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Graduate Application for Computer Science

Deadlines and supplementary materials

William & Mary uses an online application system.

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The information below is specific to the graduate programs in Computer Science.

Deadlines

For Fall admission: March 1 (to be considered for financial aid), March 15 (for international applicants who need a visa to travel to the US), June 1 (for all other applicants)
For Spring admission: October 1 (for all applicants)
Part-Time Students: Yes, but without funding

Applications submitted after the program’s deadline may be evaluated at the discretion of the program’s admission committee.

Admission Procedure

All completed applications received before the deadline are fully reviewed by an admission committee. Applicants are not required to find an advisor before submitting an application; students are expected to find a research advisor within the first four semesters in the graduate program. The admission committee does not favor or give priority to applicants who already have an advising agreement with a faculty member. Only the admission committee can recommend admission, and recommendations must be based on complete applications. Neither the committee nor any computer science faculty can review partially completed applications. There is no strict minimum threshold for standardized test scores; an application is reviewed in its entirety and a decision is made based on the potential of the applicant to be successful in our program and the number of available positions.

The submission of GRE General Test and/or Subject Test scores are optional. Not submitting GRE scores will not impact the decision process. However, if you think uploading GRE scores will help us to more accurately evaluate your application, please do so.

Degree Options

We admit students to the following degrees (independent of specialization): M.S., Ph.D., and M.S./Ph.D.  Students admitted to the M.S. program can later convert to the Ph.D. program if they show research aptitude, meet the minimum GPA requirements, and find a faculty sponsor. Students initially admitted to the Ph.D. program are not eligible to transfer to the M.S. program. The department requires Ph.D. applicants to have completed a B.S. degree in a related field; an M.S. degree is not required. Unlike the regular Ph.D. program, students admitted to the M.S./Ph.D. track will receive the M.S. on track toward the Ph.D.  Admission criteria to the M.S./Ph.D. program are higher than the regular Ph.D. program and, in addition, requires a four-year bachelors degree from a recognized U.S. institution of higher learning.

Waivers

• In general, the department approves TOEFL waiver requests from students who have completed a four-year degree from an institution located in a country where the primary language is English. The department reserves the right to deny TOEFL waiver requests even if a student meets this condition. TOEFL waiver requests from students who do not meet this minimum requirement are unlikely to be approved.
• The department is unable to offer application fee waivers other than those provided by Arts & Sciences.

Financial Aid

All admitted full-time Ph.D. or M.S./Ph.D. students will receive a competitive stipend and a full tuition waiver. In general, financial support is not available for part-time students or M.S. students.