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Welcome New Students: Information for Incoming Students

For admission to the graduate programs in Electrical and Computer Engineering, students must hold an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering with a B+ or better grade point average (GPA), or have similar undergraduate preparation in mathematics, computer science, physics or other areas of engineering or science. (In exceptional cases, students with a lower GPA may also be admitted). Other criteria include overall academic record, strength of recommendations, GRE scores, and adequacy of preparation. Applicants are competitively judged by a faculty committee, and the top candidates are selected for admission subject to available resources.

Fall Admission:

• DECEMBER 1:  For financial support consideration, applications and all supporting materials must be received by December 1.
• FEBRUARY 1:  International applicants who wish to be considered for admission only may submit applications and all supporting materials by February 1.
• MAY 1:  U.S. citizens who wish to be considered for admission only may submit applications and all supporting materials by May 1.

Spring Admission:

• Please note that financial support is not available for spring admission.
• JUNE 1:  International applicants must submit the online application by June 1.
• AUGUST 1:  For international applicants, all supporting materials must be received by August 1. For domestic applicants' priority consideration, the online application and all supporting materials should be received by August 1.
• OCTOBER 1:  Final deadline for domestic applicants.

Please visit http://www.gradschool.umd.edu/gss/admission.htm for details on how to apply and for the link to the online graduate application.  All materials should be sent directly to the Graduate School’s Enrollment Services Operations, Graduate Admissions office.  Please allow approximately two weeks for your materials to be processed and updated.  You may check the status of your materials at https://apra.umd.edu

Decision Date

In most cases, applicants who have submitted complete application packages for fall admission by the stated deadline should receive notification of admission or rejection March - May.  In most cases, applicants who have submitted complete application packages for spring admission by the stated deadline should receive notification of admission or rejection November - December.  Once the decision has been made, you will be notified in writing by letter sent by postal mail or email.  No decisions will be released over the phone or in response to email inquiries.  Once the decision has been entered, you will also be able to view it on http://www.testudo.umd.edu

I-20

The I-20 (for international students) is issued by International Education Services (IES) when the Graduate School grants full admission. If you have any questions regarding your status as an international student, please contact IES directly: 3116 Mitchell Building University of Maryland College Park, Maryland 20742-5121; phone: (301) 314-7740, fax: (301) 314-1469,
e-mail: iesadv@deans.umd.edu

Deferment of Admission (U.S. citizens and permanent residents only)

Once an official admission letter has been issued, U.S. citizen and permanent resident applicants may defer their admission for a period of up to one year by submitting a written request to the Graduate School. If the request for deferment is not submitted or not approved, the applicant will have to submit a new application (including the application fee). International students can only request a term change for their applications and must be re-evaluated with no guarantee of admission.

Application Withdrawal Dates/Termination of Admission Status

Please note that all incomplete applications and applications from international students who do not show certification of finances by May 31 (for fall admission) and October 31 (for spring admission) or who do not have financial aid from the University will be withdrawn. Applicants who do not register for the semester for which they are admitted will have their admission terminated.

Do I apply for the M.S. or Ph.D. program?

Now that you have decided to apply to our graduate program, should you apply to the M.S. program or to the Ph.D. program? If you are admitted to the M.S. program, you will have a choice between two options: M.S. Non-Thesis or M.S. with Thesis. Under the Non-Thesis option, the degree requirements essentially consist of course work. Under the thesis option, the requirements combine course work with research work leading to a thesis.

In the Ph.D. program, after having completed course work and satisfied the Ph.D. Qualifying Requirement (written and oral exams) and the Ph.D. Proposal requirement (written proposal and oral exam), students typically spend two to three years carrying out a major research project towards writing and defending a Ph.D. dissertation. Students applying to the Ph.D. program must be fully committed to completing doctoral studies before leaving the University of Maryland, College Park.

Students who are unsure whether they wish to carry out significant research work should apply for admission to the M.S. program, not to the Ph.D. program. If students apply to the M.S. program but have aspirations for Ph.D. studies, they should explicitly state so in the Statement of Goals and Research Interests.

A student admitted to the M.S. program may later apply for admission to the Ph.D. program without necessarily first completing the requirements for the M.S. degree. Courses taken while in the M.S. program can generally be counted towards the Ph.D. degree, whether or not the M.S. degree has been obtained.

Finally, Ph.D. students may earn an M.S. degree “along the way” to the Ph.D. For details and regulations, please refer to the M.S. Degree Requirements section.

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