Academics
Application Instructions
- Application Deadlines
- Pre-Evaluation
- Minimum Admission Requirements
- Average GPA and Test Scores
- GRE Subject Test and Test of Spoken English (TSE)
- Application Materials
- Statement of Purpose and Letters of Recommendation
- Notification and Inquiry from/to The Office of Admissions
- Notification and Inquiry from/to the CISE Department
- Application Process (START your online Application)
- Contact
Application Deadlines
Spring 2010
| M.S. International applicants | August 1, 2009 |
| M.S. Domestic applicants | September 30, 2009 |
Fall 2010
| All Ph.D. applicants | January 15, 2010 |
| M.S. International applicants | February 1, 2010 |
| M.S. Domestic applicants | May 31, 2010 |
Ph.D. applicants are encouraged to apply for the Fall semester. There is usually very limited or no financial scholarship for new Ph.D. students for the spring semester. For financial offers of the CISE department, please visit CISE financial opportunities. For other Financial Aid resources, please visit Student Financial Affairs.
Pre-Evaluation
We are unable to evaluate your chances for admission, assistantships, and/or fellowships in our graduate program prior to receiving your completed application packet. Our admissions decisions are made by a committee that receives hundreds of complete applications each semester. Therefore, it is departmental policy not to give "pre-evaluations".
Minimum Admission Requirements
GRADUATE SCHOOL
- GPA: B for all upper-level courses
- GRE: see CISE department requirement below
- TOEFL: 550 on paper-based; (213 on computer-based; 80 on internet-based) (Countries with TOEFL Exemption). You may substitute for TOEFL with (a) IELTS (International English Language Testing System with a minimum score of 6; or (b) MELAB (Michigan English Language Assessment Battery) with a minimum score of 77.
CISE DEPARTMENT
- GRE: GRE scores will be used in the context of a holistic credential review process. A strong performance is expected. For Fall 2008, incoming M.S. students have an average 550-560 verbal and 760-780 quantitative; Ph.D. students have an average 530-580 verbal and 780-800 quantitative.
- TOEFL: 600 (250 computer-based; 95 internet-based) Residents of some countries are exempt from the TOEFL requirement. You may substitute for TOEFL with (a) IELTS (International English Language Testing System with a minimum score of 7; or (b) MELAB (Michigan English Language Assessment Battery) with a minimum score of 90.
- Undergraduate Prerequisite Courses or equivalent: (Click this link for details.)
- Calculus (MAC 2311 & MAC 2312)
- Statistics (STA 2023 or STA 3032)
- Introduction to CIS (CIS 3020)
- Applied Discrete Structures (COT 3100)
- Introduction to Computer Organization (CDA 3101)
- Data Structures and Algorithms (COP 3530)
- Operating Systems (COP 4600)
Average GPA and Test Scores
The majority of our accepted students have an undergraduate degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or Electrical Engineering, with an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.3/4.0. For reference, prior to this year, GRE averages were Verbal: 522, Quantitative: 752, Analytical: 660, and Total: 1275 (verbal + quant). This year the averages are: 560 verbal, 760 quantitative, 680 analytical, and 1320 total (verbal + quant).
The University of Florida's school code for submission of GRE scores is 5812. The code for the department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE) is 0402.
GRE Subject Test and Test of Spoken English (TSE)
With regard to the Advanced GRE Subject Test, although we do not require that this test be taken, we will certainly take it into account when evaluating your application file. In order to be an unrestricted Teaching Assistant at the University of Florida, a TSE score of 55 or above is required of international students. Although a TSE score is not required in our evaluation for admission, we do consider it when making selections for Teaching Assistantships.
Application Materials
You are required to send two separate packages in order to apply for Graduate School in the CISE Department. The CISE Department does not have access to the materials that you send to the Office of Admissions. That is why you must send two separate packages. Click the following two links to see the required materials in each of the two packages.
Statement of Purpose and Letters of Recommendation
The Statement of Purpose is an IMPORTANT piece of information that should provide a personal statement on your purpose for graduate studies. The committee will carefully read the Statement of Purpose.
You are also required to have three professors and/or employers (past or present) who can attest to your academic ability fill out a Letter of Recommendation form. Your file will not be considered by our admissions committee without three Letters of Recommendation.
Notification and Inquiry from/to The Office of Admissions
The University Office of Admissions will not send notification to you upon receipt of your application materials. Please realize that the Office of Admissions will not start processing your application until the application fee has cleared. Also the Office of Admissions takes three to four weeks to review your application materials and if anything is missing they will wait to see if it comes in. So having all materials sent at the same time except for official scores from ETS will help speed the processing of your application (NOTE: You should also send a copy of your score sheet).
To check on any material you sent to the Admissions Office, you should contact them at 352-392-1365 between 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST weekdays or write to them at: PO Box 114000, 201 Criser Hall, University of Florida, Gainesville FL 32611. International students may email urgent questions to: international@ufl.edu. Please note that the Admissions Office handles large number of applications. Please allow enough time for processing your application.
Notification and Inquiry from/to the CISE Department
Once you have applied, it takes a MINIMUM of 2 months for your application to be processed after ALL application materials have arrived on campus. The department does not have access to the materials that you send to the Office of Admissions. This is why we ask for you to send us SEPARATE copies (See checklists of the two separate application packages).
Because of the large number of applications that we receive each year, we are unable to provide information about the status of your application via phone or email. However, we do have a link to a site (Graduate Applicant Information Tool or GAIT) where you can check to see whether all your application materials have arrived at the CISE department: https://www.cise.ufl.edu/dept/gradoffice/gradapp/. You will need your UFID# to access this site. NOTE: the GAIT system will be updated periodically. Please allow four weeks for processing. The same site will also tell you the date your application was sent to the admission committee and, after decisions have been made, whether your application has been accepted or denied.
Final decisions will be emailed to each applicant. If your application has been accepted, you will receive, in addition, a formal letter attached to an email. In case of some truly urgent question or emergency, you may send an email inquiry to: gadvisors@cise.ufl.edu.
If you would like for anyone other than yourself to have access to the information in your application file, you must provide written consent with the names of those whom you wish to have access. This includes inquiries pertaining to the status of your application. This cannot be sent through e-mail or fax. We strongly encourage you to also send written consent to the Office of Admissions as well as our department.
Application Process
You have two options when applying to the CISE Graduate Program at the University of Florida.
- Apply online (Preferred
Method)
Applying online allows the applicant to electronically file the Application for Graduate Admission with the UF Office of Admissions. After being notified of your electronic application, the CISE Department will then have access to your electronic application. Therefore, NO DEPARTMENT COPY of the application is required to be mailed to the CISE Department. Also, the statement of purpose and letters of recommendation can now be submitted online. However, the CISE still requires you to submit transcripts and GRE/TOEFL scores directly to the department.
- Download Required Forms and Applications
The required applications and forms can be downloaded for printing from the following links: If you download the Application for Graduate Admission, then you must send the DEPARTMENT COPY of the application to the CISE department.
Contact
For specific questions about graduate applications, contact Wendi Decker-Miller at . For additional information contact a CISE Academic Advisor or visit the CISE Student Services Center (E405 CSE Building).