Graduate Admissions
Graduate Admissions
The Department of Computer Science and Engineering offers programs leading to the MS and PhD degrees. Instruction and opportunity for directed study exist in a variety of areas, including artificial intelligence, compiler design, computational complexity, computer architecture, networks, database systems, software engineering, formal verification methods, VLSI design, multimedia technologies, computer graphics, and programming.
Admission criteria
UCR offers admission to applicants who appear to have the highest potential for graduate study and who, with the benefit of a graduate education, are the most likely to contribute to their academic or professional fields through teaching, research, or professional practice. Admission decisions are based on a number of factors, including your academic degrees and record, statement of purpose, letters of recommendation, test scores and relevant experience. The appropriateness of your goals to the degree program to which you are applying and their relationship to the research interests of its faculty are also considered. Because professions need a diverse membership and because the educational experience is enhanced by a diverse student body, UCR views as a high priority the enrollment of men and women from different backgrounds and from different demographic and ethnic groups.
Basic requirements
The basic requirement for admission is a bachelor's degree or its equivalent from an accredited institution. Your degree must represent the completion of a program equivalent, both in the distribution of academic subject matter and scholarship achievement, to that offered at the University of California. Although we welcome promising students from all disciplines, entering students must have a substantial background in both mathematics and computer science. We consider knowledge of the following subjects to be essential preparation for our graduate program: circuit design, algorithms and data structures, formal languages and automata theory, computer architecture, operating systems, programming languages, and compilers. Satisfying minimal standards does not guarantee admission since the number of qualified applicants far exceeds the number of places available. As a result, many well-qualified applicants cannot be accommodated.
Application Fee
The application fee is being paid by the College for applicants who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
International applicants, $85. Applications from international applicants will not be considered until the application fee has been paid.
To apply to the Department of Computer Science & Engineering you must
- Complete the Online electronic application: https://gradsis.ucr.edu/
-
Submit the following documents to the address below:
Official GRE (General Record Examination)
Official transcripts from all higher education schools attended
(All official documents must be received in sealed envelopes directly from the issuing entity)
Postal Address
GRADUATE PROGRAM
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
Engineering Building Unit 2, Room 351
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
United States of America
Duplication of degree
Permission to work for a second MS degree in a *new* area may be approved on the individual merit of the application when there is little or no relationship between the two subjects. Duplication of a MS degree in one field is not permitted, and duplication of a doctorate is rarely permitted, regardless of the field of study.
Grade point average
We expect at least a 3.2 GPA (on a 4.00 scale) in the junior and senior years, and at least 3.5 in any graduate study. These averages are considered the minimum requirements; the actual standard for admission is set by the current pool of applicants, and is generally much higher.
Graduate record examination (GRE)
Only GRE scores on the General (Aptitude) test are required for admission to both the MS and PhD programs. All students applying for Fall should take the GRE test no later than November. Applicants for Winter should take the GRE test no later than October. The test must be taken within the last five (5) years before the desired date of admission. The minimal GRE score required to be admitted is 1100. The 1100 minimum is derived by taking the sum of the verbal and quantitative scores. A minimum score of 1200 is required to be a Teaching Assistant, however the pool is quite competitive and generally students scoring significantly above this range are selected as teaching assistants. You may obtain complete information on this test and the locations at which it is given from:
Graduate Record Examinations
Educational Testing Service
PO Box 6000
Princeton, NJ 08541-6000
GRE institution code 4839
Telephone: 609-771-7670 Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. - 9:45 p.m. EST. The Educational Testing Service homepage is http://www.ets.org/
Test of English as a foreign language (TOEFL or TOEFL iBT)
All applicants whose first language is not English must submit TOEFL scores. This test is administered by the Educational Testing Service and given several times annually at many locations. This exam must be taken within two years before the desired date of admission. The minimal TOEFL score required is 550, for the computer base exam is 213. The minimum score for the TOEFL iBT is 80. You may obtain complete information on this test and the locations at which it is given from:
Educational Testing Service
PO Box 6151
Princeton, NJ 08541-6151
Telephone: 609-771-7100 Monday-Friday, between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. The Educational Testing Service homepage is http://www.ets.org/
Letters Of Recommendation
Three letters of recommendation are required in support of all applications for admission. At least two of these letters should be requested from professors in your major subject. Letters of recommendation may be uploaded directly from each recommender to your application profile, and therefore should be submitted online.
Transcripts
Please note that this is only general information regarding transcripts. For more specific information, please refer to the Graduate Application. Request the Registrar of each institution you have attended after high school to forward two (2) official copies of transcripts of your academic records directly to:
GRADUATE PROGRAM
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Engineering Building Unit 2, Room 351
University of California
Riverside CA 92521
USA
Only official records bearing the signature of the Registrar and the seal of the issuing institution and received in sealed envelopes from that institution are accepted as supporting transcripts. Student copies of transcripts are not considered official. Exception: If you have received a bachelor's degree from UCR or another UC campus and have completed your last two years of undergraduate work there, you will need to submit transcripts for that campus only. However, UC graduates must provide transcripts for any work taken beyond the bachelor's. Graduates from other universities must submit transcripts from ALL institutions attended; a summary by the degree-granting institution will not suffice. PLEASE NOTE: Failure to declare attendance at any institution and submit corresponding transcripts of record may result in disqualification. If you have work in progress at the time of application, please have two copies of your official final transcript sent when the work is complete. If a degree was awarded, make certain this appears on your transcript.
Financial support
For full consideration of financial support, your application and all supporting documents must be received by January 5. * Domestic student applications may be consdiered for fellowship opportunities after this deadline, pending funding availability. All applicants for admission are automatically considered for financial aid. Only a limited amount of graduate support is available for first-year graduate students. These are awarded strictly on merit. Non-immigrant students cannot establish California residency and should expect to pay nonresident tuition every quarter in addition to all other assessed fees. Current fees can be found at http://www.graddiv.ucr.edu/Admiss/FinSupportFM.html. Admitted foreign students must provide the university with evidence of the ability to pay all required fees and expenses for the duration of their graduate program.
Admissions process
The primary objective of the admissions process is the selection of those students most likely to complete their chosen graduate programs with distinction. After consultation between the program and the Graduate Division, the final authority to admit rests with the Graduate Dean. Applicants are initially reviewed and rated based on their overall undergraduate and, where appropriate, post-baccalaureate GPAs. However, the evaluation process is intended to be flexible, and departments take a variety of other factors into consideration, including GRE or other test scores, GPA in the major subject, letters of recommendation, and the reputation of the degree-granting program or institution. Soon after the department forwards its recommendation to the Graduate Division, the applicant is notified in writing of the Dean's decision. If admission is offered with work still in progress, official transcripts reflecting the satisfactory completion of this work and the awarding of the degree (where appropriate) must be submitted as soon as possible. An offer of admission is valid for a specific quarter only. Accepted students who wish to be admitted for a subsequent quarter must reapply and, if additional course work has been completed, submit updated transcripts. Students are entitled to reapply once within one year without submitting a new application fee.