Graduate Advising

Graduate students should meet regularly with the Graduate Advisor, to discuss their progress, inquire about Department requirements and deadlines, and make sure that they are not missing any key steps, which may result in unnecessary delays to their graduation.

Information about Advising and about Departmental events is communicated through the departmental mailing lists (BME Undegraduates, BME Graduate Students, BME Alumni). All BME students are encouraged to join the appropriate mailing list.

Advising holds

At the beginning of every semester, a department advising hold is placed on every student’s record. This hold prevents students from registering for the next semester’s classes without consultation and approval by the BME Graduate Advisor. You can find more information at the page dedicated to Advising holds.

Important Dates

Graduate Advising information

The BME Graduate Advisor

Currently, the Graduate Advisor is Dr. Yun Wang.

 

Booking an appointment with the Graduate Advisor

You can book an appointment during Dr. Wang's advising hours via Spartan Connect. When you book your appointment, please take note of the Zoom link for your appointment.

If the advising hours available in Spartan Connect conflict with your schedule, please email the Graduate Advisor (yun.wang@sjsu.edu) to discuss a different arrangement.

Please remember to cancel your current appointment if you are not able to make it, before creating a new appointment.  

You can refer to the Spartan Connect Guide to learn how to log in to Spartan Connect and how to create an advising appointment. If you are not able to cancel your appointment or have difficulties scheduling an appointment on Spartan Connect, please contact biomedical-engineering@sjsu.edu.

Advising Documents

Below you can find a list of documents that will help you choose and plan your courses:

  • BME Class Schedule: Here you can find the BME courses scheduled.
  • Tentative schedule of BME course offerings [pdf] (until Spring 2025, latest revision: October 2022): This tentative schedule (subject to change without notice) will give you an idea of how frequently the BME core and elective courses are offered, and when a certain course will be offered next.

BME Graduate Student Checklist

Guidelines, instructions and recommendations to make the best of our program and graduate without unnecessary delays are available in the following resources:

MS-BME Degree Checklist [pdf] 

Essential Forms

In addition to the advising form linked above, here is a list of essential forms that you will need to complete and submit as part of your path to graduation.

Change of Classification

Change of Classification Form: At the time of your admission, you may have been given a list of transition courses to complete. Until you have completed all of your transition courses with grade B or better, you have a “conditionally classified standing”. As soon as you complete your transition courses, you should submit a Change of Classification form to petition to move to “classified standing”. For each transition course, please indicate the semester the class was taken, the grade earned in the class, and the institution where the class was taken, if different than SJSU.

Candidacy Form

Candidacy Form [pdf]: With this form, you stipulate an agreement with SJSU about your plan to complete all the requirements to earn your MS degree. That includes outlining all your core and electives courses, how you satisfied the Graduate English Writing Requirement, and whether you plan to do a project or thesis.

You can submit your candidacy form only when all you have satisfied all the prerequisites listed below:

  • You have completed all of your transition courses (if applicable)
  • You have submitted your change of classification form (if applicable)
  • You have satisfied your English Competency Requirement (GWAR)
  • You have completed at least 9 units of 200-level courses
  • Your GPA is 3.0 or better (i.e. you are not on probation)

You should submit your candidacy form at least two semesters before you expect to graduate and before you enroll in BME 291.

Other Important Forms

Course Substitution Forms

After you have filed your candidacy form, you have locked in all the courses you need to complete to earn your MS degree. Any deviation from the plan outlined in your approved candidacy form must be notified to the BME Graduate Advisor (who in turn will notify GAPE) via the online form linked below:   

Request for Course Substitution in Graduate Degree Program  

This form can be used for either core or elective course substitutions.

Request for Reduced Course Load

F-1 and J-1 international students are required to enroll in a full course of study each Fall and Spring semester. For graduate students, full-time is defined as 9 units.

If you are planning to take fewer units in a semester, you will have to file a Request for Reduced Course Load. This is not uncommon for graduate students who have completed all coursework with the exception of their project or thesis.

The links below take you to several other documents that will be helpful in your progress towards your degree.