FAQs for new students

• Q1: I just got my admission letter, what are my next steps? 
  • If you are an international student, you need to first get your I20 form. Then, using the I20 form and other related documents, you can apply for visa.
  • Get an NMSU account using this link https://myaccount.nmsu.edu/activation. Use your NMSU email, you can register for courses. The details for registering for a course can be found from https://dataanalytics.nmsu.edu/faqs/faqs-course-selection.html. 
  • Finish some basic TODOs listed below.
• Q2: What are the basic TODO items after I come to NMSU?
  1. Attend the orientation session organized by the graduate school. If you do not know the orientation information, please contact gradinfo@nmsu.edu.
  2. Read this FAQ page carefully.
  3. Please read the NMSU catalog. In particular, under the “Degree” tab, please find the degree requirements for your program.
  4. Communicate with the program coordinator (using the email below) to discuss your study plan. Before talking with the program coordinator, please first (i) read this FAQ page carefully and (ii) read your degree requirement in the catalog carefully. 
  5. Go to see COG staff (currently Ivan and Mike) to get a CS account, and get an access code to the graduate student lab. The information of COG staff can be found from https://computerscience.nmsu.edu/facultydirectory/faculty-staff-directory.html.
  6. Attend the department’s graduate student orientation which is organized by the Computer Science Graduate Student Organization (CSGSO, csgso@nmsu.edu, https://www.cs.nmsu.edu/~gradrep/)
  7. Make sure that you are in the CS graduate student email list. The department will send general IMPORTANT notifications to this email list (e.g., TA application announcements). If you are not in the list, you will miss those important emails.
• Q3. I saw that there are some holds on my account when I register for courses. How can I get those holds removed?
  • There are different holds. If you are an international student, you may see the following two holds (1) International-insurance required and (2) International-orientation required. To remove these two holds, you need to contact the International Students and Scholars Service (ISSS) Department for assistance. Their email is isss at nmsu dot edu.
• Q4. In my first semester, when should I arrive on campus as an international student?
  • You are encouraged to arrive at the campus one week before the "First Day of Classes". This is to give you reasonable time to arrange your non-academic life. The important days of NMSU can be found from https://records.nmsu.edu/faculty-and-staff/academic-calendar.html.
• Q5. When do classes start?
  • Please check the school important dates (e.g., the first day of classes) at https://records.nmsu.edu/faculty-and-staff/academic-calendar.html. 
• Q6. How many credits/courses should I take each semester?
  • If you are a full-time student, you need to register for at least 9 credits (three courses in general). 
  • If you are a part-time student, you can register for the desired number of credits.
  • We do not encourage students to register for more than 9 credits in the first semester if you are new to NMSU. You may run into different situations that you do not know. In later semesters, you can take more/fewer courses depending on your schedule and your understanding about the system. 
• Q7. What should I do if I need to defer my enrollment (e.g., I do not get my visa on time)?
  • Please fill in the "Change of Admission Semester" form (https://gradschool.nmsu.edu/Current%20Students/Graduate%20Forms.html). 
• Q8. Can I transfer credits? If yes, how many credits can I transfer and what is the procedure? 
  • The short answer is yes. The details about the requirement can be found from https://catalogs.nmsu.edu/nmsu/graduate-school/#transfercreditstext
  • All the course credit transfer must be requested at the time of arrival (no later than the first semester).
  • When transferring graduate credits from NMSU as undergraduate electives, you need to fill in a MAP form.
  • When transferring graduate credits from another university, please provide the following information to the program coordinator (dataanalytics AT dot nmsu dot edu).
  • If you get a grade lower than B, your course credit cannot be transferred.
  • If you get a grade of B or above, you can check the NMSU general guidance to see whether your course can be transferred.
  • If it cannot be decided by the NMSU general guidance, you need to contact the the program coordinator with the following information.
    • Syllabus of courses that you plan to transfer. 
    • The semester in which you took those courses. 
    • The university from which you took those courses.  
  • The program coordinator decides whether your course credits can be transferred. If the program coordinator cannot make the decision, they will contact the professors who teach those courses. These professors may need to talk with you to make this decision. 
  • If the program coordinator/professor thinks that your course credit cannot be transferred and you insist on getting it transferred, then you need to take a challenge test (time/location agreed by both parties) and ask the professor to grade it. If you manage to get a B or above, then your course credit can be transferred.