All interested individuals must submit the completed online application form and applicable fee to the Graduate Center Admissions Office by April 15, for consideration for entry in the following fall term. Applications must be completed and submitted electronically. Forms can be found in the Admissions office web page.
Individuals interested in applying for financial assistance are strongly urged to have their completed application submitted by February 1. Please note that the Ph.D. Program in Computer Science does not admit matriculants in the Spring semester. Applications received by the Office of Admissions after the deadline mentioned above will be considered for the following academic year, if so requested. Official applications for admission are available through the Admissions Office.
All applicants are required to have earned a minimum average of "B" (3.00) in their undergraduate major, and to have completed course work equivalent to an undergraduate major in computer science. Exceptions to this may be considered by the Admission's Committee for those applicants with an undergraduate major in one of the fields cognate to computer science, or with extensive experience in the field of computer science.
Specifically, entering students are expected to have a background (minimally at an undergraduate level) in the following areas:
- Operating Systems
- Fundamental Algorithms
- Object-Oriented Programming
- Databases
- Discrete Mathematics
- Computer Organization
- Theoretical Computation
- Programming Languages
- Probability
Students who are admitted with deficiencies will be required to take certain graduate or undergraduate courses to compensate. Graduate courses required to fulfill deficiencies may be included in the first thirty credits for the degree if approved and the student achieves at least the grade of B in the course. No graduate credit for undergraduate courses can be awarded.
Students are to include in their admission dossier official transcripts – mailed directly to the Office of Admissions from each college or university previously or currently attended – for all undergraduate and graduate level course work completed prior to entry into the Ph.D. Program in Computer Science, showing proof of all degrees earned. An official transcript is a document issued by the institution concerned and bearing the seal and/or original signature of the appropriately authorized college official.
Official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores must be received for each applicant. A cumulative score of 1,800 on the combined Verbal, Analytical and Quantitative portions of this exam for scores on examinations taken prior to September 2002 is the minimum the Program's Admission Committee will consider for acceptance. Under the GRE’s newer grading format, 700 is the minimum Quantitative score; Verbal scores should be above the 50th percentile and a minimum score of 4.0 is required on the Analytical section. All applicants are strongly recommended to submit scores for the computer science advanced area of the GRE in addition to the scores for the standard exam.
Students who have completed their undergraduate course work in an institution where the language of instruction (during the duration of an applicant's study there) was any language other than English must also submit TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) Exam scores. The minimum score considered for admission is 600.
All applicants must submit at least two letters of recommendation from individuals deemed competent in the realm of computer science and personally acquainted with the applicant's academic achievement. It is recommended that letters be submitted from colleagues in academe, but in certain cases, letters from business or industrial colleagues will be considered appropriate. Forms for the letters of recommendation are provided with The Graduate Center's admission packet.
All documents, except those foreign certificates considered irreplaceable, become the property of The Graduate Center and cannot be returned to an applicant. No original foreign documents can be returned unless accompanied at the time of filing by photostatic copies that have been verified by Admissions' personnel. All foreign documents must be accompanied by official, notarized, English translations.
The Program’s Admissions Committee usually considers applications within two weeks of the April 15 deadline. Incomplete applications are returned for consideration for admission in the following academic year. Notification of the Committee's decision usually is issued within two weeks of consideration. Students not residing in the Greater New York Metropolitan area should allow sufficient time during the application process to allow for this as well as for the change of residency attending The Graduate Center will require. Foreign students are advised to contact the Office of International Students to discuss the special requirements that apply to them.