Course Requirements

The student and his or her advisory committee will plan a coherent degree program, including required coursework that best suits the student’s educational goals and previous training. For most students this coursework will include the department’s core sequence APSC 603 - Introduction to Scientific Research I , APSC 604 - Introduction to Scientific Research II , and APSC 607 - Mathematical and Computational Methods I , as well as one of these: APSC 608 - Mathematical and Computational Methods II , APSC 651 - Cellular Biophysics and Modeling , MATH 541 - Nonlinear Dynamics , or MSCI 648 - Introduction to Mathematical Biology . Due to the different backgrounds, previous preparation, and career goals, not all Applied Science students will take the full core sequence, and a substitution for any of these courses can be approved by the Academic Progress committee in Applied Science. However, unless otherwise exempted by the department, students will be responsible for the material covered in the entire core.

Students who choose not to do a thesis must complete APSC 710 - Research Project . 

Thesis Requirement

A thesis is optional. Students on the thesis track must complete an original thesis approved by the student’s advisory committee and defended in an oral examination.

Exam Requirement

There is no qualifying or comprehensive exam requirement.

Language Requirement

All graduate students who were required to take the TOEFL exam for admission will also be required to take courses on written or spoken English. A student and his/her adviser can jointly petition the Academic Progress Committee to waive this requirement.

There is no foreign language requirement for native English-speakers.

Satisfactory Progress

To be eligible to graduate, all students must achieve a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale in all courses undertaken for graduate credit at William & Mary after admission to a degree program.  A student in the Department must maintain a B average in order to remain in good standing.  A student who receives a grade of C+ (2.3) or lower in a course may repeat that course one time for credit, upon approval of both the instructor of the course and the graduate director for the student’s program.  When such a repeat attempt is approved, the grades for both attempts will count in the cumulative GPA, but only the most recent attempt will count toward the degree. No credit toward a degree will be allowed for a course in which a student receives a grade below C (grade point = 2.0).