by your comments about the city in the winter time. For our students that come to us from South Asia they often are afraid of the winter right they're afraid of the cold and I would just like to say that obviously Akath is here with us today and he's still smiling so he survived the winter and he's still happy to be here so. Say something Chen. Yes please. Yeah so about winter you know like you don't need to worry much because over here in like Milwaukee all of the houses are very good heating system. So like you don't need to worry much about winter you know because even in winters like when you'll be sleeping at night you will be like covering yourself with a blanket not with a blanket like you need to switch on a fan because of the heating system it gets such a warm over here and like you would be much exposed to the you know what do I say to the like the cold climate because after six o'clock our university has a service which is known as boss. So which is like you know a free service like an Uber which is free for students and you can use that to travel within five miles of like in a five mile radius within the university so it's like you won't be much exposed to the cold but it's just that when you'll be traveling like when you'll be going to the classes with the like for bus so you just you'll be exposed to that cold for like you know just five to ten minutes that's it's not like that of a big issue. It's just that in winter, you won't be seeing people that often because it gets dark really by four or five o'clock, but that is also okay. Yes, thank you for that. My last question for you a cough is if you could please do you have any advice for students that might be looking for housing. For housing you know what I feel is like you should never book an apartment from India, like or any place where you're coming from, because the thing is, when you come over here, when like when you actually see a house you know you will get to know how it is and I have seen it like, like from my batch all of the people who came, none of them booked the house from India, or from any like from the country which they were coming from because the thing is, like, eventually everyone will get in housing you know like there are a lot of people posting in UWM sublet as well as you know there are like a lot of apartments nearby. So it's not nearby, as I told you the bus connectivity is really good. So you can reach to the university like within two to 10 minutes like I'm like being true. So, I feel apartments there are like a lot of apartments over here and which are really cheap and like I know like you may not get it using apartments.com because even we didn't get it even after having like living here for one and half years. So the best part over here is you come here and like you stay in someone else's house like ask them can I stay in your house for like one week or so. Then in that one week timeframe you can search for a house like which you like and which is like you know in accordance to what you are willing to pay because I've seen like people who booked from when like from their home country. They paid triple the deposit for the rent like which doesn't make any sense like just because you are you feel like you won't get a housing over there but it's not like that everyone gets a housing and last time in spring. I remember like when people came they were like in my home. They were literally six people and like I held like not like they were 12 people who wanted a housing and they didn't have any option but eventually all of them they got a housing which they wanted. So I'll suggest like it's good you know to search for apartments but I'll say it's better like to confirm it once you come here and there is this candlelight apartment. And then there are even apartments in Shorewood but they get up pretty like very costly not that costly like but I feel like if you are a student that's a bit on the higher side. And there are like a lot of you know what do I say apartments nearby and even if you don't get an apartment what you can do is like you can like make a group of three to four people and you can rent a townhouse you know. The townhouse are really good like they're cheap also but the only disadvantage is like the electricity bill is somewhat high but that is also an option so I'll say like don't rush. Like you still have got a lot of time because being true like if I say my thing it was like my classes were starting on 21st Jan and like because of visa problems I came on 26th of Jan like five days later and I was not even enrolled in any courses and I was like very much worried whether I'll get admitted to any course or not because every courses were full but you don't need to worry about that too because I remember sending a message to Professor Mali like Professor because of visa issues I'm late can I enroll in your class and he was like yeah definitely and he enrolled me like within two to three days. So I'll just say enjoy your time in India and like I'll just say do a bit of Java coding before coming here and like a bit of data structures, instead of like you know worrying about housing and all because everyone will eventually get one. Thank you so much a cough I really appreciate your viewpoint and I and I think the students do as well as administrators can talk all we want but hearing it from another actual student is really important so thank you so much. I'm going to transition now over to another presenter just want to send out a reminder to those of you that are listening that if you have any questions along the way. Thank you so much to the chat you're welcome to submit questions for any of us for pre all for a cough. And then next up I'm going to introduce Professor Mali Professor Mali is a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science and he can talk to you a little bit about the program. Welcome Professor Mali thank you. Thank you. Professor Molly we know that. Oh sorry please go ahead. I just was going to say that I know that from the questions we've received from some of our students that there is some questions about the difference between the professional track and the research track and how students are selected to go into each of those tracks could you address that for the students today please. Okay so you know for professional track you don't need background in hardware and you are not required to take hardware courses specifically CS 315 which is computer organization and assembly language programming you are also not required to take or you are not required to have taken CS 458 which is computer architecture, but then students in regular track are required to take those are they should show that they took courses equivalent to these courses in their country. So, you know, hardware courses is one point of difference. The second is number of credits if you are in the regular track and you do this is you can graduate with 30 credits. If you do capstone project in the regular track you will need 31 credits, but in professional track you do need 31 credits. So if you do thesis, you need one credit less. If you're in professional track you can do a project in industry and then use it instead of capstone project, as long as the committee of three professors is happy with your project. And that allows you to take some other course. Also, students in professional track can graduate in three or four semesters, but students who do thesis usually take four semesters it is difficult for them to graduate in three semesters because thesis credits need to be taken over at least two semesters. And also I want to mention that you know the regular track is is research track. If you do thesis if you do capstone project. You know, you may be doing something very applied and it will, it may involve little research. Okay, could you elaborate on on how the decision is made from the faculty in terms of who goes into the professional track versus research. And then also if the student is confused about why they were placed into one track or another is there some you know how do they address that. You know faculty look at the grades that the student got in the previous study and they also look at, you know, whether the student has published papers how much computer science by background the student has. The student might have got great grades in undergraduate studies but if the student has very little background in computer science or if the student, you know, has weak grades in programming courses or courses in theoretical science, the student may be admitted to professional track. And then they can, you know, get good grades here. If they get get GPA of three and half or higher, based on nine credits from graduate courses, they can switch to regular track. Great, thank you. We have a question in the chat. That's about what we're speaking about right now so I'm going to read it out. Is there any difference between professional track level one and professional track level two. It's based on the, you know, programming background you have so yes, you know some students. They are required to take, you know, the three programming courses that 201, 251 and 351, which are introduction to computer programming intermediate computer programming and data structures and algorithms. But some may be required to take 251 and 351 and some may be required to take just 351. So, you know the depth of programming background you have makes difference there. Also, I want to say that, you know, there is a placement exam here so you can appear for that. And if you do well in that exam you can avoid taking these courses, the introductory programming courses course and then the intermediate programming and CS 351. Great. We have another question related to what you're talking about and it's asking about what the levels of the subjects indicated. So for example the course numbers like 751 and 535 does the higher level mean that the subject course will be tougher. Not necessarily, you know, in fact, I will say 535 is tougher than 751 and you have to also look at what precedes the course number. 751 is Compacity course and Compacity stands for computer studies. So, you know, usually computer studies courses are easier than computer science courses but it also depends on the specific topics. So I suggest looking at the syllabus. Compacity courses, you know, they are meant for students in professional track and students who are in another degree at UWM which is MSIST and that is a master of science in information science and technology and students in MSIST are in school of information studies. So certainly higher level doesn't necessarily mean that the course is tougher. I will also suggest, you know, looking at how the course work is distributed, I mean how much weight do exams carry, how much weight do homeworks carry. And I also suggest looking at the, you know, number of, number of homeworks, exams. So the toughness of course depends on multiple factors. Great, thank you. Someone else now is asking, do we have to enroll in any other courses or sorry, do we have to enroll to any other courses, or we have to select them only from the computer, the Compacity or computer science. If you're in professional track, you have actually more freedom in taking courses that are not COMSI or CompST. You can take courses from business school, you can take courses from healthcare administration, you can even take courses from school of information studies. So that's one difference between professional track and regular track, you can take more courses from other departments besides computer science. Great, thank you. Professor Molly, could you another question that we frequently get from our new students. If you could please address for everyone is the opportunity for funding any financial support that might be available from computer science. Well, computer science offers financial support in multiple ways, you know you can be a project assistant or a teaching assistant or research assistant and there are levels for each of these like 33% appointment 50% appointment during fall and spring. If it is 33% appointment you are required to work for about 13 hours per week. If it is 50% appointment you are required to work for about 20 hours per week. And you know you can also get financial support in the form of hourly payment if you're a grader. And that pays less than assistantships. Also, you know students in professional track are not eligible for financial assistance from computer science but they can get financial assistance from other departments. So they could be teaching assistants or research assistants or project assistants in departments outside of computer science. And then you know the UWM also offers chancellor awards and they can pay up to $5,000 per year. And then if you get chancellor award you you are not required to work like project assistants or teaching assistants or research assistants. But for chancellor awards, some faculty members should nominate you so you should have done well in that faculty members course and ideally you should have done well in research also. Great thank you. We hit before we move on we do have a couple of questions that are specific to what you've been talking about so I'll go ahead and read those now. The first is use is you said 751 is for the professional track. What if I take compass to 751 and two other subjects will I be eligible to change my track later from professional to regular. Okay, you will be able to if you if the GPA is three and half or above and I will suggest taking graduate courses, you know, courses at 700 level or above. You know those nine credits. Speaking of the nine credits someone is asking if they're allowed to take more than nine credits of graduate level credit courses. If you take more than nine credits in a semester that's okay but then remember that all graduate students at UWM, and they, that means MS and PhD students, they are required to maintain GPA of three or higher. You can take more courses but make sure that you know the your GPA doesn't fall below three, because if GPA is below three you will be on academic probation. Yeah so what I hear you saying is that you can take more than nine but it can be a challenge because that's a lot of work. It can be a lot of work and I will suggest looking at syllabi and maybe I mean seeing the nature of work. I mean if you are taking four courses in a semester and they are equivalent to 12 credits and all of them involve a lot of programming. It's very difficult to get good grades and ensure that your GPA is three and three or above. So, so I will suggest looking at the specific courses. Great, thank you. Most students I have seen take nine credits per semester. So that means generally three courses. I'm going to move on now and shift the conversation a little bit reminder that if you have questions listeners please put them in the chat we will. We will address them there's a couple of questions there that we haven't answered yet and I promise you that we will get back to those questions. I'm going to shift the conversation just a little bit because I want to make sure that I have enough opportunity to tell you the information that you need, and then we'll shift back to the questions. Thank you so much Professor Molly we really appreciate it I know that we're going to be back to you in a few minutes as we answer more questions. Okay. Okay. Now, and I just wanted to make sure that everyone is aware of the information that's available for you regarding your transition to the campus I know we got a lot of students with questions about how to get to campus and orientation and things like that so I just want to address that for you a little bit. And I want to start I'm going to share my screen. I'm going to start by sharing with you a website that we have that is for our newly admitted international students. This site is on the web this site it's within UWM it's called I triple S connect. And this is the site that we use for our international students. So, many of you are probably already familiar with it this is the site you go to where you log into upload your report copies and things in order to get your right 20 for your visa application. It has this section here at the very top. And this is the part we're going to look at in just a moment it's for our newly admitted students and it has all the information that you need in order to get yourself here for the first time. And as you are a student at UWM as you go through your program. This is the site you're going to use for all of your immigration and international student issues. So if you're looking for information about them, you know, your, your ability to work. You know, travel, all of that stuff, all of that information will be in the site. You'll also you'll. So when you're doing those things you can actually log in and provide documentation directly into the system. It's very, it's a very nice setup for international students but for today. I just want to look at this section for newly admitted students. You'll notice that we do a session very similar to what we're doing today. But it's for all students not just those in computer science. So we have an upcoming one this Wednesday that you're welcome to join and we also have a recording of our most recent session. And then if you scroll down here, there's a whole bunch of information so I'm not going to show you everything but just a couple of highlights is under the section this very first tab the fall 2021 options. You see there's information and if you click on these different things, you'll be able to get more information. So if you're not sure you're going to make it and you want to consider starting online from home, you can click here and get more info. So that's under this fall 2021 options your three choices essentially are to come in person, start online from home, or defer your admission. You can go through these steps read yourself there's lots of different information in here. Each of them has different information. For example in here under the arrival to campus. If you click on there, you will see information about when to arrive. Panther pickup we provide a service where if you fly into Chicago O'Hare, we will pay for the ticket for you to take the bus from Chicago directly to downtown Milwaukee and then you can be responsible for getting yourself to wherever it is that you're actually going. A lot of these things require you to sign up. You'll have to log in with your e panther ID and password, but you'll find all of this information in here. The most important thing that I want to show you is this last one called contact us. So if you have any questions along the way about your right 20 about arrival about anything that you need. You are you should be in touch with us right away. All of you should be very familiar with this email address this I triple s at UWM.edu, you are welcome to email that or respond to a previous email searching for help. It is monitored by several staff members every day all day so it's a really good way to get a quick answer. You are welcome to call us during our business hours we do have a human that is answering the phone that can help you and either help you set an appointment or get you to the right information. The best ways. The best way in my opinion to get in touch with this is this chat function. So as a UWM student, you have access to the Microsoft suite that comes with being a student at the university including Microsoft teams. And so if you go if you log into teams so you download it on your phone or your computer, log in using your epanther ID and password. Then you can come to this page and click on this chat now and it will actually send an instant message to the entire international admissions team. And we typically answer those within a couple of minutes so it's a really great way for you to get a quick answer. Remember that you might be in a different time zone as us so if you're sending a message outside of our business hours, it might take a little bit longer to reply, but it's a really great way to get information. And you also are welcome to make an appointment to meet with one of us virtually so if you click on this link down here, it'll take you to an online scheduler you can see what types of appointments might be available. And then whenever you sign up, we will figure out who's best to meet with you and then you can have a virtual appointment so we'll set up a meeting with you in Microsoft teams, so that we can see each other and talk and figure out what you need and make sure you get the information that you need. Okay. So please, you know I know that many of you are in different stages of getting getting here. Some already have an 820 some already have a visa. We want to do whatever we can to support you in getting here so please let us know what we can do. Okay. Fantastic, thank you so I'm going to stop sharing my screen. And I'm going to go back to the chat. Okay, so I'm going to address the questions related to what I was talking about first and then we can shift to another subject. So there's a question regarding Panther pickup, will we be sent a paid bus ticket through the email and can I take the first bus to Milwaukee after exiting the airport, or will there be a university official at the airport to meet and pick us up. So our Panther pickup service is actually just us partnering with coach USA which is a private bus company that runs the bus all the time. If you are coming outside of the window of when we're offering that service you can still take the same bus. We just won't be able to purchase the ticket for you. There will not be a university official at the airport, unfortunately, because we just don't have the staff to have someone at the airport for that long of a time every day. But we will purchase as long as you register and let us know that you're coming. We will purchase the ticket for you and send it to you through email and we also will include very detailed instructions on how to use the ticket where to go, where to find the bus. The coach USA bus goes on about every hour, all day from early in the morning until late at night. And you come out of the airport and you just get on whichever boss is next. The ticket is not specific to a specific time. It is labeled with a specific date, but then they're very flexible about using it the next day if you're late or something like that. So you just come out and whatever the next bus is that is available for you to get on you get on it and go, you don't need to worry about it so if you're a plane is late or you get, you know, stuck going through the passport control and it takes longer than expected and you know whatever your delay is, you don't have to worry about cat making your making your boss. The only exception is that if you arrive late at night, if you're arriving late at night into Chicago here. You want to make sure that you check that bus schedule to see on that day when the last bus is going. And there is the possibility that you might need to stay at a hotel or somewhere else in Chicago and then get up and take the bus the next morning. And while that might seem like a hardship I will say that it's not going to be any worse arriving in Milwaukee in the middle of the night so it's it would probably be best to do that anyway. The other thing is, am I supposed to take a COVID test after three days of arrival once or will once or will that be enough. Am I supposed to take multiple COVID tests in the first week. So, UWM is recommending that you be tested within three days of your arrival at UWM. And, and at this point they're only recommending that that first test and as long as it comes back negative they're not recommending anything else. And we do have a vaccination clinics for students that are arriving that are not vaccinated. You can get go through that process once you arrive. The vaccines that they currently have available are the Moderna or the Pfizer. And I don't think you're typically given a choice it's whatever is available at the time is when you come in is what you get. But with both of those vaccines you get one shot and then you'll get the second one three weeks later. And then you're considered fully vaccinated two weeks after that so it can be a five week process to become fully vaccinated from the day that you start. And the way that UWM has decided to address vaccination is it's not required of anyone. So if you're not vaccinated and you choose not to be vaccinated that's your choice. But only students that are vaccinated are allowed to be on campus and in classroom spaces without a mask. So if you choose not to be vaccinated, then you're going to be required to wear a mask whenever you're on campus in any capacity. If you go to UWM's information about COVID, you'll find there's I can provide the link for you in the chat but there's a whole section about new students coming in and talking about vaccinations and quarantine. UWM is requiring for students who are living on campus so they're living in our dormitories they are requiring a quarantine period and some testing and things but for students who are living off campus. Those things are recommended but they are not required and UWM will not be monitoring it or following up to make sure that you're doing it so we're working on the honor system and assuming that you are being responsible for your health and the health of those around you. Okay. So a reminder that if you have questions about anything please put them into the chat and we can address them. So we have a question is it okay to get fully vaccinated from your home country the answer is absolutely yes. What I would recommend is that, and I'll find the website when I'm done talking I'll go find the website and put it in the chat, but there is a list put out that from an official organization of which, which vaccines are considered acceptable in the US because there are different types of vaccines worldwide, and not all of them are recognized in the US many of them are but not all of them and so I'll put a link to that in the chat so you might want to just double check that the type of vaccine that you've received is on that list. Most of them are I haven't seen any students that have gotten a vaccine that wasn't on the list but it's wise just to check. Okay. I got admission from masters and computer science. So we have a student who's going to be arriving in Chicago on August 19, and they're going to miss orientation which is held on August 18 is, can you verify are you're you're referring to the international student orientation, or is that a computer science orientation. Yeah, it's the international student orientation. So the, the, as a new international student everybody's required to do the F one j one student orientation. The orientation is held online for you to be able to go through the process. Learn everything you need to do at your own pace. It's in a something called canvas which is a system that UWM uses to do online courses. And so you can actually register for that and start going through that process now that's not something you have to wait for a specific date. And then the meeting on August 18 is a follow up to that orientation. It's not, it's recommended that you be there but it's not required if you're unable to be here by that date. They will be able to provide a follow up online for you virtually that you'll be able to complete. So don't worry about that orientation. It's important that you do the online version the canvas course and that is available to you now. So my recommendation is that you go through that process, you know, start looking at that log in start going through that course. But don't worry as much about the August 18 session. If you are here and available it would be fantastic. But if, if not, they will follow up with you. So that's not quite as critical. Okay, we have a student says he's registered for the orientation but it's not showing up in canvas. I'm sorry I don't. I can't help with that I'm not a technical person. But if you email the ISS email address I'm going to put that in the chat for everyone. If you email that address they can have that forwarded to the right person who'll be able to help you get access. Okay. When are we supposed to pay tuition and how do we do it so the way that our system works is that first you register for your classes so if you haven't done that already. And if you think you're going to be here in fall, then you should work with your faculty advisor and computer science to determine which courses are appropriate for you, and get registered. Then, over the summer tuition will start calculating and anyone that's registered in classes will be charged tuition, you'll be able to see that in your pause account pauses the PAWS it's the system that we use where you register for classes see your grades, your bills, everything. So you'll start seeing the tuition do the tuition is due on the first day of classes. So when you begin your classes that first day. That's when you should be your need to pay your tuition. And if you you have two choices in paying your tuition. The first is you pay the entire amount by the due date, which is the first day of classes. Or there is a payment plan option and in order to do that you have to pay at least $100 towards the tuition that you owe by the first day of classes. It will automatically put you into the payment plan, which then changes it essentially takes the amount of tuition you owe, and it breaks it up into three different payments that you can then pay on a monthly basis. And then have the tuition paid and full by the end of the semester. But if you in order to qualify for that payment plan you have to have paid at least $100 by the first day of classes if you don't, then you're no longer eligible for that and then everything is due immediately. Okay, when you pay your tuition, you're going to you have a couple of options. You can pay using a credit card directly through your PAWS account. They do have it connected with a secure site with a bank and so you can pay with it if you're paying with a credit card you can pay directly through the PAWS website. You also can pay through wire transfer if that's more convenient for you. You'll have to work with our bursar's office who will give you the details of where the where to wire the money. And then they will apply it towards your account and market paid. Akass I noticed your comments about wire transfer as recommended would you like to share with everyone why you recommend that. It's just that you save money like paying through credit card you need to pay a small fees right and in wire transfer it's usually very low. And like for credit card I guess you need to pay 2% of the money you're paying so that was like. When you're paying tuition that's a lot of money so 2% adds up really fast doesn't it. Yeah, yeah. Okay, thank you very much for that I appreciate it. Okay, so I'm going to shift back some of the questions that we received Professor Molly. We received some questions about we have someone who who mentioned. Sorry, I'm trying to scroll back in these questions here. Some technical questions about the courses and how they apply to the computer science master's program. So for example, I got a placement level one. So, CS 251 and CS 351 needs to be completed. If I enroll for classes do I need to enroll in these two courses, and will the credits count towards my master's degree credits. If you are in professional track. Some credits from Compestee courses at 700 level and above will count. So I suggest looking at the course level. Now, you are required to text 251 before CS 351. You can certainly register for other courses. There are many courses that at 700 level you can register for in the first semester, but I will suggest taking the courses that are mentioned there as soon as possible because you will find that background useful in other courses. There should be no problem in finding courses to get six or nine credits in the first semester with that requirement. Great thank you. So this is on a similar question says so to change track they need to only take 700 plus level courses at nine credits. And maintain GPA of three and a half or above. Okay, and then they'll be they will they'll be able to change the track or they can be considered to change the track. Well, I mean they have to request for change of track and you know if they satisfy the requirement. You know they will be allowed to change the track it's not automatic. So they have to request. Okay. Great. Thank you. I also heard your comments about coach USA. I don't want to get into that area but I do know that coach USA has stops at multiple places in Milwaukee. They stop at Milwaukee airport they stop at Milwaukee is a railway station which is next to Milwaukee is a bus station. Oh, and they may have other stops so I think students will find it useful to know which stop they should get get down at when they come to Milwaukee. Yes, thank you down town or somewhere else. Yeah, thank you for that. That that comments when we purchased the coach USA ticket and provided the students we give them very elaborate instructions on how to use it and how to use the Boston how to decide where to get off. Okay. Someone asked for clarification about says for professional track we can apply for GS TAs and departments other than computer science can you confirm. I can answer that and just say yes that's absolutely true any student can get an assistantship in any program on campus. So that's definitely true what I will say though is that those programs also have students in them looking for GS and TAs right so there's not unfortunately on a limited pool of assistantships waiting to be handed out. And so there is competition with other students to get those positions. And if you're applying for an assistantship in a department other than computer science, you'll be competing against the students that are actually in that program and so. Unfortunately, there's, you know, not everybody's going to get one. Unfortunately, okay. So we have a question about, can we apply for the student ID and MCTS ID after we arrive before classes start. So what you need to do in order to get your campus ID and to get your MCTS bus, which is the bus pass is you need to have arrived. You need to be enrolled in classes, and you need to have paid at least that initial payment. So I mentioned before that if you're interested in the, the opportunity to pay over time the payment plan that you just need to pay $100 by the first day of classes. You do have a paid at least that first amount in order to be eligible for your ID. And so when you come to campus you'll get your ID from the ID office. You can upload your photo, your own photo online and then get your ID when you come to campus. And then you use that ID to pick up your bus pass. So you just need to be here in person and you need to have made at least that beginning initial payment. Okay. I do want to be thoughtful about the time because I know that it is after 10 o'clock, 10 o'clock our time. And the session was scheduled for one hour. So I think I'm going to address the last couple of questions that we have in here but I do want to say that if you have additional questions you are welcome to send them to us by email and we will make sure that we get back to each and every one of you. Okay. Um, so we have a student asking about that an advisor is not assigned in their pause account. And how do they get an advisor. Professor Molly, can you help students understand how they would figure out who their advisor is. And then another question that you can also address is where they can find the syllabus for any course. The name of advisor should have been mentioned on the letter of acceptance to the program. It may take time for that name to show up in pause but they should know who the initial advisor is based on the acceptance letter. And then they can feel change of advisor form to change advisor if they want later. I think so just to clarify for students. When you were admitted into the program he received an email that had an official admission letter that comes from the UW graduate school. Your advisor is not listed in that letter what Professor Molly is referring to is the letter that comes from the college of engineering and applied sciences. That is a departmental congratulations letter and your advisor is listed in there. So if you're having trouble finding that let us know, but that's what you should be looking for is the letter that's from the college of applied applied. Sorry college of college of engineering and applied sciences. And then can you please Professor Molly the question about where they can find syllabi for the different courses. You know, once they register they should be able to see the syllabi in canvas but if they want to, you know, know what syllabi sees earlier. You know, I can send them if they mentioned the course name course catalog gives a brief description of topics in the course but I understand. That it doesn't give a lot of details like how many homeworks are there and what their weight is how many exams are there and so on so I mean they can email me and you know they can also email Amanda who assists computer science and you may know her email address Jen Amanda Mandy in CES I can send it to you and maybe you can share she all professors send syllabi of their courses to her and then it the students can email her and get this get the syllabi. Now she may not have the most recent ones. For example, you know she she may not have syllabi of courses in fall but she will certainly have syllabi of courses offered in spring this year. I will say that, you know, usually the syllabus doesn't change over one semester or year drastically you know there may be minor changes like changes in the number of homeworks or exams or their weights but the topics will probably not change within a time like one semester or one year. But certainly they can email me and then I will also I will send in the syllabi or I will send in the email address of Mandy and then she can email the syllabi. Great thank you. Yeah we've got Mandy Bowers email addresses is been provided in the chat so everyone should be able to see that so if you're interested in following up and looking and getting requesting some syllabi that's where you can go. I've also put in the I triple s email address so if there's any questions that you have about arrival that we didn't get to you're welcome to put them there. And I've also shared the link to our site for newly admitted international students that site that I show that has the contact information and things. Yes and I somebody asked about the vaccines I will get that to that now. So we're at the end of the session I think we need to we need to end to be thoughtful about everyone's time. I need I need just one minute so I can look for this vaccine information and then post it. But to any of our presenters today pre all a cough. Professor Molly is anybody have any final thoughts that they'd like to share. So much for the session it was and it is very very informative I'm pretty much sure that some students queries must be resolved. Basically like because of this pandemic yes students do have the like you know queries related to traveling and related to vaccines but would just like to share the thought that there is nothing to be worried about. All the information that are like you know on the USA Consulate website also on our website also related to the vaccination so it is not that the vaccines are mandate the students have not took the vaccines will not be able to travel. Like you know there are a few of the vaccines which students have to care like you know and might be like there are certain questions that will be will be like you know what if like you know those vaccines are not like you know what we say allowed. I mean those vaccines are not registered and they are not allowed to travel so it is nothing like that. The students who have not taken vaccines can also be able to travel and the students have to vaccine and like you know, though if it is not even registered like you know then also they will be able to travel. They have to follow certain policies and rules which might be like you know related to the need to get their tests. And but yeah that is nothing like there are difficulties in traveling. Thank you, pre all. I have put in information into the chat about its UWM site about coven 19. If you go there you'll find all sorts of information I find the most interesting and enlightening part is the frequently asked questions if you go through you'll find all sorts of information. I also am posting in here a information about vaccines accepted by UWM and that is actually. The UWM is looking at who the World Health Organization WHO and the list that I've put a link to is actually the list from the WHO and the vaccines that they that they accept. I'm just going to answer one final question what documents should we submit to the university on arrival. When you enter the US, you need to arrange for a check in meeting so you have to. You'll have the information in your I trouble us connect account, but you're going to click on that and submit your information. And it'll set you an appointment with one of our advisors who will have a virtual appointment with you you're not going to come in person. You need to meet some very specific criteria and you'll meet with that person and you'll have to provide information like a copy of your visa copy of your a 20 a copy of the stamp and passport. All of this information is things that will be processed as you're entering the US so you cannot have this appointment until you're already physically in the US. And then during that meeting, our advisor will go through some steps with you and make sure you have everything you need help you identify places that you need to get more information. Don't forget that many of you are probably admitted on the condition that you provide your final transcripts or mark sheets. If you're not sure you can look in your pause account there's a to do list section. And in there it will list for you exactly what we need. If you have any comments with you, there's no need to mail them in advance. And then during that check in meeting they can help you understand what you should do with those make sure you get those to us within that first semester. Okay. Thank you so much for joining us today it has been just delightful to have all of you here I've been very excited by the number of students that we have logged in. If you have any questions, please let us know you can email me directly. At that I triple s email address. I do check it on a very, very regular basis throughout the day and so I will get the messages that you send there. We want to support you we want to make sure you have a fantastic experience arriving at you WM and then also throughout your program. I want to give a very special thanks to our guests today. So thank you to pre all Shaw, and to a caught on and also to Professor Molly, who shared just some fantastic information. We hope that it was helpful and useful, and we really look forward to seeing you in person. So thank you everyone. Thank you for joining today and we'll see you soon. Thank you. Bye bye. Thank you.