General information, application forms, and contact information can be found on the Graduate Admissions home page. Please visit the Online Graduate Information Request Form to request more information from the Graduate Office.

Application Deadlines:
Spring	Fall
September 1 - International students November 1 - US citizen/permanent resident students	January 1 - Priority consideration for financial support April 1 - International students July 1 - US citizen/permanent resident students July 1 - Priority consideration for financial support

A prospective student should visit the Graduate Admissions website for the exact procedures to be followed for admission to the school's graduate program. Currently, there are five possible categories of admission:

Complete application materials received by the Graduate School are forwarded to the Department. The graduate advisory committee reviews the application materials submitted by candidates for the Master's and Ph.D. programs, and sends its recommendations to the Graduate School.

The student should also be aware that admission is a two phase procedure: both the Graduate School and the Department must accept the student. The Graduate School's requirements are given here and in the Graduate Bulletin and may include (besides the application form) letters of recommendation, transcripts, English placement scores, etc. In addition to these requirements, the Department requires

• a statement of purpose (short essay) from the applicant briefly describing background, interests, goals at CSM, career intentions, etc; and
• the general Graduate Record Examination (GRE).

Variations from these requirements may be allowed in rare cases where exceptional promise is clear from other evidence provided.

Prerequisites

Students should have completed an undergraduate program that is essentially equivalent to a typical B.S. in computer science, mathematics, or statistics. They should be prepared to begin study at the graduate course level (500) in the desired concentration area. Specific undergraduate requirements for the different areas are:

While it is possible for a student to be admitted if some of these course requirements are lacking, for computer science applicants the equivalent of Data Structures (our MACS 262) must have been taken prior to an admission decision.

When a student is admitted to the program, a temporary advisor is assigned from an area compatible with the student's interests. This advisor is responsible for planning the student's coursework, handling paperwork, monitoring student progress, and giving overall advice. A change in advisor can be made at the request of the student or advisor; in particular, it is not unusual for the eventual thesis advisor to differ from the initial temporary advisor. A full-time student is expected to take a full course load (10 or more hours of course, research and thesis credit combined) in the fall and spring semesters as long as the student remains enrolled in the graduate program. It is also possible for a student to request a leave of absence from the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research with prior approval of the department head and advisor, and the graduate advisory committee; upon return to the program a fee must be paid. Students not registered and not on leave of absence will be dropped from the program. Also, students registered for the degree of Master of Science (Non-Thesis Option) must complete all their course work within five years from entering the Graduate School; time spent on approved leaves of absence is counted as part of the five-year time limit.

If you are interested in our programs, we'd like to learn more about you. Please complete our Online Request Form and we'll send you additional information about our program.