• See an example MS-thesis Plan of Study for ESE (pdf).
• See an example MS in Engineering (MSE) Plan of Study (pdf).
• See an example MS Nonthesis Plan of Study (pdf).
• See an example PhD Plan of Study (pdf).
  

Plans of Study (POS) Common Questions and Errors:

1. Students need at least one committee member from outside your associated department. A co-advisor from outside your major professor’s dept is encouraged, especially for PhD students.
   
   
2. Students should get a draft POS started by end of first semester, and submitted as final prior to your second year. Start your POS draft online in myPurdue (http://mypurdue.purdue.edu). See example plans above, and detailed information in the handbook (link in left column of this page)
   
   
3. If you have a B.S.E. and your associated dept is an engineering dept then you qualify for the M.S.E. degree. Make sure you select M.S.E. degree from the dropdown menu for degree on your Plan of Study when you start your Plan of Study.
   
   
4. Make sure that both the Department and the Program lines state Ecological Sciences and Engineering. Only the Degree Granting Dept line should show your associated department name
   
   
5. If you have “special problems” course(s) on your POS make sure you type out the full name of the special problem project on your POS, otherwise it will be rejected by the Graduate School later and cause you to potentially miss a deadline.
   
   
6. Should you drop a course, or replace a course with a different one that was formerly approved on your POS, you will need to perform a “Change Request” online with your POS, and state the reasons for the change. This will initiative another round of electronic signatures to approve the change, and finally it will update your POS so that it is correct.
   
   
7. You should check your POS for its accuracy once a semester. Pay attention to any courses that remain “green” showing incomplete. Reasons for this could be many; you have not yet completed the course, the course title or CRN or number of credits was entered incorrectly, or the completion date entered has changed and is no longer correct. In any of these cases, if your POS has previously been approved, you will need to perform a “Change Request” in order to correct your POS.

Please see the handbook (linked in the left side column) for further detailed information regarding plans of study, curriculum and required courses, and timelines. Example plans for different degree situations specifically for ESE students are at the top of this page.