Graduate
Program
Admission
Dear Prospective Graduate Student:
We are pleased that you are interested in the
graduate program in computer science at Towson
University. We have established a rolling admission
policy so applications can be submitted at any
time within the guidelines from the Graduate School.
Those students admitted prior to the application
deadline for a given semester can register for
that semester.
Admission to the program is open to anyone with
a bachelor's degree from an accredited institution
and a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0 or above.
Conditional admission may be given to those with
a GPA of 2.5 and above. Conditional admission
requires a student to earn a grade of "B"
or better in the first three graduate level courses
completed toward the program requirements. In
addition to the GPA requirement, there is also
a TOEFL requirement for international students
as described in the graduate catalog.
If your bachelor's degree is not in computer
science, based on your background, you will be
required to take one to three specially designed
courses to prepare you to undertake graduate studies
in the department. These courses are:
Discrete Mathematics (3) (MATH 263)
Assembly Language and Computer Architecture (COSC
280)
Fundamentals of Data Structures and Algorithm
Analysis (COSC 501)
The first two preparatory courses, MATH 263 and
COSC 280, can be taken together in a single semester
followed by COSC 501 and other 500-level courses
in the subsequent semester. The scheduling of
the preparatory courses accommodates full-time
as well as part-time students.
When your application is completed at the Graduate
School, a copy will be sent to me for an admission
evaluation. At that point your admission, as well
as any preparation required, will be decided based
on your prior education.
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Table of Contents
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Application Procedures
For application materials, all international students
must contact Janet Schmitt(jlschmitt@towson.edu)
and all other students must contact Francine Musotto
(musotto@towson.edu) in graduate school.
Materials Required
For domestic students, we simply require their
transcripts, application and application fee.For
international students, in addition to the above
we need their TOEFL score.
Admission Requirements
A baccalaureate degree in computer science or
a baccalaureate degree in any other field and
completion of one to three preparatory courses
from among MATH 263,COSC 280,COSC 501,as determined
by the graduate program director.
An undergraduate grade point average of 3.00
for full admission or 2.50 for conditional admission
are required. All GPA calculations for admission
are based upon the last 60 units of undergraduate
and post-baccalaureate study.
International Students
International students and their status will be
determined by Graduate Admissions as described
in the graduate catalog. A minimum TOEFL score
of 524 is required for conditional admission and
a score of 550 earns full admission unless waived
by the Graduate School or by the graduate program
director. Conditional admission may require at
least one ESL course to be taken at Towson University.
The graduate program director can waive the TOEFL
requirement under exceptional situations in consideration
of a candidate's background. The English Department
will decide type of ESL course required for an
applicant.
International students are asked to do course-by
course evaluation of their transcripts including
a Grade Point Average(GPA) at the credential evaluating
services.
Prerequisites
A set of prerequisites given to a graduate student
depends upon an applicant's educational background,
industrial experience and date of graduation of
candidate's previous degree. The preparatory courses
may be waived without replacement based on previous
college courses. The graduate program director
will determine the appropriate prerequisite courses
after reviewing student's credentials.
Transfer Credits
As per the graduate catalog, the following policy
must be implemented:
A maximum of 6 credits may be transferred to
a degree program. Courses taken prior to admission
must have been taken at a regionally accredited
college or university, must be applicable to a
graduate degree at the offering institution, and
cannot have been utilized as part of an earned
degree. Transfer courses must have been completed
with a grade B or higher (Pass/Fail or S/U grading
is not acceptable), and within the span of seven
years allowed for completion of the degree requirements.
The seven-year limit cannot be extended for transfer
credits. Program directors may stipulate that
all required courses must be taken at Towson University.
A new policy to administer transfer of credits
is in effect. The graduate program director completes
transfer credits form and submits this form along
with the course syllabus to the Dean of graduate
school. This process should be repeated for each
course to be transferred to the graduate program.
A student involved with this process is responsible
to provide official transcripts of the transferred
courses to the program director or graduate school.
Do not process transfer request until an official
transcript is available. After the course is approved
for transfer, place this status in student's folder
so that the transferred courses can be taken into
account during the time of evaluation of graduation.
Conditional Admission
When student academic performance is poor, i.e.,
a GPA of 2.5 - 2.99, a conditional admission may
be given to a student that requires the student
to earn B or better grade in the first three graduate
level courses. The graduate program director can
also impose a condition on a student to complete
all prerequisite courses before taking 600 level
courses or 500 level courses.
Other Admission Considerations
In some cases, the graduate program director has
to carefully evaluate a candidate based on applicant's
motivation to study computer science, work experience
relevant to latest technology, and recent courses
taken at other institutions. When grades are lower,
the reputation of an institution should be taken
into account to consider for admission. A personal
interview with a candidate is also an option to
evaluate a candidate's potential before granting
admission.
Deadline
There is rolling admissions through out the year.
Contacts
Any computer science program related questions
should be addressed to the program director and
admission related questions should be directed
to graduate school.
Graduate Program Director: Dr.Yonggin Kim
410-704-3782
ykim@towson.edu
International Student's Admissions: Janet Schmitt
410-704-3317
jlschmitt@towson.edu
Domestic Student's Admissions: Francine Musotto
410-704-2501
musotto@towson.edu
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