Department of Statistics

COMP SCI 702 Enrollment for MS Data Science Students

COMP SCI 702 Graduate Cooperative Education is a cooperative experience course for MS Data Science students in a commercial, government, or non-profit setting, usually in the form of an internship. The work for this course will be monitored by a graduate advisor from the faculty of the Department of Computer Sciences: Prof. Yong Jae Lee for the 2024-25 academic year.

Enrollment options:

  • 2 credits: full-time internship (more than 20 hours per week) for 10 weeks
  • 1 credit: part-time internship (20 hours per week or less) for 10 weeks

Full-time academic load: for eligible F-1 visa-holding students, 2 credits of COMP SCI 702 is calculated as a full-time academic load. As a result, it is not permissible to enroll in additional coursework while enrolled in 2 credits of COMP SCI 702.

COMP SCI 702 is open to all MS Data Science students, though enrollment processes differ depending on student visa and residency status.

Eligible visa-holding students pursuing Curricular Practical Training (CPT) for a full-time academic year internship will need to enroll in COMP SCI 702. Eligible visa-holding students who pursue a part-time academic year internship, or a summer internship, may enroll in either 1 credit of COMP SCI 702 or STAT 403. Students should thoroughly review the CPT information on the ISS website in its entirety to understand CPT processes and expectations, and to avoid complications.

Questions? Contact the MS Data Science Coordinator, Jinda Moore, at msdatascience@stat.wisc.edu.

Course Policies

  • MS Data Science students may enroll in COMP SCI 702 a maximum of 2 times
  • Students may count up to 3 credits of COMP SCI 702 and/or STAT 403 toward degree requirements
  • Students enrolled in 2 credits of COMP SCI 702 (full-time co-op/internship) may not enroll in any additional coursework
  • Students may participate in a CPT internship during their final semester as long as they also have other remaining degree requirements (i.e. 1 cr of COMP SCI 702 or STAT 403). This would include a part-time remote or Madison-based internship, plus additional on-campus coursework.
    • Note that students cannot extend an I-20 end date due to an optional CPT internship. More information about CPT can be found on the ISS website.

Before the Internship

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F-1 Students: CPT & COMP SCI 702 enrollment

F-1 visa-holding students planning to participate in a Curricular Practical Training (CPT) internship/coop must have completed two consecutive semesters of in-person instruction as a Master’s student before being eligible for CPT, and must also be enrolled in an internship course (i.e. COMP SCI 702 or STAT 403). This means that most F-1 visa-holding MS Data Science students will not be eligible for CPT until the summer after their first spring semester. The full list of eligibility requirements can be found on the ISS website.

How to enroll in COMP SCI 702:

Complete these steps as soon as possible before your internship begins. 

  1. Obtain an internship. Your CPT internship must be directly related to your area of study, i.e. data science.
  2. Email the faculty advisor for COMP SCI 702 (for the 2024-25 academic year, this is Prof. Yong Jae Lee, yongjaelee@cs.wisc.edu), and include the following information:
    1. Subject line: COMP SCI 702 request (MS Data Science)
    2. Request permission to enroll in COMP SCI 702
    3. Include information about your planned internship: 
      1. offer letter
      2. location of the hosting organization
      3. dates of the planned internship
      4. job/internship description, including types of tasks you will work on
  3. The faculty member will respond with questions and will set expectations for checking in during the internship. For example, you may be asked to email the faculty member with a brief progress report every two weeks. Once the faculty member has received sufficient information about the internship, they will agree to be your instructor for COMP SCI 702, and will email you their approval.
  4. Once you receive faculty approval for COMP SCI 702, complete the COMP SCI 702 course enrollment form for MS Data Science. This form will provide the MS Data Science Program Coordinator (Jinda Moore) with information necessary to approve your enrollment in the course. You will be asked for information about your planned enrollment, which must be entered or uploaded into the form, such as:
    1. Personal information
    2. Internship company
    3. Internship dates
    4. COMP SCI 702 credits planned for enrollment
    5. Internship offer letter
    6. Explicit email approval from your course instructor
    7. I-20 end date
  5. Visa-holding students will also need to submit a CPT verification request via Terra Dotta to the MS Data Science Coordinator, Jinda Moore (jinda.moore@wisc.edu). The CPT verification request should NOT be sent to your course instructor. You will not be granted enrollment to COMP SCI 702 until after Jinda has verified your CPT request.
  6. After the MS Data Science Coordinator has approved your course request form and verified your CPT request via Terra Dotta, you will receive an email from enrollment@cs.wisc.edu confirming your permission to enroll in COMP SCI 702. You are expected to enroll in COMP SCI 702 as soon as possible after you have received this email.
  7. Once you have enrolled in COMP SCI 702, you will need to submit your CPT request via Terra Dotta for final review by ISS. Note that it can take up to 15 business days for ISS to review your CPT request, and you will not be able to start your internship until your CPT request has been approved. Please plan ahead.

J-1 Students

If you are a student on a J-1 visa, please review the information on J-1 employment from ISS and contact Jinda Moore (msdatascience@stat.wisc.edu) for further discussion.

Domestic students & students who do not need work authorization

You will need the COMP SCI 702 faculty instructor’s approval to enroll in COMP SCI 702. For the 2024-25 academic year, this is Yong Jae Lee, yongjaelee@cs.wisc.edu. Send the faculty instructor an email with the following information:

  • Subject line: COMP SCI 702 request (MS Data Science)
  • Request permission to enroll in COMP SCI 702
  • Include information about your planned internship:
    • offer letter
    • location of the hosting organization
    • dates of the planned internship
    • job/internship description, including types of tasks you will work on

Once you receive explicit approval to enroll in COMP SCI 702, please forward your enrollment approval to the MS Data Science Coordinator (Jinda Moore, msdatascience@stat.wisc.edu) and include the following information:

  • Number of credits you plan to enroll in (2 credits/full time or 1 credit/part time)
  • Academic term you plan to enroll in COMP SCI 702 (i.e. Fall 2024)

Remember that domestic students are not required to enroll in COMP SCI 702 to participate in an internship; it is optional.

After the Internship

COMP SCI 702 students will need to submit a short final report to earn a grade in the course:

  1. Write a short report (3-4 pages single-spaced) describing your learning related to data science through your internship experience. Include details on techniques, technologies, approaches and hands-on experiences. Do not reveal any confidential information.
  2. The final report is due two weeks before the grading deadline each semester.
  3. Submit your final report at this link.
  4. COMP SCI 702 instructor submits grade at the end of the semester.