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Graduate Admissions Webinars

Connect with our Management of Complex Systems faculty and learn about graduate study opportunities during a 1-hour webinar and Q&A.

This will provide an opportunity for potential applicants to learn more about the campus, the department and the M.S./Ph.D. program.

You will have an opportunity to ask questions of faculty members and a representative from the Graduate Division.

 

The meetings will be held on the Zoom platform, and we will contact you with sign on information shortly before the event.

Tuesday, November 18 at noon (PST): Register online here (link).

 

Note: the deadline for Fall 2026 MCS applications is January 15th.

Graduate education in Management @ UCM - Curriculum

Overview

To complete the Management of Complex Systems (M.S.) program, students must:

  • Complete at least two semesters in academic residence at UC Merced.
  • Complete a minimum of 24 units of courses at the upper division and graduate levels, with at least 20 units of graded graduate (200-level) courses in the major subject, including Fundamentals I (MIST 252) and at least two Methods courses. (with letter grade B or better).
  • Enroll in the Management of Complex Systems seminar (MIST 251) once for credit (S/U)
  • Either pass a comprehensive exam, or give a public oral presentation and successfully defend a master's thesis containing original research.

Courses 

The following is a non-exhaustive list of recommended MIST courses that have previously been offerred (docx version). See the Registrar's Course Descriptions webpage for a more up-to-date list.

Required

  • MIST 251 - Graduate Seminar
  • MIST 252 - Foundations I

Electives

  • MIST 201 - Leadership, Organizations, and Communications
  • MIST 202 - Managerial Finance and Accounting
  • MIST 203 - Quantitative Tools for Management
  • MIST 204 - Spatial Analytics
  • MIST 205 - Technology-Enabled Service
  • MIST 206 - Entrepreneurship and Innovation
  • MIST 207 - Project and Operations Management
  • MIST 208 - Law, Policy, and Risk Management
  • MIST 215/ES 241 - Political Ecology
  • MIST 218 - Social Reality
  • MIST 220 - Service Science
  • MIST 230 - Strategy & Innovation
  • MIST 231 - Organizational Behavior
  • MIST 240 - Operations Management
  • MIST 241 - Information Systems
  • MIST 260 - Game Theory
  • MIST 261 - Qualitative Methods in Studying Innovation 
  • MIST 270 - Data Science
  • MIST 271 - Network Science
  • MIST 272/ES 232 - Stochastic Modeling
  • ES 292 - Special Topics
  • ES 232 - Applied Climatology

M.S. Program Sample Plan of Study

Year 1
    Fall        MIST 252 (4), Methods I (4), Elective I (4)
    Spring    MIST 251 (1), Methods II (4), Elective II (4), Elective III (3), thesis or exam

MS Concentrations

  • Decision Science and Analytics. Three courses from MIST 203, 204, 260, 261, 270, 271; ES 232; or courses approved by petition to Graduate Group Chair.

  • Program Management. Three courses from MIST 201, 202, 205, 206, 207, 208, 211, 215, 218, 231, 241, 254, 264; or courses approved by petition to Graduate Group Chair.

To apply, visit the UC Merced Graduate Division website.

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