Advising Holds

We require all of our students to touch base every semester with the BME Graduate Advisor.

At the beginning of every semester, an advising hold is put in place that prevents students from registering for classes for the following semester without prior discussion and approval of their course plan by the Graduate Advisor. Students are required to submit the appropriate advising form to the Graduate Advisor each semester. In the advising form, the student summarizes their progress and indicate the classes they wish to enroll in for the subsequent semester. The Graduate Advisor will review the proposed classes and may recommend changes. Upon approval of the advising form, the Graduate Advisor will remove the advising hold on the student’s records, enabling the student to register for classes for the following semester.

For graduate students, a meeting with the Graduate Advisor is not strictly required to have their advising hold removed. If the student has a clear idea about their next steps toward graduation and the courses they need to take the following semester, submitting a complete Advising Form (via Google Forms) is sufficient to have their advising hold removed.

However, if the student has any doubts or concerns about their progress toward graduation, or the classes to take next, they should book an appointment with the Graduate Advisor (see instructions below). Advising appointments are booked via Spartan Connect and held on Zoom.

Below are the steps to have your advising hold removed.

Step 1: book an appointment with the Graduate Advisor

You can book an appointment during Dr. Wang's advising hours via Spartan Connect. When you book your appointment, please take note of the Zoom link for your appointment.

Booking an appointment with the Graduate Advisor is recommended, but not required.

If the advising hours available in Spartan Connect conflict with your schedule, please email the Graduate Advisor (yun.wang@sjsu.edu) to discuss a different arrangement.

Please remember to cancel your current appointment if you are not able to make it, before creating a new appointment.  

You can refer to the Spartan Connect Guide to learn how to log in to Spartan Connect and how to create an advising appointment. If you are not able to cancel your appointment or have difficulties scheduling an appointment on Spartan Connect, please contact biomedical-engineering@sjsu.edu.

Step 2: submit your advising form (required)

You should complete and submit the MS BME Advising Form for Spring 2023 before you meet with the Graduate Advisor, even if you are not sure about your plan. This form will be a starting point, to be further discussed and refined with the Graduate Advisor.

You can watch the video below for detailed instructions on how to fill out the Advising Form.

Step 3: meet with the Graduate Advisor at the time of your booked appointment

This is the final step, in most cases. You will have to use the Zoom link shared by your advisor in Spartan Connect. (SJSU authentication is required to log into the Zoom meeting.)
You will be placed in a waiting room until your advisor is ready to meet with you. It is possible that you may have to wait few minutes.

At the meeting your advisor and you will reach an agreement on the classes you will be taking. At the end of the meeting, your advisor will remove your advising hold.