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Graduate Students » Graduate Admissions
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Graduate Admissions |
This brochure contains advice for graduate students
planning to study computer science. There is a separate handout
describing the graduate majors offered by this department; there
is also a handout describing all degree programs and course offerings.
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Admission
¤ Graduate Assistantships
¤ Application Deadlines
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Graduate Admissions
Procedure
and Application Forms:
There are two (2) applications necessary
to apply to the graduate program in Computer Science at UTK.
First, you must apply to the Graduate School.
Click here for the Graduate School Application Forms
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Additional information can be found at:
- The Graduate Admissions website
http://admissions.utk.edu/graduate/
- The Graduate School website
http://gradschool.utk.edu/
International students, the university's graduate web-site does not highlight
the following two facts but they are important:
1) You must have ETS send the graduate admissions office an original copy of
your TOEFL scores. The
department accepts a photocopy for the departmental application but
the university requires an original for its application.
2) The university requires a signed
International Student Financial Statement Form
that states that you understand the financial resources you will need
to cover one year of expenses at UTK. If we offer you a graduate
teaching assistantship, that assistantship will cover your expenses.
It will also serve as the documentary evidence that the university
requires that you have the necessary financial resources to attend
UTK. If we do not make you an assistantship offer, then you will
need to provide the university with evidence that you have the
necessary financial resources to attend UTK.
Second, you must apply to the Computer Science Department.
Please send the following items to the Department.
Checklist of items to be sent to the Department.
- Three Letters of Recommendation (Graduate Rating Forms) - Send these DIRECTLY to the department, not to the Graduate School.
- Graduate Teaching Assistantship (GTA) Form
- Personal
Statement
- Photocopies of each transcript sent to the
Graduate School
- Resume
- Other documents like technical
paper abstracts, certificates for academic excellence, work
experience etc. (Photocopies will do)
- Photocopy of TOEFL
Score Report (for International Students)
- Photocopy of
TSE Score Report (for International Students). TSE is highly
recommended but optional.
Send the items in the above checklist to the following
address:
University of Tennessee
Department of Computer Science
203 Claxton Complex
Knoxville, TN 37996-3450
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General
Information
We have rolling admissions, with no fixed
quotas on the number of students admitted. We do admit students
for Spring Semester in January: (perhaps 25-30% of our students
enter at this time and a number of GTA positions are usually
available then). UTK Graduate Admissions requires a minimum
undergraduate GPA of 2.7. We can request an exception to this
rule, but for us to do so, an applicant will need strong compensating
evidence of ability--such as high GRE scores. The application
fee (currently $35) is a Graduate Admissions (not a CS Department)
requirement, and is not something we can waive. We do admit
people directly into the PhD program from bachelors' degrees;
such students must also complete the MS coursework, and must
in their applications show strong evidence of ability to complete
a PhD.
GREs: We require the general GRE test for
regular admission and almost never waive this requirement.
However, we do not require up-to-date GREs and occasionally use
GREs that were taken 10 to 20 years ago. In the MS program, we currently average
about 2000 on the verbal + quantitative + analytical total for those
we admit. In the Ph.D. program, we tend to expect a GRE verbal score of 600 or
greater, a quantitative score of 700 or greater (750 or greater for
international applicants), and an analytical score of 5.0 or greater.
Additional Information for US Students
About 25-30% of our graduate students do
not have undergraduate CS degrees but rather come from a wide
variety of backgrounds such as Music, Math, EE, English, Biology,
etc., and many of these students have been out of school for
some number of years. Perhaps 5% of our graduate students
have PhDs in other fields, and about 10% are age 40 or older.
We have a heterogeneous mix of ages, backgrounds, areas of
the US, etc: currently, 80% of our 60 or so US GTAs and GRAs
come from out of state. We have no hard and fast deadlines
for US applicants, but all applications for admission must
go through the UTK Graduate Admissions Office. We can and
do admit qualified applicants on very short notice. If you
would like to communicate with graduate students who might
have similar backgrounds to yours, send e-mail to:
 straight@cs.utk.edu.
Additional Information for International
Students
- TOEFL
- Graduate Admissions requires a minimum TOEFL score
of 550 (213 on the computer-based version).
- We average about 630 (267 on the computer-based
version) for those we admit.
- GPA
- International applicants with a degree from a US
school need a minimum GPA of 2.7
- Students with
degrees outside the US must have a minimum undergraduate
GPA of 3.0
- The Graduate Application deadlines
are firm deadlines. Due to visa regulations, the deadlines can't be relaxed.
- Applications from India and China are particularly competitive due to
the large numbers of students applying each year from these
two countries.
- More information for prospective international students
is available here.
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Graduate Assistantships
Research
Assistantships
These are usually awarded by faculty who
have grant money to students who have taken courses from them.
The Computer Science Department does not choose/hire GRAs,
but rather the individual faculty decide on who they want,
and consequently funds do not often go to incoming graduate
students.
Teaching
Assistantships
We like to receive applications by March
1st for Fall Semester, but we are receptive to applications
from good US students after that time (international students,
due to visa and other requirements, do not have the luxury
of late applications for GTA positions). We strive for flexibility,
and while the bulk of the GTA offers are made in March, we
usually continue to make offers while positions are still
available throughout the spring and summer. Positions are
competitive; we only support students pursuing CS degrees.
We currently expect GTAs to be able to teach labs that use
the C programming language and the UNIX operating system; a
lack of C and UNIX skills may adversely
affect an applicant's chances of obtaining a GTA position.
System and Network
Administrator
We have a sizable support staff of people
managing our labs and handling the UNIX system administration
and other matters. We usually have four to six graduate assistants
doing sysadmin work. Students who have good UNIX sysadmin/network
admin skills can inquire about the availability of such GA
positions. Interviews are usually necessary for these positions.
The Division of Information Infrastructure (DII), formerly
called the University of Tennessee Computing Center, has a
variety of systems and network groups, many of which have some GA positions. Obtaining
a position with DII requires interviews and cannot be done
remotely.
Students interested in CS System and Network Administration
and DII positions can contact Dr. David Straight:
straight@cs.utk.edu
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GTA
Application Form
The following forms are available from the
CS department.
Online
GTA Application Form
Choose this option to fill out the Computer Science Graduate
Assistantship application form online and submit it electronically.
If you choose to apply online, we will need you to send us
a copy of your transcript(s).
GTA Application Form
Computer Science Graduate Assistantship application form (2
pages):
Page 1:
postscript format
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.pdf format
Page 2:
postscript format
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.pdf format
GTA Application Form (ASCII text)
Computer Science Graduate Assistantship
application form in ASCII text format, suitable for filling
in using any text editor and returning electronically.
csapp.txt
You can have this form electronically mailed to your email
address by entering your email address in the box below:
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Application
Deadlines
US Students
There are no hard and fast deadlines for
US applicants, however, the same deadlines as International
Students (given
below) are preferred. Qualified applicants
can be, and have been, admitted on very short notice.
International Students
International Students applying for the M.S. program
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Fall |
Spring |
| Admission
and Fees |
Feb 1 |
June 15 |
| Assistantships
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Feb 1 |
June 15 |
International Students applying for the Ph.D. program
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Fall |
Spring |
| Admission
and Fees |
Feb 1 |
June 15 |
| Assistantships
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Feb 1 |
June 15 |
NOTE: Admission and Fees deadlines are determined by the Graduate School and Assistantship deadlines are determined by the Department.
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