What are the chances I'll be admitted? What are the chances I'll be granted financial aid?
Research. Our graduate program is research-oriented. We are seeking students with research experience in an area related to the research done by the department. When you apply, you should indicate on your application which research group you wish to apply to. A list of research groups is available at.....
Financial aid is normally given to the applicants with the strongest potential to make a research contribution to the department. Because it takes some time to get up to speed as a research group member, those most likely to make a contribution are those who will stay for a PhD, or M.S. applicants who have already joined one of our research groups while an undergraduate.
If you are seeking an M.S. and are more oriented toward business applications than academic research, you may be a better fit for our Hartford program or for a degree in Information Technology.
Academic background.An undergraduate major in Computer Science is not required, but some academic background in Computer Science is needed. At a minimum, applicants should have taken the equivalent of the Rensselaer course CSCI-2300 Data Structures and Algorithms. You should also have some math background, including courses in calculus, discrete structures, and linear algebra. Students applying for the specialization in Computational Science and Engineering should also have studied elementary differential equations, and numerical computing. Students applying for the specialization in Computational Molecular Biology should also have taken introductory organic chemistry (CHEM-2210 or equivalent) and introductory biology. Students applying to either of the specialization areas may be admitted even if they have not taken all the background courses, but they will be expected to make up the knowledge after enrollment. This may require taking courses beyond the normal degree requirements.
An academic background in Computer Science is more important than professional experience in the field.
GRE. There is no required minimum GRE score. The average GRE scores of admitted applicants for Fall 2005 were Verbal 547, Quantitative 762, and Analytical 4.67. However, applicants should not place too much importance on these numbers and should keep in mind the following points:
Most applicants to our program have outstanding GRE scores, but only a small percentage are admitted.
We receive applications from many different countries. Trends in GRE scores vary from country to country, so we try to compare an applicant's GRE scores with others from the same country, rather than to the entire pool of applicants. Strong scores and grades do not guarantee admission. Applicants must also show research potential.
TOEFL.TOEFL scores must be at least 570 (paper) or 230 (computer). Students with TOEFL scores less than 600/250 are not eligible for assistantships.Students with TOEFL scores below 650/280 will only be eligible for an assistantship if they can demonstrate satisfactory communication in a telephone interview. In the case of non-native English speakers who are exempt from the TOEFL requirement because they have been studying in the US, phone interviews may be required at the discretion of the Graduate Admissions chair.
General chances. Meeting the minimum requirements does not guarantee admission. In fact, because we have hundreds of applicants with outstanding qualifications, we must even turn away many who have undergraduate degrees in the field as well as very high GRE scores and grades. Often what distinguishes admitted applicants from other highly qualified applicants is research accomplishments.
For Fall 2005, we received 311 applications to our Troy campus graduate degree program. Fifty-nine applicants were accepted, and 29 received aid offers.