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Graduate Admissions

Admission Requirements for Computer Science

Prospective students should apply well in advance (at least eight weeks for US residents and six months for international students) of the date of proposed entrance. All applicants for graduate programs in Computer Science must apply through the Graduate School.

APPLY FOR GRADUATE ADMISSION

Requirements for admission to the computer science graduate degree program are in addition to those of the School of Graduate Studies. Scores from the GRE basic test are recommended, but not required, for admission to the program. Transcripts will be reviewed and deficiencies in computer science background may result in the need to take one or more broadening courses. The MAT or GMAT is not an acceptable substitute for the GRE.  

Requirements for admission to a graduate certificate program are the same as requirements for admission to the Computer Science M.S. program. Students must also satisfy the breadth requirements described below. Students in a certificate program are required to maintain a 3.0 GPA.

Students applying for the master’s program are expected to have an undergraduate background in Computer Science. Those students who do not have such a background must satisfy the breadth requirements described below. For the MS in Computer Science (not the other MS programs), students who have not had an undergraduate course in programming languages must take CS 424 or CS 524.

The admission policies for the Ph.D. program in computer science follow the general policies of the School of Graduate Studies and Computer Science Department as described above. An applicant’s admission request will be reviewed in light of preparatory coursework, GRE scores, any supporting information, and general expectation of completing the degree. Students requiring a large amount of prerequisite coursework will not normally be admitted to the program until the courses have been completed. Graduate admission requests for the Ph.D. program will be reviewed once per semester by a departmental admissions committee. Applicants are required to submit supporting recommendation letters and an indication of research interests and study plans. Specific requirements are available from the Computer Science Department office. Requests for admission will be evaluated according to the following guidelines.

Unconditional Admission

Students applying to the M.S. program will be given unconditional admission if they meet all the requirements of the School of Graduate Studies and of the Computer Science Department including the breadth requirements listed below.

Unconditional admission to the Ph.D. program will be given to applicants who meet all of the requirements of the School of Graduate Studies and Computer Science Department. Students showing exceptional promise who desire to pursue the Ph.D. full-time may be admitted to the program after completing a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

Conditional Admission

Conditional admission will be recommended for applicants who do not meet all of the requirements of the School of Graduate Studies and the Computer Science Department, but show high potential for completing the degree requirements.

Breadth Requirements

Applicants to graduate programs in Computer Science must satisfy the following breadth requirements.

THE BREADTH REQUIREMENTS CAN BE SATISFIED IN ONE OF THE FOLLOWING WAYS:
  1. COMPLETION OF THE COURSE AT UAH WITH A GRADE OF B OR BETTER;
  2. COMPLETION OF AN EQUIVALENT COURSE AT ANOTHER INSTITUTION WITH A GRADE OF B OR BETTER;
  3. TESTING OUT OF THE COURSE, WHERE PERMITTED BY DEPARTMENTAL POLICY
Mathematics  
MA 171 CALCULUS A 4
MA 172 CALCULUS B 4
MA 201 CALCULUS C  
MA 244 INTRO TO LINEAR ALGEBRA 3
MA 385 INTRO TO PROBABILITY & STATIST 3
Computer Science  
CS 121 COMPUTER SCIENCE I 1 3
CS 221 COMP SCI II: DATA STRUCTURES 1 3
CS 321 INTRO OBJECT-ORIENTED PROG JAV 1 3
CS 214 INTRO DISCRETE STRUCTURE 3
CS 317 INTRO DESIGN/ANALYSIS OF ALG 3
CS 490 INTRO TO OPERATING SYSTEMS 3
CS 309 COMPUTER ORG & SWTCHNG THRY 3
CS 413 INTRO DIGITAL COMP ARCHITECTUR 3
Total Semester Hours 38
1  An introductory sequence covering Object-Oriented Programming and Data Structures in C/C++/Java.
The breadth requirements can be satisfied in one of the following ways:
  1. Completion of the course at UAH with a grade of B or better;
  2. Completion of an equivalent course at another institution with a grade of B or better;
  3. Testing out of the course, where permitted by departmental policy.

Consult a departmental advisor for additional information.

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