Graduate Programs in United States By Jyh-haw Yeh Computer Science Boise State University

Which field to apply? Your interest Your knowledge background Your resources Future potential Job opportunity

Which school to apply? Good school Strong program: Financial aids research vs. industry collaboration Financial aids Faculty Location: college town vs. metropolitan living cost

Which school to apply? Look for job after MS: PhD: Practical program, located at a technology hub with local industry internship PhD: Good school with strong research program Of course, you need to know your ultimate goal and self- evaluate your own credential first!

How to apply? Application materials UG GRA 3.0 minimum GRE Verbal+Quantitative 300 or better TOFEL: Internet 80, paper 550 Letters of recommendation Usually three letters, depending on schools Important! No lukewarm letters Statement of purpose Be specific on which field you are interested and why Identify one or a few faculty you would like to work with English writing and proofread are important

When to apply? Spring admission vs. Fall admission Spring: less competition but also less GAship. Fall: opposite to Spring Curriculum design favors Fall admission No matter Spring or Fall admission, apply and have all materials submitted before the due date!

Master Programs Usually 2 years, but could be 1.5 to 3 years Usually require 5-10 courses with GPA 3.0 or better Thesis/Project vs. Written Test Thesis vs. Project Forming Thesis/project committee (1 chair + two members?) Departments with both MS and PhD vs. departments with only MS.

PhD Programs Course option, and/or Oral exam, and/or Written exam Usually 3 years (with MS degree) to 5, 6, 7… years (without MS degree). Usually 10-15 courses plus dissertation GPA needs to be 3.0 or higher Qualify/Comprehensive Exam Course option, and/or Oral exam, and/or Written exam Usually needs to be done within 2 years

PhD Programs Dissertation after passing qualify or comprehensive exam Forming Committee (1 chair + 4 members?) Dissertation proposal Dissertation final defense Publication may be required

Thesis/Dissertation topic You pick the topic May get denied multiple times by your adviser Less help from your adviser But you may be more interested and motivated Your adviser pick the topic More help but also more pressure from your adviser Adviser can help in defending your proposal and final defense

Types of Financial Aid Research Assistant: Teaching Assistant: Preferred by most people The best scenario is RA on the same research topic as your thesis/dissertation Teaching Assistant: Encourage you do it at least one year if you are a PhD student In addition to your thesis/dissertation, you need to the TA work

Types of Financial Aid Grader/Lab Assistant: Unlike the RA and TA, this is usually a part time assistant. Pay by hourly rate and no tuition coverage. Government agency or industry fellowships Need to apply with the help of your adviser International students may not be eligible to apply some fellowships

Course Selection International students must be full time Usually 3 courses (9 credits) to be full time Mixture of easy and hard courses in one semester Mixture of Thesis/dissertation credits with regular courses Don’t be over-confident or over conservative Talk to your peers and adviser before selecting your courses.

Your study attitude and approach Open minded to form a study group for each course you take Study in group for your course work, but no cheating on homeworks/exams Don’t hesitate to ask for help from your peers, course TA/instructor, and adviser.

Questions?