In addition to getting payments going back to your application date, you can get up to 12 months of retroactive payments for the year prior to your application date (or your protective filing date, discussed below) -- if you were disabled that long ago.
Characters will receive one specialization point at level 7 and another at level 14. Specialization points can be saved for later levels or used mid-level (the Level Up button on the stats sheet will be active if there are unspent specialization points).
Choosing a Specialization. As an MSCS student, you must choose one of ten predefined specializations, or a combination of any two specializations (dual depth). As you can see in the map at right, there is some overlap between the different specializations, as some courses can be applied to more than one specialization.