Early Registration Tips

Below are some frequently asked questions regarding early registration. We have compiled a list of tips to assist you during your registration process.  

If you have questions after reviewing the FAQ, we encourage you to post your questions on the IEOR Advising Groups: MSBA | MSFE | MSIE | MSE | MSOR. You must use your Columbia email address to contact us, so we can properly identify you. Emails sent using non-Columbia emails will not be attended to, for the benefit of the entire class. Our team will address your questions in the most timely manner on the IEOR Canvas Advising Groups. Email inquiries will be the slowest method to obtain a response due to high volume. Students must use their Columbia email to contact the IEOR Academic Affairs Team. This is to protect your identity.

Early Registration Period: Late Summer for incoming students

Regular Registration Period: August 3 to August 14, September 1 and onward

Classes start on Tuesday September 8.  During the fall course registration period, you may add and drop courses as you wish.  After September 12, you may no longer add additional courses.  Dropping courses after September 18 will lead to additional financial burden and potential violation of the F-1 status.

*For Columbia Business School Courses, last day to drop a CBS course is different. Please check their registration schedule.

No. Recitation sessions are review sessions – they are not mandatory, and you do not need to register for them. You are encouraged to attend in order to receive tutorials. They are listed for your information only.

You may register for non-IEOR Departmental courses starting late August or early September. During the early registration period (Late Summer), you MUST register for your IEOR core. Students may register for other IEOR courses however, non-IEOR courses that are not pre-approved require approval. Students who fail to adhere to the course restriction policy by registering for courses that are not approved will not be able to count those courses towards their program. 

Courses taken from the School of Professional Studies and QMSS will not be counted towards the MS degree (i.e. courses with the following prefixes: ACTU, COPR, IKNS, SUMA, FUND, and more).

Full time enrollment is equivalent to 12 credits (four 3-credit courses). International students under the F-1 visa must maintain full time enrollment. We recommend that you select a minimum of four courses during the early registration period. ENGI E4000 carries zero credits but is required for students interested in participating in the IEOR on-campus recruiting program. IEOR E4502, IEOR E4199, IEOR E4399, IEOR E4599, IEOR E4799, IEOR E4798 and DROM B8000-060 also carry zero credits. The School limits registration to fifteen (15) credits per term for first year graduate students (includes credits of courses on student's waitlists); if you exceed this limit, your registration may be adjusted automatically.

If the course is full, you need to wait until seats are made available. You may add yourself to the waitlist. Seats often become available during the first two weeks of classes, as students are “shopping” for courses. If the course is restricted, unfortunately, it is not available for your program.

Submit the immunization paperwork immediately in order to register. This is a requirement set by the University. For more information, please review the immunization requirements.

You can find brief course descriptions through the Directory of Classes.

If you have taken a graduate level course in probability and statistics, and feel confident about the material, then you should request to take the waiver exam. If not, it is best to take the course to build a solid foundation. IEOR E4150 is a required core course for the MSOR and MSIE program. Unless you have obtained an explicit waiver, you are required to take this course in order to earn your degree.

The Department policy on waiving IEOR E4004 and IEOR E4106 is very strict. If granted a waiver, the Department will ask the student to take the PhD equivalents of the course.   

The PhD level equivalents are more challenging and theoretical, and they are: IEOR E6711 Stochastic Modeling 1 and IEOR E6613 Optimization 1. These courses are 4.5 credits each.

You may request to take a waiver exam in order to be exempt from taking the first half of the probability course. If the exam is passed, you will need to enroll in IEOR E4100 Statistics and Simulation for 1.5 credits.

In summary: you need to enroll in one of the two courses below:

  • IF WAIVED PROBABILITY PART 1: IEOR E4100 (1.5 credits) Statistics and Simulation
  • IF NOT WAIVED OR NOT SEEKING TO WAIVE: IEOR E4101 (3 points) Probability, Statistics and Simulation

Courses that are 3000-level or below are considered undergraduate level courses. If taken, they will NOT be counted towards the MS degree. The Department recommends that you select 4000-level or higher in order to meet University standards for graduate level education.

Below are 4000-level IEOR undergraduate courses that will NOT count towards the MS degree:

  • IEOR E4003 Corporate Finance For Engineers
  • IEOR E4212 Data Analytics & Machine Learning for OR
  • IEOR E4307 Statistics & Data Analysis
  • ORCS E4200 Data-Driven Decision Modeling 

Courses taken from the School of Professional Studies will not be counted towards the MS degree (i.e. courses with the following prefixes: ACTU, BUSI, COPR, IKNS, SUMA, FUND, and more).

Taking IEOR E4106 and IEOR E4700 together means that you feel confident about Stochastic Models, and their applications. If you have never taken a stochastic modeling class, taking these two together is not a good idea.

Same goes for taking IEOR E4106 and IEOR E4404 together.

The admissions deposit will be credited to the registered student's account starting at the end of September.

All financial matters regarding tuition and billing should be directed to the Student Financial Planning Office.