Application Details

CSE Home

PMP Home

About Us

Search

Contact Info

Prospective Student Information  Program Overview  Courses  Student Profiles  Faculty Profiles  FAQ  Advising Admissions  Admission Requirements  Dates  Forms/Instructions Current Student Information  Current Courses  Links of Interest Our next PMP information session is Monday, September 8th! Click on the "Advising" link above for details. The next PMP application deadline is November 1st for Winter 2009.

Professional Master's Program Application Details Employment History The on-line application will ask for a list previous employers, job title, dates of employment and areas of expertise. Applicants will also be asked to input total number of years of full-time work experience. Academic Background The on-line application will ask applicants for all colleges and universities from which they have received a degree, plus any others they have attended. Specific information includes dates of attendance (month and year), degree name, date of degree, major field, major GPA, and overall GPA. Applicants should input GPA information to the best of their ability. All GPA input will be checked against submitted transcripts. Recall or conversion errors will be corrected prior to review of the application by the Admissions Committee. The on-line PMP Application will also ask applicants for additional Computer Science & Engineering course detail via the Academic Background Information Form. Applicants should restrict this form to relevant academic experience. Personal Statement The Personal Statement (also known as Statement of Purpose) is best used to match the applicant's background, skills, current situation, and ambitions to our profile of PMP students. It should contain both motivation for applying and an overview of academic and professional qualifications. When discussing qualifications, applicants should focus on the specific skills and areas of expertise mentioned on our PMP Web pages--especially those listed on the FAQ page. The Personal Statement should provide examples of professional and academic applications of Computer Science knowledge and accurately convey relevant current and prior job duties and accomplishments. Resume It is preferred that you submit your resume or cv on-line, although we realize this can scramble your original format. However, the most important thing we are concerned with is the information provided and not the layout. You can opt to send in a hard copy of your resume instead of submitting it on-line. Letters of Recommendation Letters of Recommendation are best used to back up accomplishments or expertise detailed in the Personal Statement. If the applicant has been an integral part of a successful CSE related product or team, they should mention this in the Personal Statement and back it up with a Letter of Recommendation. The same is true of notable relevant academic accomplishment or experience. If the applicant has displayed varied strengths or roles on separate projects, it is important to utilize recommenders from each project to emphasize their well rounded skills. As this infers, it is better to request a letter from someone who knows the applicant well and can detail their accomplishments first hand rather than someone with an impressive title, but who can only speak of the applicant's accomplishments or skills in general terms. The ideal letter comes from someone in a position to evaluate what the applicant has contributed to a product or project, such as a project manager or a supervisor. If a professor is used for a Letter of Recommendation, the applicant needs to be certain they stand out among many students. Having a professor simply confirm a grade received or offer general praise would not be a good use of a letter. An academic letter would only be worthwhile if the professor remembers the applicant well and can talk about a specific project or outstanding academic accomplishment. At least two letters of recommendation must be received prior to the application deadline. The ideal number of Letters of Recommendation is two or three. Including more than three letters in an application is discouraged. Transcripts Transcripts are needed from all colleges and universities from which applicants have received a degree, plus others they have attended. Transcripts must be sent to the department in their original sealed envelopes. They can either be sent directly to our department address or sent to the applicant to include in their application packet (while still in their original sealed envelopes). Transcripts sent directly to our department will be placed in the applicant's file upon receipt, or held pending receipt of other materials. GRE Scores The University requires the GRE for admission. The only exception to the GRE requirement is for candidates who already have a Ph.D. from a U.S. institution. Registration forms, previous score reports, and information on times and locations of local tests may be requested from the Educational Testing Service at www.gre.org. The GRE Web page also has links to practice test information. GRE test preparation classes are presented by the UW Women's Center that are not for women only. The Computer Science subject exam is not necessary for applicants with a computer science, computer engineering or electrical engineering degree. A higher subject score may help strengthen an application if the applicant's undergraduate degree is not in computer science, computer engineering or electrical engineering. GRE scores taken more than five years ago are accepted by the PMP. It is often difficult to obtain older official scores from the Educational Testing Service. In those cases, other printed evidence of the applicant's scores will be accepted. Scores requested from the Educational Testing Service are electronically batched and sent to the University of Washington. Our department then pulls these scores from the UW database to input to the applicant's file. For these requests the UW Institution Code is 4854 and the CSE Department Code is 0402. The on-line Graduate School Application also requests GRE score input. If the score is not available at the time of application, it can be filled in later by department. The GRE is typically the longest lead item in the PMP application. Applicants should schedule a test time at least a month or two in advance of their targeted test date. Applicants should also allow at least three weeks prior to the application deadline for their tests to be evaluated by the Educational Testing Service and sent to the department. TOEFL The graduate school requires international applicants, immigrants to the United States, and permanent residents of the United States, whose native language is not English and who have not received a bachelor's or master's degree from an accredited U.S. institution, to submit a valid TOEFL score. Only official TOEFL score reports less than two years old will be accepted. Citizens of Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom are exempt from the TOEFL requirement, as are applicants with bachelor's or master's degrees from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, or the United Kingdom. The graduate school will not waive the TOEFL. We will still accept and evaluate the applications of those who have not taken or passed the TOEFL prior to the application deadline. However, if accepted, those applicants required to take the test must receive a passing score before they can register for courses. For additional information or to make arrangements to take the TOEFL, contact the Educational Testing Service at www.toefl.org. The Michigan Language Test may be taken instead of the TOEFL and is recommended for efficiency and cost. Information on the Michigan Language Test can be found here. For exemption from the English as a Second Language (ESL) requirement, a minimum score of the following is required: 580 (TOEFL); 237 (TOEFLC); 70 (TOEFLiBT)*; 90 (MLT); 7.0 (IELTS) *PLEASE NOTE: The score 70 on the TOEFLiBT includes only the total of the listening, writing and reading section of the test. The speaking section is not included.

	Computer Science & Engineering University of Washington Box 352350 Seattle, WA  98195-2350 (206) 543-1695 voice, (206) 543-2969 FAX [comments to masters]