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Admission Materials

Five criteria are used to evaluate applicants for graduate study in CS: grades, test scores, computer science background, letters of reference, and a statement of purpose.

All applicants should submit the following:
(For either the Ph.D. or Masters Degree)

• An application to the Graduate School
• An application to the CS Department
• Photocopies of all college transcripts
• * Photocopies of all test scores:
  • GRE
  • The AGRE Computer Science Subject test is highly recommended for all applicants.  Scores from a Subject Test in Engineering, Mathematics, or Physics may be substituted.  However, the CS test is strongly preferred over any other subject.
  • The Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) is required of all international students whose native country's primary language is not English. Only international students who hold (or will hold by the time of enrollment) a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution in the U.S., or another English-only speaking country, qualify for the TOEFL to be waived.
• A statement of purpose
• Three letters of reference. The Admissions Committee prefers to see letters that emphasize research experience and academic achievement in computer science.

In addition, each student must demonstrate a CS background appropriate to the degree program to which admission is being sought:

*Note: All tests must be taken prior to the deadline of the semester for which the application is being submitted. If you have not yet received the test results, you should submit all your other materials by the deadline and write your test date(s) on the CS Department application form.

Ph.D

A B.S. (or the equivalent) in computer science, with a computer science grade-point average of at least 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale). Applicants with a B.S. in some allied field (such as mathematics or electrical engineering) who have a strong minor in computer science will also be considered.

In rare cases, significant strengths in one area of a student's background may help compensate for weaknesses in another. Work experience is considered in the context of the overall application. Generally, work experience is not sufficient to compensate for lack of formal computer science coursework and performance on the GRE and CS Subject Test.

Masters

Having an undergraduate CS background is important. The following UTCS undergraduate courses, or equivalent, are required as background:

1. CS 345 Programming Languages or CS 375 Compilers,
2. CS 352 Computer Systems Architecture,
3. CS 372 Introduction to Operating Systems, and
4. CS 353 Theory of Computation or CS 357 Algorithms.

Graduate level courses may not be used to satify background requirements. Please see the Undergraduate Course descriptions for more information.

Note: We do not consider applicants to our Masters Program who already have earned or will earn, prior to enrollment, a Masters level degree in Computer Sciences or closely related subject, regardless of where it was earned.