THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Student Handbook
Policy Last Revised: July 2026
MACSS supports our students to help assure timely completion of their degree requirements. The policies below are in place to help students complete the program within the prescribed two-year time frame.
a. MACSS is an in-person academic program. Students must be in residence in Chicago while registered for classes. Remote study is not permitted.
b. MACSS is a two-year degree program, beginning in Autumn Quarter. Students are expected to complete all program requirements, including the MA thesis, and graduate by June of their second year.
a. First Year
i. Computational Math Camp (three weeks beginning late August before beginning the program. Placement exam on the last day of camp is required unless the student passes in-person pre-test on the first day. Non-credit)
ii. Computing Fundamentals Boot Camp (three weeks beginning late August before beginning the program. Placement exam on last day of camp is required. Non-credit)
iii. Three-course Perspectives sequence:
1. MACS 30000 Introduction to Computational Social Science
2. MACS 30100 Machine Learning for Computational Social Science or satisfactory performance in fall placement exam
3. MACS 30200 Computational Research Design
This sequence provides an overview of current research topics and methods in computational social science that results in a journal-style paper produced as part of the Spring Quarter course of the sequence. We encourage students to utilize the core courses to think, reflect and try out potential thesis subjects.
iv. Three-course Computing sequence:
o MACS 30111/30121 or satisfactory performance in fall placement exam
o MACS 30112/30122 or satisfactory performance in fall placement exam
o MACS 30113/30123 or satisfactory performance in fall placement exam
This sequence provides our students with all the necessary computing skills to write their own programs, collect, process and scale their computational research workflows to run in university computing clusters, as well as the Cloud.
v. Three graduate-level Social Sciences electives
Electives will vary depending on the student’s prior training and intended disciplinary path.
vi. Weekly participation in MACS 50000 Computational Social Science Workshop
b. Second Year
i. Three advanced courses in computational methods drawn from any graduate department or professional school of the University.
ii. Three graduate-level Social Sciences electives
Electives will vary depending on the student’s prior training and intended disciplinary path.
iii. Three graduate-level electives*
Student may select from any UChicago department or professional school where the student meets the minimum prerequisites.
iv. Weekly participation in MACS 50000 Computational Social Science Workshop
v. MA Thesis Project
* Students who wish to have course credit for their MA thesis may take MACS 35000 MA Research Commitment once, typically during the second year. This option allows students to allocate more time to their MA thesis. The course is taken P/F and the preceptor will assign the grade for this course once the final thesis is submitted.
a. Students complete three 100-unit courses each quarter of the academic year. Workshops and non-credit enrollments do not count toward the three 100-unit course requirement.
b. Students must complete all courses for a passing grade before the end of the subsequent academic quarter. Students with non-passing grades (Blank, I, NGR, W, or F) must communicate with the MACSS Student Affairs Administrator to discuss their circumstances and may be placed on Academic Probation if the grade is not resolved in a timely manner (by the end of the subsequent quarter). (See the section on Academic Probation below.)
c. Students must have 9 passing course grades, with a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.1 after their first year of enrollment to maintain the UChicago tuition scholarship awarded at the time of admission. Students who have Blank, I, W, or NGR grades for any of their first 9 courses will receive no tuition aid until they have passing grades for 9 courses posted to their transcript and a 3.1 minimum cumulative GPA. Students with a GPA lower than 3.1 over their first nine courses will receive no additional aid, regardless of whether their GPA improves in subsequent quarters, including with makeup courses.
d. Students must earn a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA in order to receive their MA degree. Please see the section below on Grading Policies for more information.
i. If at any point a student’s cumulative GPA falls below 3.0, the student must meet with their preceptor and the MACSS Associate Director to discuss how best to clear that bar, and the student will be placed on Academic Probation. (See the section on Academic Probation below.)
ii. Students may register for up to three additional classes to meet the 3.0 GPA requirement.
1. The student should contact our MA Student Affairs Administrator, who will arrange for those courses in collaboration with the student’s preceptor, the MACSS Associate Director, and the Dean of Students office.
2. Taking one replacement course eliminates the single lowest elective grade from GPA calculations; taking a second replacement course eliminates the second lowest elective grade from GPA calculations; etc. The prior grade will remain on the student’s transcript but not be factored into GPA calculations.
3. No tuition scholarship is available for additional courses.
a. All students must meet with their MACSS preceptor each quarter before they will be permitted to register for classes. If students schedule meetings after the start of registration, they will be unable to register until the meeting occurs. Students who do not register for courses before the first day of the quarter will be assessed a late registration fee by the university registrar.
b. No student may register for more than three 100-unit courses per quarter.
i. Students may not register for a fourth course in a quarter to make up for an F or a W in a previous quarter.
c. No student may register for an “R” in a for-credit course (grades of “R” indicate a “Registered” or “Audit” status).
d. First-year students who fail to register for an approved Social Science Elective (SSE) course will receive no tuition aid in subsequent quarters until they complete the required SSE course in a subsequent quarter regardless of their cumulative GPA or program progress.
e. MACSS students must register for the MACSS workshop each quarter and may also register for additional non-credit workshops that have been formally designated part of the MA curriculum or to meet the requirements for a program-approved Certificate.
f. The three registered 100-unit courses are normally taken at the graduate level.
i. Students may register for undergraduate offerings in statistics, math, or computer science without special permission, based on availability. (Undergraduates have registration priority for undergraduate courses; graduate students may be restricted from registering for those courses until after undergraduate registrations have been processed.)
ii. All other undergraduate courses require students to submit a petition, available from our MA Student Affairs Administrator, for approval by the MACSS Associate Director.
g. Students are permitted to register for the MA Research Commitment (MACS 35000), a thesis research and writing course, a maximum of one time and have it count toward their 18-course curriculum (as “Neither”). This course is typically taken during the second year, except in very rare circumstances. MACS 35000 must be taken Pass/Fail. The grade will be assigned by the preceptor for the final version of the MA thesis. The grade for MACS 35000 will remain Blank on the transcript until a grade is recorded and will not affect a student’s academic standing. In the case a student takes MACS 35000 in the first year, the nine-course requirement in section 3c will be assessed on the student's eight graded courses.
h. To withdraw from a course, a student must submit their request to the MACSS Student Affairs Administrator. Students in the Economics concentration must submit their request to the Student Affairs Administrator for MACSS-Econ.
i. The request must be made by 5 pm on Friday of the 9th week of the quarter or the day before the final project/exam is due, whichever is earlier.
ii. If a student withdraws from a course before the end of the third week of the quarter, the course will not appear on the transcript.
iii. If a student withdraws from a course after the third week of the quarter, the course will appear on the transcript with a grade of W.
i. Per the Student Manual, students are eligible for several types of Voluntary Leaves of Absence (LOA), including Personal LOA and Medical LOA.
i. A student must complete one full quarter in the MA program before requesting the LOA.
ii. Students interested in taking an LOA should discuss with the MACSS Student Affairs Administrator. The LOA must be approved by both the Executive Director and Assistant Dean of MA Programs in the Social Sciences and the SSD Dean of Students. Any conditions for return will be noted.
iii. Students taking required first-year sequences may need to wait until the next course in the sequence is offered.
iv. Taking an LOA may affect the availability of outside readers for the MA thesis. In such cases, the student will have the opportunity to work with a thesis reader from within the MACSS program.
v. Students should be mindful of UChicago Bursar Policies regarding the availability of tuition refunds and course withdrawal policies if the LOA is requested after a quarter begins.
j. If an MA student has not registered for any classes by the end of the third week of an academic quarter, whether as a result of a hold on their registration, or through a failure to register as they should have, the Dean of Students may place the student on an Involuntary Leave of Absence (LOA).
i. An involuntary LOA will be communicated to the student in writing, with an explanation of what the student must do to be permitted to resume study at the University. The LOA will take effect even if the student does not respond to the communication.
ii. Resumed study at the University is not guaranteed. The conditions for a resumption, when possible, will be decided by the Executive Director and Assistant Dean of MA Programs in the Social Sciences in consultation with the Dean of Students.
a. No final course or thesis grade will be changed once it has been submitted to the Registrar by the instructor except in the very limited circumstances below. There is no appeal process for grades. If a student feels that the grade was a result of bias or discrimination, they should meet with UChicago CARES.
i. If the instructor submitted an incorrect grade, they may initiate a change with the Registrar, which must be approved by the Dean of Students.
ii. If the course instructor submitted a provisional grade in the quarter of a student’s graduation, they may later revise the provisional grade to a final grade.
iii. Grades cannot be retrospectively changed from a letter grade to a P, and courses taken for a P cannot be retaken for a letter grade.
b. Students may take up to two classes for a Pass as part of their MA curriculum.
i. The courses in the MACSS core sequences (including Perspectives and programming) must be taken for a letter grade.
ii. MACS 35000 does not count toward a student’s allotment of two courses taken Pass/Fail.
iii. Course instructors decide whether to permit their course to be taken pass/fail, and the standards required for a pass.
iv. Students should request pass/fail grading no later than the drop/add deadline of Friday of third week of the quarter. Instructors may choose to grant pass/fail grading after that deadline at their discretion.
a. As noted above in the section on Maintaining Good Academic Standing, students may be placed on Academic Probation when any of the following occur: they have grades of Blank, I, or NGR that are not resolved by the end of the next academic quarter; they earn an F or W grade; or their cumulative GPA drops below 3.0.
b. Students may also be placed on Academic Probation if other milestones related to curriculum or the thesis are not met.
c. When a student is being placed on Academic Probation, they will meet with the MACSS Associate Director.
d. Following the meeting, the Associate Director of MACSS will send the student a notice of academic probation that clearly states the deficiencies that need to be corrected, how they must be corrected, the timeline by which they must be corrected, and the consequences of failing to correct them; those consequences may include being removed from the program. The student will be asked to confirm, in writing, receipt of the probationary document, and to certify that they have read and understood its terms.
e. Academic Probation is not noted on a student’s transcript.
f. Academic probation is not intended as a punishment. It is intended to assist a student in knowing what they need to do to get back on track and succeed in MACSS.
g. MACSS will do everything possible to assist students on Academic Probation, drawing on other University resources – from UChicago Student Wellness, to the Writing Program, to course advising and mentorship support – to help the student maintain a steady progress toward degree completion.
a. There are two MA thesis options for MACSS: the academic thesis and the professional thesis.
b. For both thesis types, a thesis proposal must be approved by the primary reader by November 10th of the second year. The assignment is scaffolded with additional elements due as specified in Canvas. Students begin developing the project in the Spring of their first year. They then use the Summer, Fall, and Winter to refine their analyses and complete the paper by the following Spring. Students who fail to have approved proposals by this time will not be able to register for subsequent quarters until the proposal is submitted and approved. Students in MACSS-Economics may receive an extension on this deadline by request.
c. Students must submit a first thesis draft and final thesis version by the dates specified in our graduation guidelines. They revise the first draft based upon the feedback they receive and submit a final version that is graded and evaluated. The thesis grades and evaluations are retained in the student’s confidential academic file.
d. The Academic Thesis
i. The academic thesis is an article-length contribution to recent scholarship, modeled on an academic journal article for the discipline in which students choose to specialize. The goal is to advance a scholarly conversation in the student’s discipline, by means of an original contribution that improves our understanding of their research question in conceptual and empirical ways.
ii. For those who apply to PhD programs after MACSS, the academic thesis is critical to the success of your application, demonstrating your ability to develop and execute a graduate-level research project. For those who go on to positions outside the academy, the academic thesis is an important part of your resume, showcasing your graduate-level research skills, methods training, and professional writing.
iii. The primary reader for the academic thesis is a member of the Social Science Division faculty or any other person with a doctorate and a teaching or research appointment at the University. MACSS preceptors serve as second readers, guiding students through the development of their projects.
e. The Professional Thesis
i. The professional thesis uses social scientific knowledge and research methods to address a practical need of a particular organization. This option is designed for those who wish to use their MACSS thesis to position themselves for a professional career in the public, private, or nonprofit sectors.
ii. Like the academic thesis, the professional thesis is a demonstration of the skills learned in students’ coursework at UChicago. And like the academic thesis, the professional thesis is based upon a solid grounding in the scholarly literature, with data that has been rigorously analyzed to reach a set of conclusions.
iii. The difference between the academic and professional thesis is in the kind of contribution the project makes. While the academic thesis intervenes in a scholarly conversation, the professional thesis speaks to a specific audience outside the academy.
iv. There are numerous forms a professional thesis might take, including a computationally-driven market analysis for a firm; a predictive model to solve a business problem; a computationally-driven policy brief for a legislator or agency leader; an open-source tool for statistical modeling and evaluation; an audit of an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm for fairness or transparency; or other projects as approved by your preceptor and program leadership.
v. The Graduate Practicum in the Social Sciences, offered in the Winter Quarter, is designed for students who wish to write a professional thesis. This course provides a structured opportunity to identify a community partner with whom students might work and whose organization might benefit from their research.
vi. Requirements for the Professional Thesis
1. The student’s preceptor will serve as the primary reader and the project must meet their expectations. They will ask that students provide at least one or two examples for the kind of project they intend. The preceptor will confirm that the project is viable for our MA degree. Approval may also require registration in a particular course to support the work of the thesis.
2. Students are encouraged to secure a secondary reader, often a working professional from outside the University, who is knowledgeable about the thesis topic and the kind of project the student hopes to complete. That second reader may be an internship supervisor or a qualified data analyst working in industry.
3. No matter what form the thesis submission may take, it must be accompanied by a supplemental report consisting of the following two components:
a. Literature Review (7-10 double-spaced pages): A critical literature review demonstrating the student’s use of the relevant academic literature. The review should discuss current scholarly understandings of the research question, the disagreements/tensions in that literature, what parts of the research question remain unsettled or poorly understood, what the student learned from those scholarly discussions, and how it informed their research.
b. Evaluation of the Research Design (7-10 double-spaced pages): A detailed discussion of the student’s data, data collection procedures, and methods of analysis. This discussion should include considerations of the strengths and weaknesses of the research design, its comparative advantage, and what other methods might have been employed.
f. MACSS Thesis Readers
i. Students who do not have an approved thesis proposal within 6 quarters of matriculation (including summer quarter), or who have not completed the MA thesis within 9 quarters of matriculation (including summer quarter), will be automatically assigned a MACSS reader for the MA thesis.
ii. All part-time or Reduced Course Load (RCL) students will be assigned a MACSS reader for the MA thesis.
iii. When a MACSS reader is assigned, that person will be the sole reader of the MA thesis. If a student has a continuing relationship with an advisor from outside of our MA staff, and that person is willing, they may serve in an informal capacity and offer occasional advice on particular sections of the paper. But that person will not submit a grade or thesis evaluation, and they will not be recorded as an official reader of the MA thesis.
iv. The MACSS reader will provide comments on the student’s proposal and first draft, and submit an evaluation and grade for the final submission.
a. The Registrar’s Office sets policies regarding the process and deadlines for applying to graduate in a given quarter.
b. MACSS students typically graduate in the Spring Quarter of the second year, but students may graduate later depending on circumstances. Any student planning to graduate after Spring Quarter of the second year should discuss timing and process with the MACSS Student Affairs Administrator in advance of applying to graduate.
c. Students who apply to graduate in a quarter but do not meet curricular and thesis requirements and deadlines will be removed from the graduation list for that quarter.
d. If students have not graduated by the end of Summer Quarter of their second year, they may continue working with their faculty reader on the MA thesis for one additional quarter, if that faculty reader has been informed and agrees to do so. If the faculty reader declines to continue supervising the paper, or the final version of the MA thesis is not submitted by the end of that Autumn Quarter, the student will be reassigned a single thesis reader from the MACSS program. In most cases that will be the student’s preceptor.
e. After students complete required coursework, they will be discontinued as students and will complete the degree as Discontinued students.
f. If the student has not graduated three years past their initial matriculation and wishes to complete the program, they must submit a formal petition for a resumption of studies through the MACSS Student Affairs Administrator.
i. If the student still has missing or incomplete grades, all remaining coursework needs to be completed, and all grades posted on the student’s transcript, before the resumption of studies will be considered. The only exception will be for the MA Research Commitment (MACS 35000). The grade for that course will be posted once the preceptor has evaluated the final version of the MA thesis.
ii. All resumptions are considered on a case-by-case basis and resumed study at the University is not guaranteed. The petition must be formally approved by the Executive Director and Assistant Dean of MA Programs in the Social Sciences and the SSD Dean of Students.
iii. Once the resumption is approved, the student must graduate within 12 months (four quarters). If they do not do so, it will no longer be possible to earn our MA degree.
iv. All students must earn the MA degree no more than 10 years following their initial matriculation into the MA program, or within one year of an approved resumption of studies, whichever occurs first. Students are urged to submit the resumption form no later than 9 years past their initial matriculation, giving them a maximum of one year to complete the MA thesis.
a. All forms and additional information, including annual deadlines and requisite forms, are available on a program-wide Canvas site. Each year, all students will be added to the Canvas site with all relevant student-facing forms available.
b. University of Chicago Student Manual
The Student Manual is the official statement of University policies, regulations, and expected standards of student conduct that are applicable to all students. While students should be familiar with the manual as a whole, the following are commonly referenced by graduate students: Student Life & Conduct, Leaves of Absence, University Grievance Policy for Graduate Students, Policy on Harassment, Discrimination, and Sexual Misconduct, Policy on Title IX Sexual Harassment, Policy on Religious Accommodation for Missed Classes, Assignments, and Exams, Academic Honesty & Plagiarism, Graduate Student Parent Policy, Registration for Students in PhD Programs
c. Divisional Manual
Additional Divisional Policies are available online that pertain to disciplinary policies and grievances.
d. University of Chicago Collective Bargaining Agreement
MACSS has no teaching or research assistantship requirement. However, students may choose to work as teaching or research assistants at their own discretion.
The terms and conditions of employment for certain graduate students at the University of Chicago who are employed to perform instructional or research services will be determined by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the University and Graduate Students United (“GSU-UE”) for the duration of the assignment to perform such services. Students can access the CBA and review frequently asked questions about graduate student unionization on the Provost’s office website.
e. Department and Divisional Communications
There is a program-wide listserv and Canvas page from which students will receive communications.
f. The Social Sciences Graduate Student Activities Committee (SSGSAC) is a committee of representatives from each degree program in the Division of the Social Sciences that organizes social activities for students within the program and is funded by the university’s Office of Campus and Student Life. Two MACSS students serve on the Committee each year to organize, plan, and publicize social events for students within the program.
g. MACSS Program Roles and Advising
There are many key staff members for students in MACSS: their preceptor, the Student Affairs Administrator, the MACSS Associate Directors, the Executive Director and Assistant Dean of MA Programs in the Social Sciences, the program directors, and the Dean of Students office.
i. Preceptors
Upon fall matriculation, all students will be assigned to a preceptor group within the MACSS program. A student’s information is available in the program Canvas site as their ‘group.’ A preceptor serves as a student’s mentor and second reader and does not change over the two years, except in very limited circumstances. If there are issues around a student’s preceptor, they should reach out to the Associate Directors of MACSS to schedule a meeting and formally request a change of preceptor.
ii. Student Affairs Administrator
The Student Affairs Administrator assists students with registration (including holds and adding/dropping courses), workshop waivers, thesis progress, and graduation (including audits on progress). All administrative tasks related to program progress likely go through the Student Affairs Administrator. Contact: Sabrina Biggus, sbiggus@uchicago.edu
iii. MACSS Associate Directors
The Associate Directors develop the curriculum, support the work of Instructional Professors, make course designations, and teach in the program. Any questions about academic progress, including issues in courses, should go through one of the Associate Directors. Contacts: Jean Clipperton, clipperton@uchicago.edu, Jon Clindaniel, jclindaniel@uchicago.edu
iv. Executive Director and Assistant Dean of MA Programs in the Social Sciences
This role works with students who are seeking either to take a Leave of Absence (LOA) or a Reduced Course Load (RCL). Contact: Chad Cyrenne, cmcyrenn@uchicago.edu
v. MACSS Directors
The MACSS co-Directors set the direction of the MACSS program and oversee the workshop. All questions about the MACSS Workshop should go to the co-Directors. Contacts: James Evans, jevans@uchicago.edu, Marc Berman, bermanm@uchicago.edu
vi. Dean of Students Office
The Dean of Students Office oversees divisional policies related to students, liaises with offices around the university that provide student services, manages the student grievance and disciplinary process within the Division of the Social Sciences, ensures that disability accommodations are provided to students in the division, coordinates student financial aid, and advises students on a range of issues. Contacts: Dean of Students Kelly Therese Pollock, kpollock@uchicago.edu, and Associate Dean of Students Brett Baker, bbaker@uchicago.edu.
Students with questions may contact Sabrina Biggus, Student Affairs Administrator, Jean Clipperton and Jon Clindaniel, Associate Directors of MACSS, Chad Cyrenne, Executive Director and Assistant Dean of MA Programs in the Social Sciences, Brett Baker in the Office of the Dean of Students, or Amanda Young, Director, Graduate Student Affairs in UChicagoGRAD.