FAQs

Appointments with undergraduate and graduate academic advisors can be scheduled here.
Walk-in hours are also available (details here).

All program requirements are available in the university catalog.

Note the current catalog year is what automatically populates. Search prior catalog years in the catalog archives.

Students may review their Degree Evaluations to help them determine their completed and remaining requirements. Instructions are available here.

Instructions for using the registration system are available here. Additional registration details are available here.

Course prerequisites and restrictions are published in the University Catalog.

Students who meet the course prerequisite but have a substitution, grade, or waiver for it will need to submit override request forms (one form per course) to register for subsequent courses. Students who do not meet the prerequisites will not be permitted to register. Non-CEC students attempting to register for AIT courses must also submit an override request form.

The IST department does not override course capacity. Students may add themselves to an open section, a waitlist (if available) or plan to take the course in a future term.

Syllabi are available for viewing here.

If a course you are interested in is not published here, please contact the faculty course coordinator to request one.

After the last day to add (https://registrar.gmu.edu/calendars/), to add open courses to your schedule, you would need to submit one Late Schedule Adjustment request per course you wish to add, found on the Registrar's Forms Website (https://registrar.gmu.edu/forms/). There is no guarantee this request will be approved.

Generally speaking, the IST department does not permit LSA.  These types of requests are typically for extenuating circumstances only, and would need to be approved by the faculty member teaching the course, the department reviewer, and the Dean's office (if after the last day to drop)  LSA forms will not be processed if the instructor and/or department reviewer do not approve of the request. 

IST UNDERGRADUATE COURSES (IT):
Department Reviewer: Gdrake4@gmu.edu or hakhtari@gmu.edu
Dean's Office: cecugrad@gmu.edu

IST GRADUATE COURSES:
Department Reviewer (AIT): irytikov@gmu.edu
Department Reviewer (INFS): zyan4@gmu.edu
Dean's Office: cecgs@gmu.edu

Please note: Any financial or academic repercussions of the schedule adjustment will be your responsibility.

IST-SPECIFIC DEADLINES:
LSA requests for fall 2024 will not be approved after 09/13/2024.
LSA requests for future terms will not be approved after the end of week 2 for that term.

Catalogs 2015-2016 and before: Fill out the Change/Declaration of Academic Program form and email it to bsit@gmu.edu for review/processing.

Catalogs 2016-present: Students must earn a B or higher or XS in (or have transfer credit for) the associated gateway course(s), as outlined in the university catalog. Once this grade has been achieved in the respective course(s), fill out the Change/Declaration of Academic Program form and email it to bsit@gmu.edu for review/processing.

Fill out a Leave of Absence  request form for review.

Use the Transfer Credit Inquiry Form if you believe eligible transfer credits are missing from your evaluation. This includes credit by exam such as AP, IB or CLEP.

Before submitting this form, be sure you have requested official, final transcripts be sent from the Registrar at your previous institution to Mason’s Office of Admissions, or electronically to ugtrans@gmu.edu, and that you have read and understood the criteria for credit acceptance.

Use the Transfer Credit Re-Evaluation Appeal Form if you were awarded elective credit for a course and wish to have it re-evaluated by the academic unit to transfer in as a specific Mason course.

To appeal, please follow these steps:

• Fill out the first page of the form 
• Send the entire form and any supporting documents, such as syllabi, to the Director of Undergraduate Programs at the academic unit from which you are requesting credit (ex. if you are requesting an IT course, send it to ISTDEPT@gmu.edu, if you are requesting a History course, go to the GMU History Department web page and look up the Director of Undergraduate Programs under “Contact Us”.)
• The academic department will evaluate the appeal request and make a decision:
  • If the appeal is denied, the academic department will contact you directly. 
  • If the appeal is approved, the academic department will send the form to the Office of Admissions Transfer Credit team, and you will be notified when your student record has been updated and is visible in PatriotWeb and DegreeWorks.

For courses denied any equivalency, including elective credit, contact your advisor to determine if your course meets criteria for a substitution or waiver through the Office of the Registrar. 

These and other resources are available here.

IT majors should register for a business, natural sciences/technology, or multidisciplinary section of ENGH 302, as these sections use the most relevant texts. Students may take alternative sections; however, they may find these challenging as the texts will not be relevant to their majors.

Registration override request details for repeat attempts are available here.

To request to take a course at another institution, please fill out the Study Elsewhere form at https://registrar.gmu.edu/forms/.

Please Note: 1) Courses previously attempted at Mason (including withdrawals), 2) MATH 105, 3) COS courses offered online at Mason, and 4) BUS 498 and any BUS Writing Intensive course cannot be taken elsewhere. Requests also must be pre-approved by the deadlines outlined by the Registrar’s Office. In the past the deadlines have been:

• August 1st – Fall Semester
• January 2nd – Spring Semester
• May 1st – Summer Semester

To discuss how NOVA accepts transfer credits, you will need to contact the VCCS advisors.

To view how Mason currently accepts transfer credits for the BS INFT, please visit:

•  https://ist.gmu.edu/academics/advising/transfer
• https://admissions.gmu.edu/transfer/transferCreditSearch.asp

Which Cyber Security Program is for Me? (First-Year Students)

Which Cyber Degree is for Me? (Transfer Students)

Which Computing Program is for Me? (First-Year Students)

Which Computing Degree is for Me? (Transfer Students)

IT 492 and IT 493 are the 2-semester required course sequence to satisfy this requirement. They are available in a fall-spring or spring-fall sequence. These are not available in summers.

More details are available at https://ist.gmu.edu/IT-Capstone-Program.

To declare/change a concentration, please fill out the Change of Program (Graduate) form and email it to msait@gmu.edu (MS AIT) or msinfs@gmu.edu (MS ISYS/INFS) for review, advisor signature, and processing.

• AP.6.4.5 Graduate Student Parental Leave of Absence
• AP.6.4.6 Graduate Student General Leave of Absence
• AP.6.4.7 Graduate Student Medical Leave of Absence

Students who wish to withdraw from their MS should review AP.6.4.4 Voluntary Resignation from Graduate Academic Program and submit the Voluntary Resignation from Graduate Academic Program to msait@gmu.edu (MS AIT, CERG ACBS, CERG ISCI) or msinfs@gmu.edu (MS ISYS/INFS) for review.

AP.6.4.4 Voluntary Resignation from Graduate Academic Program

Degree-seeking students may officially resign from an academic program with the approval of their department chair or program director and the dean or director of the school, college, or institute. The Voluntary Resignation form must then be submitted to the Office of the University Registrar for transcript notation. Students who resign after the drop period may either complete the courses they are currently enrolled in or immediately withdraw, which will result in grades of W on the student's transcript for that semester.  All students that have resigned will be removed from any future registered courses. Program resignation is final.