Graduate Admissions Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Deadlines

We do not admit students for the spring term but will begin accepting applications for the Fall 2010 term in early November.

We expect that your Graduate School and CSE online applications will be completed by the deadline listed below. If your letters and scores arrive after the deadline, you will still be considered as having met the deadline.   You will be considered for admission and if applying for PhD, you will also still be eligible to be considered for assistantships and fellowships. Master’s students are expected to come with their own funding.

• December 1: PhD in Computer Science (to be considered for Fellowships)
• January 1: PhD in Computer Science (to be considered for additional Teaching Assistantships, Research Assistantships)
• February 1: All MS applicants (MS students are expected to come with sufficient funding for the degree.)
• April 1: Admission without financial assistantships (All MCS students are ineligible for departmental support.)

GRE

If you are applying for the PhD or MS programs, you are required to submit GRE scores. Please do not use a departmental code, just use the University code which is 6874. If you intend to send us an unofficial copy of your scores, they must be sent directly to the department and not to Graduate School. Initially, we will accept copies sent by you. However, once you have been admitted and have indicated your intention to matriculate, we will then require that official GRE scores be sent to us.

You may also scan your scores and submit them in the one PDF document that we require, which includes your statement of purpose, resume and transcripts.

GRE scores are just one factor when we review files. A high GRE score will not automatically admit you to our program nor will a very low GRE score automatically cause your application to be rejected. However, we do expect to see scores in the upper percentile.

There are no minimum GRE scores.

TOEFL, MELAB, IELTS

The TOEFL, MELAB, or IELTS is required by the University for all applicants whose native language is not English and the guidelines for what is acceptable can be found at the Graduate School’s TOEFL information page.

Graduate Record Exam and TOEFL Codes

Letters of Recommendation

We require three letters of recommendation from people who can speak to your ability to do graduate level work and research. We will not accept hard copies. We require that you include the name and email address of each of your recommenders in the space provided on the Computer Science application. Do NOT include them on the Graduate School Apply Yourself application.

It is wise to check to make sure that your recommenders have received the email from the department regarding uploading their letter of recommendation for you. If the email you gave us is incorrect or they need an alternate email used, please email with the correct email address. Please use "Recommender Email" as the subject line. The other possibility is that their spam filter may be blocking our emails. Please ask them to accept email from . In the email to your recommenders, we provide a unique secure link to a web site where they can upload your letter. This web address is very long and for some email clients will wrap on two lines. In that case, they must copy and paste the entire address into the search box and not try to just click on the link.

Assistantships

The department has a limited number of assistantships available to new PhD students. These are awarded to top students with demonstrated research interests. These awards are made separately from admissions and students are usually notified late February or early March. MS applicants are not eligible for Teaching Assistantships within our department. Occasionally MS students do get supported by CS faculty providing that they can first demonstrate the ability to contribute to the individual faculty’s research. It is very rare for a student to be awarded a Research Assistantship in their first semester. Numerous email solicitations to Computer Science faculty and faculty in other departments will jeopardize your chances for departmental support.

Costs

The tuition and fees for next year are not yet set, but you can view the costs for this year.

• Graduate School tuition rates
• Estimated Cost of Attendance

How many new students are admitted?

We expect to enroll about 75-80 new students each year. We receive between 800 and 1000 applications each year and admit a sufficient number to meet our enrollment goal. For more details about the application/admissions/enrollment numbers, please see the Graduates School’s statistics.

International Student Information

International students have unique questions and concerns. The University of Minnesota has an excellent source for answers and help in our International Student and Scholars Services Office (ISSS). Please visit their web site for more information as a prospective student and as a newly admitted student.

These are just a few common questions that many applicants are concerned about. This site will be continually updated with new questions and answers so check back. If your question is not answered, please email .