Checklist for coterminal students

The rules are a bit complicated. Here's a summary:

  • See the Coterminal Masters Degree page, VPGE Coterminal Degrees page, Stanford University Procedures for Coterminal Students, and BMI curriculum description in exploredegrees.
  • When asking questions about your particular circumstances, please make sure that you have listed all the courses towards your MS on a flowsheet, and make that available to us, as nearly all questions involve some aspect of that.
  • You are required to have at least 180 units (undergraduate) and 45 units (graduate).
  • No units may be counted towards both undergraduate and BMI MS degree.
  • 45 units are required for the BMI MS.
  • All courses counted towards the MS must be BMI-related courses at or above the 100 level (as approved by advisor and BMI program).
  • At least 23 units must be courses at or above the 200 level.
  • At least 27 units must be taken for a grade (unless, through exceptional circumstances such as the 2020 crisis, this is imposible, in that case, consult BMI Student Services).
  • BMI core courses may not be taken pass/fail. Exceptions: BIOMEDIN 200 (no longer offered), 201, 205, 206, 207, 290, 299, 390, 801, 802, and MED 255, or BMI courses that are offered only on a S/NC basis (including during the 2020 crisis).
  • A complete list of elective courses that can count for CS/Stats/Math/Eng is listed here. Up to 6 units of CS/Stats/Math/Eng can be taken pass/fail.
  • You can apply to BMI upon completion of 120 units, but no later than the quarter prior to the expected completion of the undergraduate degree.
  • Coterminal students are permitted to count coursework taken in the three quarters immediately prior to their first graduate quarter toward their graduate degree (Summer quarter is not included in the count).
  • The Coterminal Course Transfer eForm is used for transferring courses from the undergraduate career to the graduate career, and vice versa. This must be done before the undergraduate degree is conferred.
  • You may take any course you want at Stanford while in the program, including electives not at all related to BMI, as long as you also have an approved BMI-related 45-unit program of study that satisfies the requirements for the BMI degree.
  • A common question is how to deal with courses when you have counted a class required for the MS towards your undergraduate degree, typically because you took the class more than three quarters before starting the MS. Generally, you list the course you took and mark it as UG, and take something else for the BMI MS units.
    • For a "Core Biomedical Informatics" course, you can take another course in the same category, any course listed under BIOMEDIN or BIODS, or any course in the CS/Stats/Math/Eng electives list.
    • For a "CS/Math/Stats/Eng" course, you can take another course in the same category.
    • For a "Social/Ethics" course, you can take another course in the same category, or any other course appropriate for graduate degree credit.
    • Example: You took CS181W as an undergraduate. This class satisfies the BMI MS Social and Ethical requirement; instead of taking graduate courses towards this distributional requirement, you now take an additional 4 units of BMI-related electives. Enter CS181W on your flowsheet, and put "Y" in the "UG?" column. Note that it then contributes no units to the BMI MS. Then list a course (or courses) for four units under BMI-related electives.
    • Example: You took BIOMEDIN 217 as an undergraduate. This class is part of the BMI core. List the course in the BMI core part of the flowsheet, and enter "Y" in the "UG?" column. Then list another approved course (or courses) for four units under BMI-related electives.
    • See the example spreadsheet.
    • In general, for choosing the courses that go under your (now expanded) set of units under BMI-related electives, pick graduate courses with some thematic relationship to biomedical informatics. Feel free to discuss with the BMI Program staff if you are unsure whether a course will be approved as BMI-related. Courses such as BIOMEDIN 299 are fine.
  • Students must finish the master’s degree within three years of their first co-terminal quarter. Note that taking a leave of absence does NOT extend your time to degree. If you want to take more than three years, you will need to petition the registrar.