Prospective Students

GRADUATE APPLICATION PROCEDURES

In order to apply to our graduate program, you must apply to the University of South Florida Graduate Program and choose Computer Science and Engineering. Just follow the instructions included in this link.

Graduate Application Deadline

Domestic and International Candidates

Please be aware that the Department deadline for the Fall 2019 semester is June 1 for all graduate programs (MS and PhD). For those applicants seeking assistantships, it is highly recommended to submit an application before our priority/consideration deadline of February 15. However, any applications submitted after February 15 and before June 1, will be considered for the Fall 2019 semester.

University Fellowship Deadline

If you would like to be considered for any of the University of South Florida's Fellowships, your application must be submitted before January 5. All documents must be uploaded and ready for review. This applies for Fall applicants only. 

Campus Visit for PhD Domestic Candidates 

All domestic PhD candidates who apply before February 15 will be considered for an all-inclusive campus visit e.g. flights, room and board, meals. All application documents must be submitted in order to be considered. 

Graduate Admission Requirements

Candidates must meet University requirements (see Graduate Admissions) as well as requirements for admission to the major, listed below.

Requirements for ALL Graduate Programs

• The GRE is required for all PhD and MS applicants. The median GRE scores of recently admitted students include 770 on the Quantitative portion and a Verbal Total of 450. For GRE tests taken after August 1, we require a minimum of 161 on the Quantitative portion (81 percentile) and a minimum of 150 (44 percentile) on the Verbal. If a candidate is admitted to the MS major and later decides to join the PhD major, the GRE requirement must be met by the candidate as part of the application process. The GRE will be waived for MS degree applicants with an undergraduate degree from an ABET-accredited United States university.
• Minimum grade point average (GPA) of "B" (or equivalent) for all coursework completed during the last two (2) years of undergraduate major.
• Submission of TOEFL scores with an Internet-based score of 79 or higher for applicants from non-English speaking countries. If consideration of an assistantship is desired, the speaking score component of the TOEFL must be 26 or above, The TOEFL requirements may be waived if the applicant meets one of the following conditions:
  • Has scored 500 or higher on the GRE Verbal Test (Old Scores) or 153 with the New GRE scoring.
  • Has earned a college degree at a U.S. institution of higher learning.
  • Has scored 6.5 on International English Language Testing System (IELTS).
• Three (3) letters of recommendation.
• Statement of purpose.

Special requirements for PhD students

The applicant must also have mathematical preparation equivalent to that obtained from courses in Calculus through Differential  Equations; knowledge of computer science and computer engineering, including logic design, computer architecture, data structures, operating systems, and analysis of algorithms. Students are assumed to have good programming skills. The majority of students accepted to the major possess an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Mathematics; however, students who hold an undergraduate degree in a related field are encouraged to apply.

Special requirements for MSCS students

The applicant must also have mathematical preparation equivalent to that obtained from courses in Calculus through Differential Equations; knowledge of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, including logic design, computer architecture, data structure, operating systems and algorithms. The majority of students accepted to the Major possess an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Mathematics. However, students who hold an undergraduate degree in a related field with a sufficient computer science background are encouraged to apply.

Special requirements for MSCP students

The applicant must also have mathematical preparation equivalent to that obtained from courses in Calculus through Differential Equations; knowledge of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, including logic design, computer architecture, data structure, operating systems and analysis of algorithms. The majority of students accepted to the major possess an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, or Mathematics; however, students who hold an undergraduate degree in a related field are encouraged to apply.

Special requirements for MSIT students

Evidence of completion of a defined subset of the required core courses found in the University of South Florida's Bachelor of Science in Information Technology degree program or their equivalent (see "Undergraduate Prerequisites" https://www.usf.edu/engineering/cse/graduate/msit-catalog.aspx).

Important Notes

The Department reviews all applications in a comprehensive manner; meaning that we usually do not make admission decisions based on a single criteria. Instead, we consider ALL requirements above to evaluate the likelihood of success of the applicant in our program. The Department WILL NOT review ANY application until ALL documents HAVE BEEN RECEIVED.

For more information on the graduate programs, please read their catalogs:

• PhD Computer Science and Engineering Program
• Master of Science in Computer Science (MSCS)
• Master of Science in Computer Engineering (MSCP)
• Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT)

Please direct all queries regarding the Graduate Program to the Graduate Program Director.