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

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

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

4. 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!

5. 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

6. 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!

7. 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.

8. 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 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

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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. Questions?