Frequently Asked Questions

General
Program Prerequisites
MS Program
Online Learning
Software

General

When are terms held?
On August 26, 2013 RIT will move to semesters. The fall and spring semesters will be 15 weeks long. There will be a winter intersession and a 10-week summer session. Please see the Institute Calendar for details on holidays, exams, reading days, and breaks between terms.

Can I start taking classes in any term?
Full-time students must start in the Fall. Part-time students may start in other terms. However, for both the advanced certificates and MS programs, Fall is the natural entry point for students who meet all prerequisites. See our course schedules for more details.

Are your programs theoretical, in the mathematical sense?
Our MS program in Applied Statistics and our advanced, graduate, certificate program in Lean Six Sigma are both very applied, not theoretical. Most of our students have undergraduate degrees in fields of engineering or science, not mathematics. We emphasize the application of statistical thinking and statistical methods.

However, we do provide the theory for the methods, so that students know when to use, and when not the use, the methods. So, our courses are theory-based, but not theoretical. As a result (with the possible exception of a few topics in our Theory of Statistics sequence), we only cover topics that we believe are useful in current statistical practice.

I have not yet matriculated. May I start taking courses anyway?
Yes, to a point. For the graduate certificate program, you may take up to two courses before matriculating. For the MS program, you may take up to four courses. However, we strongly recommend you discuss the courses you plan to take with the chair of CQAS.

If you plan on taking courses in a distance-learning format and take courses in a suggested sequence, this should be fine, but we still suggest you contact the chair.

How many courses can I take each term?
If you are working full time, we usually recommend you only take one course per term. This is what most students do in this situation.

Some students take two courses per term. They include students whose employers gives them one day of release time each week to devote to school work, and students who can devote a large portion of their non-working time to their school work (e.g., highly motivated people who are single).

Also, keep in mind that not all courses (or instructors) will require the same amount of work. An easier one-course load one term may encourage you to try two courses in the next term, but each of these later courses may require far more work than you anticipated.

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Program Prerequisites

Are GRE scores required?
GRE scores are not required. There are two reasons. First, our programs do not emphasize research into statistical methods, but rather the application of such methods. Second, we don't want to put such an "extra hoop to jump through" in the application process. We review the applicant's overall grades, as well as grades in calculus and other mathematics courses and when these courses were taken, in order to make recommendations and decisions.

I have taken a number of short courses and seminars in statistics. Can I use this to meet the elementary statistics requirement? As a substitute for a Design of Experiments course?
No. You are required to have academic credits. The reason is simple -- taking a short course or seminar provides no indication of what you learned. In addition, these usually do not cover the material in an appropriate depth.

I have earned a Six Sigma Black Belt. Can I use this to meet the elementary statistics requirment? As a substitute for a Design of Experiments course?
No, for the same reasons as above.

I have taken an a Statistics course, but a number of years ago. Do I still meet this prerequisite?
Technically, yes. But if you are not sure whether you should or not, then you probably should. In any event, applicants who have taken only elementary courses in probability and statistics or who have not taken recent courses in these areas often struggle to keep up with their course work.

I do not have any university-level calculus, but I want to pursue the MS degree. What should I do?
You will need to take the calculus courses. This must include either two semesters, or three quarters, of university-level calculus. Courses with titles such as "calculus for technology" or "calculus for business" are very unlikely to satisfy the requirements.

Investigate these courses in the Mathematics department listing.

In any event, you must first apply to the MS program. If you are accepted into the MS program on a contingency basis based on your need to take calculus, you will be given a formal set of steps to follow to meet the calculus prerequisites.

While you are taking these courses, it is possible to start taking courses in our program, if you have the time to take more than one course at a time. However, if your objective is to earn a MS degree, we strongly discourage you from taking any courses in our program until the calculus (and possibly other) prerequisites have been met.

I have taken one year of university-level calculus, but years ago. Do I still meet the prerequisites?
This is a difficult issue. If you don't use calculus much or at all in your job, we suggest you first apply to the MS program to see whether you are accepted. If so, see if the acceptance letter includes a recommendation to review calculus.

I have an Associates degree and would like to pursue the advanced certificate program. What should I do?
One requirement for the advanced certificate is a baccalaureate degree. So you would need to earn the baccalaureate degree first, and then apply to the advanced certificate program.

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MS Program

What is your recommendation of course sequencing for the MS program?

First Year

• CQAS-611 Statistical Software
• CQAS-721 Theory of Statistics I
• CQAS-741 Regression Analysis
• CQAS-722 Theory of Statistics II
• CQAS-701 Foundations of Experimental Design
• Elective

Second Year

• Electives (3 courses)
• CQAS-792 Capstone

These are broad recommendations. Because of scheduling issues, or because some students take two to four courses per quarter, it is best for you to map out a course sequence with your advisor.

For a variety of course sequence in semesters, please click here.

I am considering working toward a Ph.D. after I earn an MS. Can your degree be used toward a Ph.D.?
It depends. Because of its applied nature, our MS program is designed more to provide what is called a "terminal MS" rather than an MS toward a Ph.D. However, some of our MS graduates have earned Ph.D.s and others are working toward them.

Our MS degree is not designed to be used toward earning a Ph.D. in a Department of Statistics -- such departments will emphasize mathematics per se much more than we do and so are very unlikely to accept courses from our applied program. However, a number of our MS graduates have later earned Ph.D.s in Statistics.

Our MS degree has proven more useful toward earning a Ph.D. in departments in which statistics is used as an important tool. This would include departments of Industrial Engineering, Educational Measurement, and Finance.

Can I earn both the advanced certificate and the MS degree?
Yes. Also, the four courses required for the advanced certificate may be applied directly toward the MS degree. However, few students choose to do this. One reason is that you would need to apply separately for each program. (You may only be in one program at a time.) Also, the advanced certificate is a subset of the MS degree.

However, some students do enroll in the advanced certificate program first. Later, if they decide to try to earn the MS degree instead, they contact the graduate coordinator and request a change of program (assuming the additional requirements have been met). This request must be made before the advanced certificate is earned, however, and does not earn the student the advanced certificate.

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Online Learning

Is the degree earned by online learning the same as the degree earned on-campus?
Most certainly. You would receive a diploma that is identical to the one received by students who take courses on campus. We want you to obtain the same knowledge as those students (or even more, if you work very hard!) In fact, some students take some courses on campus and other courses in the online-learning format. There really is no "online-learning degree" -- some courses are simply offered in an online-learning format.

You recommend that enrollment in online-learning courses be restricted to students over 25 years of age with at least three years of professional employment. Is this a requirement?
This is a recommendation, not a requirement. The reason for the recommendation is that online-learning classes, by their very nature, work best for students who have a high level of motivation -- we simply used "25 years of age" as a yardstick. In addition, students with several years of professional employment will find it easier to see the value of the material we are teaching, and this helps motivation and the ability to integrate course material.

I want to see how online learning works. Can I take a "test drive"?
Well, somewhat. On our web site, we have tried to answer many general questions about online learning.

Are all of your courses offered in an online-learning format?
Almost. The only regular graduate course that is not offered online is CQAS-795, Statistics Seminar.

I don't live near RIT, but I would like to take some courses that are not in the online-learning format. How can I take these?
At this point, I'm afraid you can't. The problem is that instructors very rarely consider having students take a course for independent study, which is how you would need to take it. Even for students who can meet regularly with the instructors, independent study requires a large time commitment from the instructor. Actually, a number of students taking courses through online learning would also like to take the on-campus-only courses. But we simply don't have the resources here to handle this.

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Software

What kind of statistical software is required? How do I learn to use it?
Any course using statistical software will include how to use the software for the specific needs of the course.

We use MINITAB® as the basic software package. It's easy to use, performs most of what students need to in all of our programs, and is available at a discount for students.

Students in the MS program are required to take the Statistical Computing course, which emphasizes SAS® and includes MINITAB® as well.

Rather than require students to use a certain package, we simply require that they use a package that can perform the functions needed for the courses. Packages that will work for most of our courses (possibly after purchase of features in addition to the base software) include MINITAB®, SAS®, JMP®, R, S-PLUS®, and Statistica®. Our programs stress the power of the design and analysis of experiments -- a friendly yet powerful package that specializes in this is Design-Expert®.

Excel, while an excellent package, is not a statistical software package, even with its statistical (Analysis Tool Pack) add-in. It will not be able to perform the functions required in many of the courses.

I want to get a copy of MINITAB®. How do I do this?
As a student, you may purchase a copy of MINITAB® at a greatly reduced price from RIT's bookstore. If you live in the Rochester area, simply go to RIT's bookstore with your student ID card. You must specify the platform -- Windows or Mac.

If you don't live in the Rochester area, simply call the computer section of the bookstore (585-475-2211) and tell them you are an online-learning student and want to purchase MINITAB®. Use a credit card and the bookstore will check your student number for eligibility. The software will be shipped (with a small shipping charge) to you.

Please note that you should ask for full version of MINITAB®, not the student version (which is a greatly limited subset of the full version).

You could instead buy MINITAB® as a student directly from Minitab, but our bookstore will likely give you a lower price.

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