Ph.D. Student
Resources

For On Campus Courses

D-Clearance stands for Departmental Clearance and it is required for courses at the university designated in the Schedule of Classes as “D.” You must obtain D-Clearance for Viterbi courses by submitting a request via MyViterbi.

Non-Viterbi courses requiring D-Clearance: contact the home department as indicated in the Schedule of Classes.

D-Clearance gives you permission to register; it does NOT reserve a seat for you in a class. Register before the D-Clearance expires (usually one week).

For DEN Sections of Courses

DEN students should request D-Clearance for DEN sections via D2L.

On-Campus students who wish to take an DEN section of a course should enroll in a the on-campus section, if available. Once enrolled, they may ask the instructor to share the link to the DEN section.

On-Campus studetns who wish to take a course offered exclusively here.

D-clearance gives you permission to register, however it does NOT reserve a seat for you in the class. If the class is full, there are two things you can do:

• Talk to the professor teaching the class to see if you can register for his class even though it is full.
• Contact Registration about a wait-list.

We highly recommend students register for classes early so their registration is confirmed. However, if there is a class in which you wish to register and the class is full please monitor the online Web Registration to see if a spot will open up.

Full time enrollment for PhD students is considered to be 6 units.

Being enrolled less than full-time can negatively impact your funding. Therefore, all PhD students requesting a Reduced Course Load (RCL) must email either Andy Chen or Tracy Charles to set up an appointment discuss their funding status while on RCL.

If you received a conditional admit with your letter of acceptance, you must fulfill this condition within the specified time, usually before your second semester. To get this removed, you must meet with Emily Caviglia in KAP 214 during her office hours (Monday – Friday, 10am – 12pm).

Financial aid in the department comes in the form of research (RA) and teaching (TA) assistantships and is reserved primarily for PhD students. All new applicants to the PhD program are automatically considered for financial aid. RAs are chosen by faculty. Check for financial aid opportunities posted by faculty members and discuss it with them during technical advisement. The staff in KAP 214 can explain in more detail should you have questions.

The department may select current students as TAs on a temporary basis. If you have any questions please come to KAP 214.

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OASIS is a student information system that includes grade reports, a registered course list, financial aid reports and other important information. New students need to enter their 10-digit ID number and password (this is already pre-set as your birthday (MM/DD/YY)).

Master's students may transfer a total of 4 units from another university with an advisor's approval, as long as the courses were completed before enrolling at USC. To initiate a Gradute Transfer Credit Review visit the Degree Progress Site. If Degree Progress determines you have transferable coursework, please contact Christine Hsieh to detmermine if credit may be applied to toward you degree.

You may waive a pre-requisite if you have taken an equivalent course at another university and there is no Placement Exam offered for the pre-requisite course. To get the course waived, please fill out the Prerequisite Course Waiver Form (available in KAP 214 or online), and ask the professor of the course for approval. Take this form to KAP214 when you request D-clearance. If the class has a placement exam, you MUST take the exam. NO EXCEPTIONS!

The ability to communicate effectively in English — to read, write and speak the language fluently — is vital to your success as a university student. USC graduate applicants are therefore expected to demonstrate their proficiency in English as part of the application process.

English-Language Proficiency Requirements
IMPORTANT: USC does not set minimum scores for admission purposes. The scores listed below are used for placement purposes only to determine if an admitted student will need to take the International Student English (ISE) Examination upon arrival at USC.

USC accepts the following English Proficiency Exams:

TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language)
USC accepts only Internet-Based TOEFL (iBT) test scores. Admitted students are exempt from taking the ISE Exam with the following scores:

PhD 100 or above, with 20 or above in each section.
Master’s 90 or above, with 20 or above in each section.
IELTS (International English Language Testing System)
USC only accepts the IELTS Academic scores. Admitted students are exempt from taking the ISE Exam with the following scores:

PhD 7 or above, with 6 or above on each band.
Master’s 6.5 or above, with 6 or above on each band.
PTE (Pearson Test of English) Academic
USC accepts only PTE Academic scores. Admitted students are exempt from taking the ISE Exam with the following scores:

PhD 68 or above, with 53 or above on each band.
Master’s 61 or above, with 53 or above on each band.
Visit : gradadm.usc.edu/lightboxes/international-students-english-proficiency/ for more information.

Guidelines Directed Research

Follow the steps outlined below if interested in taking Directed Research CE 490 (Undergraduate students), CE 590 (Masters students) or CE 790 (Ph.D. students).

• STEP 1 — Students get verbal approval from faculty for a directed research course
• STEP 2 — Students fill out the online form, found at: myViterbi
• STEP 3 — Faculty are automatically sent an email directing them to the admin site where they can log in and approve or deny students requests as well as  view all previous semesters.
• STEP 4 — Students receive a confirmation email that their course has been approved or denied by the faculty member.
• STEP 5 — Students receive d-clearance within 1-3 business days for the course.
• STEP 6 — Student registers for the course via web registration.

Please contact the Student Affairs Office at ceedept@usc.edu if you have any questions.

DEN is the Distance Education Network. Most 400 & 500-level EE courses are webcast by a special office in the School of Engineering called DEN. Each course offered by DEN has two sections with different class numbers, indicated as OHE 100 (for on-campus students) and OFF CAMPUS (for off campus students). There is a $500 service charge associated with every off campus section of the class. This service charge provides for administrative support for students not in the Los Angeles area. If you are an on campus student please be sure to register for the on campus section (OHE 100) so as not to be charged the additional fee. Visit DEN@Viterbi.