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The University of Texas at Austin

Application Instructions

All applicants need to apply to two different offices: The Graduate and International Admissions Center (GIAC) and the Department of Computer Sciences. Different items go to each office and it is vital that all applicants follow these directions carefully, sending the required materials to each office. This is true for all applicants, even those from UT-Austin.

The CS Department's Admissions Committee will only will review the application and materials
on our web site, regardless of your official GIAC file's status. The online application status only refers to your file with GIAC, not with the department. It is the applicant's responsibility to check that each office has the materials it requires.

In particular, please make sure that you submit all of the materials required by the CS department to us as listed below by the deadline. Some you will submit electronically; others you will mail in hard copies.

Application Checklist

To begin, apply electronically on the GIAC web site

There are two forms of identification that you will get when you fill out the Apply Texas (via the GIAC web site). First, you will be given an application number. Second, in a few days (longer on weekends and holidays), you will receive an email with the UT EID the system has assigned to you. This is an identifier UT Austin uses for applicants and students. You must use the one assigned to you.

These two forms of identification are very helpful to our office and to GIAC's. The UT EID is the preferred and main identifier you will need to keep handy. When you go to fill out the Departmental Application online, it will ask you to provide your UT EID. However, if you are unable to provide it, please enter your Apply Texas number. We will look up your UT EID later.

If you are a previous or current student of UT-Austin, you should use the UT EID you had/have.

You do not need to provide a statement of purpose on their web site, only on ours. You may either leave it blank or simply write "submitted to CS department".

You will need to provide the following to the Department of Computer Sciences:

To submit electronically

  1. Department Application form: Click on this link! It is a separate application form from Apply Texas. All applicants must fill out both application forms (Apply Texas and ours). If you wish to be considered for both the Ph.D. and Masters programs, please indicate that on this application form.
  2. Statement of Purpose
  3. Optional materials: Our online system allows an applicant to submit a resume and up to three published papers less than 3 MB each.
  4. Three letters of reference (These will be submitted by your recommenders). An email is sent to them automatically by the system 24 hours after you submit your Department Application.
  5. The statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, and any optional documents must be submitted online in either ASCII text (.txt) or Acrobat (pdf).

To submit by postal mail directly to our department:

  1. Official or photocopy of all college transcripts - Important: If the transcript does not clearly state the degree title earned, major, and date earned, we need a copy of the degree certificate or diploma that shows proof of degree earned. We do not require secondary level (high school) transcripts. Note: We do not accept print-outs from university web sites. Only photocopies or faxes of official transcript or the original transcript will be accepted.
  2. Photocopy of test score reports: GRE, Computer Science Subject Test (AGRE), and TOEFL. Your application will be processed more quickly if you send us a photocopy of your score report, in addition to having the official scores reported to UT-Austin.

Applicants who would like to submit transcripts for the CS Department and for GIAC together in one envelope to save on postage cost, should make sure to mail that envelope directly to the CS Department since our deadlines are more stringent than GIAC's. We will gladly forward the transcript for GIAC to their office.

Mail the transcripts and photocopies of score reports to:

The University of Texas at Austin
Graduate Admissions - Department of Computer Sciences
Taylor Hall 2.124
1 University Station C0500
Austin, TX 78712-0233 USA

The CS Department's Admissions Committee will only review the materials submitted on our department's web site (we will upload the transcripts that you mail directly to our department.) If you have any questions, please email us at csadmis@cs.utexas.edu

To check your Department Application status follow this link: http://recruiting.cs.utexas.edu/grad

Follow these steps to complete your application to the Graduate School (GIAC):
  1. Request official transcript(s) to be sent from all universities and colleges you have attended.
  2. Request official test scores to be sent. UT-Austin Institution code is: 6882. The CS Department's codes for test scores are: GRE/AGRE: 0402, and TOEFL: 78. We do not require the TWE nor TSE. Official test score reports are always sent by ETS directly to GIAC first; the GIAC office forwards it to the department.
  3. For International Students Only: Download the "Certification of Financial Responsibility" form from the GIAC site. Mail it and with any supporting documentation to the International Office per the instructions on the form.

GIAC does not need to receive your letters of recommendation, statement of purpose, resume, or similar documents. They do not review such materials for admission to our department -- we do. Those materials should be submitted online only to our department.

Mailing address:

UT Graduate/International Admissions (GIAC)
PO Box 7608
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX 78713-7608 USA