Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Track, M.S.

Admissions

An applicant must hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution in the United States or recognized institutions in other countries. In addition, the following requirements must be met:

• A 3.0 undergraduate GPA.
• An acceptable score on the Graduate Record Exam.

Upon the recommendation of the Graduate Dean, students who fail to meet all the above requirements may be admitted conditionally, pending removal of deficiencies. All applicants from non-English-speaking countries must submit a TOEFL score of at least 80 on the internet-based exam or 550 on the paper exam. Non-English-speaking students may substitute a minimum score of 6.0 on the IELTS examination for the TOEFL.

Each applicant must have a computer science faculty mentor who will assist the student in developing and pursuing a customized study plan that will help the student to attain interdisciplinary career objectives and determine which faculty members/departments will be reviewing the application for admission.

Applications for admission will be reviewed by the Graduate Coordinator as well as by mentors in the individual specialty areas  within the department.  Faculty members from the relevant colleges, schools and departments will also be involved in admission decisions and in assessing the suitability of the course plans and the applicants’ qualifications to pursue the plans.  Students who do not have mentors and approved curricula at the time of admission will not be accepted in the interdisciplinary track, but they may apply for admission to the regular M.S. Computer Science Program.

Every student admitted to the interdisciplinary track will have a designated mentor and study plan with non-computer-science courses that are approved by the relevant colleges, schools and departments.

Curricula

The interdisciplinary track will require 30 credit hours of graduate courses distributed as follows:

• Minimum core of 18 hours in Computer Science
• Maximum of 12 hours outside Computer Science
• Maximum of 12 hours of 6000-level courses
• Maximum of 6 hours of independent study coursework.

In addition, students without an undergraduate degree in Computer Science will work with their faculty mentor to take appropriate leveling courses to augment their interdisciplinary curriculum.

Courses from outside the Computer Science department will be decided in collaboration with the student’s faculty mentor and appropriate faculty from relevant graduate programs.  Any courses in non-computer-science departments will also require the permission of the instructor of record.

Students enrolled in the interdisciplinary track may choose to specialize in one of the two areas: Cyber Security or Software Engineering and Project Management.