how to prepare for phd entrance exam in computer science

CS PhD Course Guidelines

The following program guidelines (a.k.a model pogram) serve as a starting point for a discussion with the faculty about areas of interest.   This description of the Computer Science PhD course guidelines augments the school-wide  PhD course requirements .   Students should make themselves familiar with both.

Course Guidelines for Ph.D. Students in Computer Science

We expect students to obtain broad knowledge of computer science by taking graduate level courses in a variety of sub-areas in computer science, such as systems, networking, databases, algorithms, complexity, hardware, human-computer interaction, graphics, or programming languages.

Within our school, CS courses are roughly organized according to sub-area by their middle digit, so we expect students to take courses in a minimum of three distinct sub-areas, one of which should be theory (denoted by the middle digit of 2, or CS 231). Theory is specifically required as we expect all students to obtain some background in the mathematical foundations that underlie computer science. The intention is not only to give breadth to students, but to ensure cross-fertilization across different sub-disciplines in Computer Science.

Just as we expect all students obtaining a Ph.D. to have experience with the theoretical foundations of computer science, we expect all students to have some knowledge of how to build large software or hardware systems , on the order of thousands of lines of code, or the equivalent complexity in hardware. That experience may be evidenced by coursework or by a project submitted to the CHD for examination. In almost all cases a course numbered CS 26x or CS 24x will satisfy the requirement (exceptions will be noted in the course description on my.harvard). Students may also petition to use CS 161 for this requirement.   For projects in other courses, research projects, or projects done in internships the student is expected to write a note explaining the project, include a link to any relevant artifacts or outcomes, describe the student's individual contribution, and where appropriate obtain a note from their advisor, their class instructor, or their supervisors confirming their contributions.  The project must include learning about systems concepts, and not just writing many lines of code.   Students hoping to invoke the non-CS24x/26x/161 option must consult with  Prof. Mickens ,  Prof, Kung,  or  Prof. Idreos  well in advance of submitting their Program Plan to the CHD.  

Computer science is an applied science, with connections to many fields. Learning about and connecting computer science to other fields is a key part of an advanced education in computer science. These connections may introduce relevant background, or they may provide an outlet for developing new applications.

For example, mathematics courses may be appropriate for someone working in theory, linguistics courses may be appropriate for someone working in computational linguistics, economics courses may be appropriate for those working in algorithmic economics, electrical engineering courses may be appropriate for those working in circuit design, and design courses may be appropriate for someone working in user interfaces.

Requirements

The Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (GSAS) requires all Ph.D. students to complete 16 half-courses (“courses”, i.e., for 4 units of credit) to complete their degree. Of those 16 courses, a Ph.D. in Computer Science requires 10 letter-graded courses. (The remaining 6 courses are often 300-level research courses or other undergraduate or graduate coursework beyond the 10 required courses.)

The requirements for the 10 letter-graded courses are as follows:

• Of the 7 technical courses, at least 3 must be 200-level Computer Science courses, with 3 different middle digits (from the set 2,3,4,5,6,7,8), and with one of these three courses either having a middle digit of 2 or being CS 231 (i.e., a “theory” course).   Note that CS courses with a middle digit of 0 are valid technical courses, but do not contribute to the breadth requirement.
• At least 5 of the 8 disciplinary courses must be SEAS or SEAS-equivalent 200-level courses. A “SEAS equivalent” course is a course taught by a SEAS faculty member in another FAS department. 
• For any MIT course taken, the student must provide justification why the MIT course is necessary (i.e. SEAS does not offer the topic, the SEAS course has not been offered in recent years, etc.). MIT courses do not count as part of the 5 200-level SEAS/SEAS-equivalent courses. 
• 2 of the 10 courses must constitute an external minor (referred to as "breadth" courses in the SEAS “ Policies of the Committee on Higher Degrees [CHD] ”) in an area outside of computer science. These courses should be clearly related; generally, this will mean the two courses are in the same discipline, although this is not mandatory. These courses must be distinct from the 8 disciplinary courses referenced above.
• Students must demonstrate practical competence by building a large software or hardware system during the course of their graduate studies. This requirement will generally be met through a class project, but it can also be met through work done in the course of a summer internship, or in the course of research.
• In particular, for Computer Science graduate degrees, Applied Computation courses may be counted as 100-level courses, not 200-level courses.
• Up to 2 of the 10 courses can be 299r courses, but only 1 of the up to 2 allowed 299r courses can count toward the 8 disciplinary courses. 299r courses do not count toward the 5 200-level SEAS/SEAS-equivalent courses. If two 299r’s are taken, they can be with the same faculty but the topics must be sufficiently different.
• A maximum of 3 graduate-level transfer classes are allowed to count towards the 10 course requirement.
• All CS Ph.D. program plans must adhere to the SEAS-wide Ph.D. requirements, which are stated in the SEAS Policies of the Committee on Higher Degrees (CHD) . These SEAS-wide requirements are included in the items listed above, though students are encouraged to read the CHD document if there are questions, as the CHD document provides further explanation/detail on several of the items above.
• All program plans must be approved by the CHD. Exceptions to any of these requirements require a detailed written explanation of the reasoning for the exception from the student and the student’s research advisor. Exceptions can only be approved by the CHD, and generally exceptions will only be given for unusual circumstances specific to the student’s research program.

Requirement Notes

• Courses below the 100-level are not suitable for graduate credit.
• For students who were required to take it, CS 2091/2092 (formerly CS 290a/b or 290hfa/hfb may be included as one of the 10 courses but it does not count toward the 200-level CS or SEAS/SEAS-equivalent course requirements nor toward the SM en route to the PhD.

Your program plan  must always comply  with both our school's General Requirements, in addition to complying with the specific requirements for Computer Science. All program plans must be approved by the Committee on Higher Degrees [CHD]. Exceptions to the requirements can only be approved by the CHD, and generally will only be given for unusual circumstances specific to the student’s research program

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PhD Program Overview

The aim of the program is for students to acquire the skills to produce successful research in Computer Science. A central component of the program is the interaction of the student with their research advisor, and with the research community. We expect that throughout the program advisors and students will determine the best course of action within the program, within the general rules below.

The PhD program proceeds in three phases:

• Qualifying Phase : acquire a basis of knowledge, techniques and skills in Computer Science
• Candidacy Phase : gain admission to candidacy
• Dissertation Phase : write and defend a dissertation

During the first phase, the Qualifying Phase, the students demonstrate knowledge in several fundamental subareas of Computer Science, start doing research, and refine their research interests, including identifying a research advisor. They will also show competence in writing, producing a technical document (a research or survey paper) that indicates that the student is qualified to pursue their studies eventually leading to a doctorate. The Qualifying Phase ends with a public exam, in which the student presents their paper, and answers questions. Success in this Qualifying Exam leads to the next phase where the student is expected to identify a research topic, and start doing research. This phase concludes with a Candidacy Exam, where the student demonstrates to their committee that they have a viable plan for their PhD. After successful completion of the Candidacy Exam the student will continue to do research, obtaining results that constitutes their PhD dissertation. The last phase concludes with a successful thesis defense. Throughout the process, students document successful research in appropriate publications.

Exceptions to the PhD program requirements will be made only in very extenuating circumstances. Students planning to petition for an exception should first consult their advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies. Minor exceptions require approval of the Graduate Committee. Major exceptions require approval of the entire faculty. No exceptions can be made to University requirements.

Maintaining Good Standing 

To continue to advance through the PhD program, students must maintain good academic standing. In general, good standing means that the student is working actively in the Department’s research community under the guidance of an advisor, and making progress towards completing their dissertation within the allotted time frame.

Normally, students conform to the timeline below:

• Have a research advisor by the end of Summer Quarter, but preferably by the end of Spring Quarter of their first year
• Complete the coursework for the Qualifying Phase by the end of Spring Quarter of their second year
• Pass their Qualifying Exam by the end of Autumn Quarter of their third year
• Pass their Candidacy Exam by the end of the Autumn Quarter of their fifth year
• Have their Thesis Defense by Spring Quarter of their sixth year.

These timeline requirements are automatically extended during approved leaves of absence.

Note:  Meeting these requirements is the student’s responsibility.

Alternative Timelines and Exceptional Circumstances

There may be reasons for which students are not best served by the timeline above. In this case, the student and Advisor should submit an alternate plan to the Graduate Committee. The plan should include a new timeline and its justification.

A student who has joined the program under special circumstances and a timeline that explicitly differs from the standard 6-year one, will be subject to the timeline specified at their admission.

 Students with questions may contact Megan Woodward (Student Affairs Administrator), Ben Zhao (Director of Graduate Studies), Bahareh Lampert (Dean of Students in the Physical Sciences Division), or Amanda Young (Associate Director, Graduate Student Affairs) in UChicagoGRAD.

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PhD | Qualifying Examination

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The qualifying examination tests a student's depth of knowledge and familiarity in their area of specialization. Qualifying exams are generally offered in all areas covered by the written comprehensive exam. It is possible for a student to request a qualifying exam in an area not already offered, such as one that cuts across current divisions. The feasibility of this request is determined on a case-by-case basis by the PhD program committee. A student should pass a qualifying exam no later than the end of their third year.

A student may take the qualifying exams only twice. In some cases a conditional pass is awarded. When the designated conditions have been met (such as CAing for a certain class, taking a course, or reading additional material in a specific area), the student is credited with the pass. If a student fails the qualifying exam a second time, the PhD program committee is contacted because its an indication that the student is not "making reasonable progress". This is cause for dismissal by default from the PhD program. The qualifying exams are a University requirement and are taken very seriously. Therefore, sufficient time and in-depth preparation must be given to the quals area that the student chooses, to ensure success.

The format of the qualifying exams varies from year-to-year and area-to-area, depending on the faculty member or quals chair in charge of each specific exam. Examples are in-class written exams, "take-home" written exams, oral exams, written assignments and/or a combination of the above. The quals chair administers the exams and the results must be submitted to the PhD program officer, as they will enter the information into the University's Axess (PeopleSoft) and Departmental database systems. Passing the qualifying exam certifies that the student is ready to begin dissertation work in the chosen area. If a student wishes to do dissertation work in an area other than their qualifying exam area, the student's advisor and/or the faculty in the new area will determine whether an additional exam is required.

Information about the Qualifying Examination

The student's advisor needs to email [email protected] (and cc faculty who were on the Quals committee) the qual results.

• The candidate student must form a committee of 3 faculty members.  A committee needs to have (at least) 2 core AI faculty on it.  Upon request, we can consider having 1 core AI and (at least) 1 AI-affiliated faculty.  In all cases, at least 1 core AI faculty must be present.
• The student is asked to prepare a 30-minute presentation on a research project the student is working on.
• The student supplies to each committee member a short report summarizing the student’s research project and a list of references that is related to such a project. Report and list of references are due to the committee members 3 days before the exam.
• During the first half hour the student presents the research project.
• The second half hour comprises a 30min QA session related to the research project by the committee. During such sessions committee members can (but are not necessarily committed to) ask questions related to any of the papers in the list of references. This gives the opportunity to committee members to assess general mastery of the area the student is working on.
• Statistical Machine Learning (Percy Liang)
• Natural Language Processing (Dan Jurafsky)
• The candidate’s advisor/s should be a member/s.
• At least one member must be a Stanford CS faculty.
• Two members must be working in Computational Biology.
• One member will be non-computational from an affected field of biomedicine.
• At least two members must be doing work directly relevant to the candidate’s work.
• 30 minutes presentation on their research.
• 30 minutes presentation on 3 papers which are jointly picked by the quals committee and the student, relating to the student’s current and future research directions.
• After the exam has been taken, the candidate will email the CS PhD Student Services Admin, cc’ing all members of their quals committee, with the exam’s outcome.
• HCI (Michael Bernstein)
• InfoQual (Jure Leskovec)
• The physiqual will now consist of exams with faculty in 5 areas:  vision, geometry, math, graphics and robotics .
• The second part of the physiqual (which consists of a talk on a few selected papers) will no longer be part of the physiqual, given that there is requisites for the thesis proposal .
• For students who have already taken the second oral portion of the physiqual, we  suggest that their advisors exempt them through the thesis proposal requirement. As the current language of the thesis proposal requirement would seem to allow this.
• Form a panel of 3 professors (CS systems faculty). Select 3-4 papers, in consultation with the panel, in an area not identical to your thesis work for you to read, review and synthesize over a period of 3 weeks. Depending on the panel's advice, you may need to execute a small implementation project. For example, a project might answer a related research question, reproduce or compare results in a novel setting, or quantitatively investigate the implications of certain design decisions.
• The exam has a written and an oral component. Three weeks after selecting the papers, turn in a 5-10 page report (not counting references) as well as pointers to any software or hardware artifacts created as part of the project (if any). Approximately one week after submitting the report, make an oral presentation to the panel, followed by questions.
• Analysis of Algorithms
• Form a panel of three professors, select 3-4 papers in an area related (but usually not identical) to your thesis work for you to read, review and synthesize over a period of a month (30 days). Write a report on your review/synthesis, give it to the committee, and also make an oral presentation to the committee, followed by questions.
• The candidate student must form a committee of 2-3 faculty members, where at least one is a Visual Computing faculty member.
• The student and the committee agree on a list of at least 5 papers in the student’s research area of interest.
• During the first half hour, the student presents a lecture on the topics in the said papers and any relevant background.
• The second half hour comprises a 30min Q&A session where committee members can ask questions related to the lecture and any of the said papers. This gives the committee an opportunity to assess the general mastery of the research area the student is working on.

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PhD in Computer Science

The PhD program in computer science is designed to prepare students for careers in research and teaching in computer science.  Students will engage deeply with current research in computer science, and will learn to carry out original research and contribute to the expanding body of knowledge within their research area.  Completion of the PhD degree requires 72 credits of formal coursework, including courses designed to deepen understanding of computer science fundamentals, electives courses aligned with students’ research interests, seminars on emerging topics and recent research, independent studies, and supervised thesis research.   PhD candidates are required to author and publicly defend a dissertation describing the original research carried out during this program of study.  We note that an MS is not required prior to enrolling in the PhD program in computer science.

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Doctoral Programs in Computational Science and Engineering

Application & admission information.

The Center for Computational Science and Engineering (CCSE) offers two doctoral programs in computational science and engineering (CSE) – one leading to a standalone PhD degree in CSE offered entirely by CCSE (CSE PhD) and the other leading to an interdisciplinary PhD degree offered jointly with participating departments in the School of Engineering and the School of Science (Dept-CSE PhD).

While both programs enable students to specialize at the doctoral level in a computation-related field via focused coursework and a thesis, they differ in essential ways. The standalone CSE PhD program is intended for students who plan to pursue research in cross-cutting methodological aspects of computational science. The resulting doctoral degree in Computational Science and Engineering is awarded by CCSE via the the Schwarzman College of Computing. In contrast, the interdisciplinary Dept-CSE PhD program is intended for students who are interested in computation in the context of a specific engineering or science discipline. For this reason, this degree is offered jointly with participating departments across the Institute; the interdisciplinary degree is awarded in a specially crafted thesis field that recognizes the student’s specialization in computation within the chosen engineering or science discipline.

Applicants to the standalone CSE PhD program are expected to have an undergraduate degree in CSE, applied mathematics, or another field that prepares them for an advanced degree in CSE. Applicants to the Dept-CSE PhD program should have an undergraduate degree in a related core disciplinary area as well as a strong foundation in applied mathematics, physics, or related fields. When completing the MIT CSE graduate application , students are expected to declare which of the two programs they are interested in. Admissions decisions will take into account these declared interests, along with each applicant’s academic background, preparation, and fit to the program they have selected.  All applicants are asked to specify MIT CCSE-affiliated faculty that best match their research interests; applicants to the Dept-CSE PhD program also select the home department(s) that best match. At the discretion of the admissions committee, Dept-CSE PhD applications might also be shared with a home department beyond those designated in the application. CSE PhD admissions decisions are at the sole discretion of CCSE; Dept-CSE PhD admission decisions are conducted jointly between CCSE and the home departments.

Please note: These are both doctoral programs in Computational Science and Engineering; applicants interested in Computer Science must apply to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science .

Important Dates

September 15: Application Opens December 1: Deadline to apply for admission* December – March: Application review period January – March: Decisions released on rolling basis

*All supplemental materials (e.g., transcripts, test scores, letters of recommendation) must also be received by December 1. Application review begins on that date, and incomplete applications may not be reviewed. Please be sure that your recommenders are aware of this hard deadline, as we do not make exceptions. We also do not allow students to upload/submit material beyond what is required, such as degree certificates, extra recommendations, publications, etc.

A complete electronic CSE application includes the following:

• Three letters of recommendation ;
• Students admitted to the program will be required to supply official transcripts. Discrepancies between unofficial and official transcripts may result in the revocation of the admission offer.
• Statement of objectives (limited to approximately one page) and responses to department-specific prompts for Dept-CSE PhD applicants;
• Official GRE General Test score report , sent to MIT by ETS via institute code 3514 GRE REQUIREMENT WAIVED FOR FALL 2024 ;
• Official IELTS score report sent to MIT by IELTS†  (international applicants from non-English speaking countries only; see below for more information)
• Resume or CV , uploaded in PDF format;
• MIT graduate application fee of $75‡.

‡Application Fee

The MIT graduate application fee of $75.00 is a mandatory requirement set by the Institute payable by credit card. Please visit the MIT Graduate Admission Application Fee Waiver page for information about fee waiver eligibility and instructions.

Please note: CCSE cannot issue fee waivers; email requests for fee waivers sent to [email protected] will not be considered.

Admissions Contact Information

Email: [email protected]

► Current MIT CSE SM Students: Please see the page for Current MIT Graduate Students .

GRE Requirement

GRE REQUIREMENT WAIVED FOR FALL 2024 All applicants are required to take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Aptitude Test. The MIT code for submitting GRE score reports is 3514 (you do not need to list a department code). GRE scores must current; ETS considers scores valid for five years after the testing year in which you tested.

†English Language Proficiency Requirement

The CSE PhD program requires international applicants from non-English speaking countries to take the academic  version of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).  The IELTS exam measures one’s ability to communicate in English in four major skill areas: listening, reading, writing, and speaking.  A minimum IELTS score of 7 is required for admission.  For more information about the IELTS, and to find out where and how to take the exam, please visit the IELTS web site .

While we will also accept the TOEFL iBT (Test of English as a Foreign Language), we strongly prefer the IELTS. The minimum TOEFL iBT score is 100.

This requirement is waived for those who can demonstrate that one or more of the following are true:

• English is/was the language of instruction in your four-year undergraduate program,
• English is the language of your employer/workplace for at least the last four years,
• English was your language of instruction in both primary and secondary schools.

Degree Requirements for Admission

To be admitted as a regular graduate student, an applicant must have earned a bachelor’s degree or its equivalent from a college, university, or technical school of acceptable standing. Students in their final year of undergraduate study may be admitted on the condition that their bachelor’s degree is awarded before they enroll at MIT.

Applicants without an SM degree may apply to the CSE PhD program, however, the Departments of Aeronautics and Astronautics and Mechanical Engineering nominally require the completion of an SM degree before a student is considered a doctoral candidate. As a result, applicants to those departments holding only a bachelor’s degree are asked in the application to indicate whether they prefer to complete the CSE SM program or an SM through the home department.

Nondiscrimination Policy

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in education and employment.  To read MIT’s most up-to-date nondiscrimination policy, please visit the Reference Publication Office’s nondiscrimination statement page .

Additional Information

For more details, as well as answers to most commonly asked questions regarding the admissions process to individual participating Dept-CSE PhD departments including details on financial support, applicants are referred to the website of the participating department of interest.

How to Apply

In addition to fulfilling the Graduate Division requirements for admission, the Department of Computer Science requires a bachelor's degree in some discipline of science, engineering, or mathematics.

Please see the information below for additional points to consider as you prepare your PhD application. For questions related to the online application, don't forget to check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) provided by the UCSB Graduate Division. The department receives thousands of applications every year and the review process starts very quickly after the application deadline. Therefore,  all required application materials must be  received  by the admission deadline in order for the application to be considered complete for review.

Frequently Asked Questions

Online Application

Applications to the UCSB Computer Science MS and PhD programs are accepted once per year. All applications should be submitted through the Graduate Division’s on-line application .

If you're from an underrepresented or marginalized background in CS, take advantage of our new  PhD Application Support Program , designed to guide and refine your application materials with insights from trained mentors.

Minimum Requirements for All Graduate Applications

Grade-point Average

• A minimum of a 3.0 cumulative GPA in undergraduate study. During the review process, we re-calculate GPAs into context on a per-school basis for institutions that do not use a 4.0 GPA scale.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

• The department does not currently require the GRE for any applicants.  Because the GRE is not a requirement, we are prohibited from reviewing test scores for all applicants. Do not attempt to upload GRE scores to your application as they will not be reviewed. Further information is listed on the  Graduate Division FAQ page .   

Non-native English Speakers (or ESL Students)

• Applicants whose native language is not English are required to take the TOEFL or IELTS or Duolingo English Test (DET). The department requires a  higher  minimum score on certain tests than the University minimum score requirements; the department minimums are listed on the  Graduate Division CS Department webpage . 
• Further information on the type of English language exams UCSB accepts is listed on the  Graduate Division FAQ page  and  Graduate Division How to Apply page .
• Exemptions from the English language exam requirement are permitted for applicants who have completed an undergraduate (bachelor's or equivalent) or graduate (master's, doctoral, or equivalent) degree at an institution where the verified sole official language of instruction is English. Further information on how exemptions are verified after the application deadline and during the review process is listed on the  Graduate Division FAQ page .  

Additional Information Specific to PhD Admissions

• Students may apply directly to the PhD program without a Master's degree. 
• Applicants to the PhD program generally have a grade-point average of at least 3.5 in their undergraduate study.
• Students entering this program should be committed to completing a PhD. The department discourages students petitioning to switch to the Master's program; such petitions are approved only under exceptional circumstances.

Current UCSB Graduate Students

• To switch to or add a Computer Science Masters of Science (MS) degree objective, please submit the Graduate Student Petition available on the Graduate Division website and supporting materials to the Computer Science Department Staff Advisor via email by the annual December 15 deadline. Do not complete the on-line application. Petitions & materials are reviewed along with the other graduate school applications received. Our department asks that you complete 3 of our CS graduate courses before applying to our MS program. CS graduate courses may only be added through approval codes by non-CS majors.
• To switch to or add a Computer Science Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree objective, please complete the on-line application by the annual December 15 deadline. Do not complete the Graduate Division Graduate Student Petition. Only PhD applications and materials received via the on-line application portal will be reviewed. 

Financial Support

All PhD applicants are considered for campus and departmental fellowships, including but not limited to, the Doctoral Scholar Fellowship, Chancellor's Fellowship, Regents Fellowship, and the Eugene Cota Robles Fellowship.

Admitted PhD students are typically offered financial support consisting of student employment, based on meeting all of the necessary eligibility criteria including academic good standing and department program requirements. PhD students may be funded by a combination of Fellowship awards, Graduate Student Researcher employment positions (GSRs), and/or Teaching Assistant employment positions (TAs).

MS students may apply for TA positions each quarter and may be employed as GSRs upon availability with a faculty member.

Teaching Assistants (TAs)

The department accepts applications for Teaching Assistants (TAs) each quarter. The application website is available approximately 2 months prior to the start of a quarter. Priority for employment is given to first and second-year CS PhD students. TAs receive partial fee remission through their employment, along with a salary for their job duties. In addition, the department will pay Non-Resident Supplemental Tuition (NRST) for PhD students who are international students or domestic non-California resident students for the first year. Domestic PhD students MUST secure California residency prior to their second year. MS students who are TAs are responsible for paying their own NRST fees by the fee payment deadline. The department does not pay for the cost of housing or living expenses for any students.

Graduate Student Researchers (GSRs)

It is anticipated that CS PhD students will transition to Graduate Student Researcher (GSR) positions during their second year. Students are hired by their research advisors to conduct research in the lab. GSRs receive either partial or full fee remission through their employment based on the percentage of their appointment. 

Fellowships

There are several fellowships for which the department annually nominates students. These fellowships include the Microsoft Research Fellowship, the Google PhD Fellowship, the IBM PhD fellowship, and a number of centrally administered university fellowships. Students interested in being considered for these awards should talk to their research advisors about a nomination. The Graduate Division offers a number of fellowships for which students may apply after their first year at UCSB. These fellowships include research fellowship awards and a dissertation year fellowship. Information about funding opportunities can be found at the  Graduate Division website . 

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PhD Steps to Degree

Steps toward graduation.

Remember to see the PhD Requirements for the rules of each step. You will need to follow these steps along the path to the PhD.

• (A) Complete the Background Coursework Requirements.
• (B) Before enrolling in your 2nd semester find a supervising professor and identify a research area. Initially you will not have a specific topic. You also might choose to change topics and/or faculty supervisors a few times. Please be aware that too many changes delays your degree and at some point would be considered unsatisfactory progress by the department.
• (C) Enroll in at least 1 conference course (CS 395) each semester until admission to candidacy. The CS 395 is supervised each semester by your research supervisor. Your first semester, CS 398T takes the place of the conference course.
• (D) Choose 3 depth courses in consultation with your faculty research supervisor. Choose courses designed to prepare you for the research you plan to do, at most one of theses courses can be taken outside the CS department.
• (E) Complete your Diversity Program,
• (F) Schedule a Research Preparation Exam by the end of the 3 rd year.
• Submit a Research Qualification (RQ) Document to the Graduate Office by the end of the 3rd year in the PhD program.
• Write and present your Dissertation Proposal and Advance to Candidacy.
• Schedule and Pass the Final Defense
• Submit the Dissertation to the Graduate School - you must follow the Graduate School's rules in preparing your dissertation.

Throughout this process, feedback from your research supervisor and from the faculty as a whole will be very important to you. The CS Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) meets at the beginning of each semester. The GSC is composed of all the CS faculty and a few faculty from other departments who supervise research of CS PhD students.  At those meetings, Research Qualification (RQ) proposals are reviewed and approved and the progress of PhD students is evaluated. Students will be informed if their performance is not satisfactory. Any student whose progress is deemed unsatisfactory for two consecutive semesters will be terminated from the PhD program.

A CS PhD student is eligible to receive the MSCS degree upon completion of all Graduate School requirements for the Master's degree. Check the MSCS degree requirements if you wish to pursue this option.

The 99 Hour Rule

The "99 hour rule" refers to the implementation of Senate Bill 961, passed by the Seventy-fifth Legislature. It is the rule that students at UT Austin with over 99 doctoral hours may be subject to the payment of nonresident tuition. http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/publications/policies/99in99.html 

Special Doctoral Travel Support

PhD students may apply for travel grants from a departmental fund allocated to support their travel to present papers at conferences.  The graduate office calls for the travel requests about 6 weeks into each semester. To apply for the grant:

• Print the "Application for Graduate Student Travel Support" form listed in the Forms Bank . Type or print your information on the form. Obtain the signature of your faculty adviser. Sign the form.
• Turn in the form to CS Graduate Office in GDC 2.728
• At least 2 weeks prior to travel, complete the required online Request for Travel Authorization (RTA) and the additional required forms linked to on the RTA page.

Travel Information for Graduate Students

The university has put into place a travel policy for all students traveling abroad.  Please see http://world.utexas.edu/abroad/itr for more information on the policy and http://world.utexas.edu/abroad/itr/authorization for the steps necessary to obtain travel authorization outside the U.S.

Required for all travel and reimbursement

Request for Travel Authorization (RTA) must be submitted at least two weeks before travel.  Please contact the CS accounting office, [email protected] , if you have any questions regarding this electronic form.

Original, itemized, travel receipts showing proof of payment.  These are needed to receive reimbursement.  If you have any questions on what is required please contact the CS accounting office, [email protected] .

Graduate Student Travel Support

If you wish to apply for CS department travel funding please submit an Application for Graduate Student Travel Support, found in the Forms Bank.   Follow the department deadlines announced by the CS graduate office for submitting the Application for Graduate Student Travel Support.  Applications are usually due late September, late February, and late May.

Please do not request travel support from the department if you are already receiving travel support from your research area.  If the support you expect to receive is directly from your research supervisor or another source, like the conference, you may submit a travel support request.  Please indicate on the request if you are receiving other funding and the amount of that funding.

Professional Development Awards

The department receives some funding for graduate student travel from your dean’s office, the graduate school. They call these Professional Development Awards. We consider that part of the total funding we can award to students and combine it with the departmental travel monies; however, if you receive this the CS graduate office will contact you to complete the graduate school’s required form, http://www.utexas.edu/ogs/funding/travel.html .

Students who decide not to use awarded funds should notify the graduate office at [email protected] immediately. Timely notification allows the funds to be redistributed to other students.

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Computer Science - PhD at Waterloo

Program information.

Watch the How to apply to Waterloo graduate studies video

What does it take to get in?

Minimum admission requirements.

• A Master's degree in Computer Science with a 78% average.
• Student with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science may apply for admission directly to the PhD program. Successful applicants will have an outstanding academic record, breadth of knowledge in computer science, and strong letters of recommendation.
• PhD applicants may be admitted into the Master of Mathematics (MMath) program. Like all MMath students, they will have the option to transfer into the PhD program before completing the master's thesis if their performance warrants.

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• Review the finding a supervisor resources
• Applicants do not need to have a confirmed supervisor before applying. If offered admission, a supervisor will be assigned at that time 

Application materials

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• If a statement or letter is required by your program, review the  writing your personal statement resources  for helpful tips and tricks on completion

Transcript(s)

• Three  references are required; at least two academic
• TOEFL 93 (writing 22, speaking 22), IELTS 6.5 (writing 6.0, speaking 6.5)

How much will it cost?

• Use the student budget calculator to estimate your cost and resources
• Visit the  graduate program tuition page  on the Finance website to determine the tuition and incidental fees per term for your program
• Review the  study and living costs
• Review the funding graduate school resources for graduate students

What can you expect at Waterloo?

• Review the degree requirements in the Graduate Studies Academic Calendar, including the courses that you can anticipate taking as part of completing the degree
• Check out profiles of current graduate students to learn about their experience at Waterloo
• Check out Waterloo's institutional thesis repository - UWspace to see recent submissions from the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science graduate students
• Check out the Waterloo campus and city tours
• Review the  David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science  website to see information about supervisors, research areas, news, and events

This program page is effective September 2023; it will be updated annually. Any changes to the program page following this date will be indicated with a notation. 

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From admission to dissertation. Tips on making the PhD journey happy, productive and successful

How to Prepare for a PhD Entrance Exam and Crack it | PET Preparation Tips |

Here are the excellent tips on how to prepare for Ph.D. entrance exam in your subject and crack Ph.D. entrance exam. For PET entrance preparation, Firstly, Know your syllabus and read more books. PhD entrance exam preparation and practice must be done with the help of previous PhD test question papers.

Follow these 12 rocking tips to crack your upcoming PhD entrance exam

• Apply for PhD National Eligibility Test
• Prepare the prescribed PhD entrance exam syllabus .
• Find the study material for PhD entrance exam.
• Select carefully best PhD entrance books for preparation.
• Get a perfect time-table to crack PhD entrance .
• Appear for PhD entrance mock tests online.
• Prepare PET previous question papers.
• Discuss your subject with friends.
• Follow skim and scan technique .
• Write a short summary of each chapter.
• Do a second and third revision.
• Revise PhD entrance exam syllabus until the exam day.

My 120 days schedule to Prepare for Ph.D. Entrance Exam

Do at least 3 revisions if you want to crack any type of PhD entrance examination. So here my calculation of studying for Ph.D. is 15+60+30+15=120 Days schedule. First 15 days you will read summaries of all the chapters. Second 60 days you will do the first revision. The other 30 days you will do the second revision and the last 15 days will be your final revision just when during the 16th day you will appear for PhD entrance exam.

Do you ever ask great people about their secret in getting good marks or the secret behind receiving that gold medal? Most of them tell that revision is the secret of the good marks that they get.

The more they revised the better they became. So taking their example, I want to tell you that you must revise all your 60-day timetable again for the second revision. This may not be too difficult to do.

It may not be for another 60 days but half of that for 30 days. So here we must know that 2 nd revision will become easier. So I am giving you 30 days for it. In a similar way, you must go for 3 rd revision too. This will be for 15 days again.

This is the exact schedule that you must follow to crack Ph.D. entrance exam without any single problem of losing your PhD admission.Revision of a subject is over all the secret and best study tip to crack any examination be it either PhD or any sort of other examinations. So be serious with revision schedules

Revision of a subject is over all the secret and best study tip to crack any examination be it either PhD or any sort of other examinations. So be serious with revision schedules

Here is my explanation for each point to get success in your preparation for Ph.D. entrance exam in English Literature.

PhD Entrance Syllabus point of view

Whenever you prepare for a PhD entrance test, the most important part that we neglect is not to follow the syllabus. This is because each university has its own framed syllabus.

You cannot study the same syllabus for every university. So it is very important to get not of the exact syllabus that is pertaining to the university that you have applied or if you are going to apply.

This is where you will start seeing success. If you start your beginning wrongly, then everything will go wrong. So the beginning is very important when it comes to any PhD entrance exam.

Once you are very well versed in the exact syllabus of the university. You are ready to set go on practicing some methodology that could be effective to crack the PhD entrance exam.

Many times we overlook the syllabus that we really want to prepare. We think that if we buy any book which is popular and studies, it is quite enough. It is not so.

When you think that way you will be in a bad situation. You will never realize how important the syllabus learning is. The whole secret on how to crack your PhD entrance exam lies in the way you learn it. You cannot simply make it differently to undertake the exam with your own preparation.

This will really put you off.  There is no shortcut unless you study according to the syllabus and get your PhD admission. This is the only suggested thought from my side. So do not waste your thinking about studying some private syllabus. This happens when you join in any coaching center.

They will prepare some special syllabus and give you. Many time coaching institutes do them wrong. They frame it according to the old syllabus and sometimes they may not update.

They may just think that the printing costs would become waste as there are old books still need to be sold to the students when they join the institute.  So take care not to follow the institute’s syllabus.

You must learn by heart the chapters

The next very important step while preparing for a PhD entrance exam is to learn and by heart the names of the chapters. This is very beneficial just because you must know them to reflect when you are free without a book. So I suggest you have at least some time to learn them by heart first.

Do not learn any other stuff unless you learn all the names of the chapters clearly and strongly. This makes a huge sense to know exactly what you are studying in the future.

Why learning by heart is so important is that it has to go into your long-term memory to again ponder over when you are without any book or when you get some free time. This way you will really foresee all that is coming in the chapter. I mean by the minute details.

The other benefit of learning by heart all the chapters is that when you get some question in the exam related to the chapter, you can simply remember exactly where the question has come from. This is the major advantage of learning all the names of your subject’s chapters.

If you cannot learn then it will become a problem in the future when you appear for the Ph.D. entrance exam. Learning all the names may not at all happen all at once in a day or two.

Take as many days as you can but not more than a week. You cannot waste your time more than a week. Just go ahead at least sit calmly and learn all the headings of the chapters and if possible learn also all the subheadings and their meanings. Learning subheadings is something advanced technique of how you use.

So make sure you do not really stress up yourself while learning by heart all the names of the chapter. It may be difficult for a few hours, but as you move, by the way, you will feel easier than previous to learn by heart.

Write a short summary of each chapter

A short summary is the best way o understand any chapter easily. If you can really understand the importance of short summary you can clearly come to the point what exactly that chapter wants to convey to you. Once you write your summary, it is up to you to read the summary a number of times.

Till your exam date, you must go on revising the summary. This is the best practice to crack PhD entrance exam. When you want to write the exam, summarize is one of the key concepts for anybody to get through. There are different types of summaries. Do not make so large summary.

Make it a simple one and make an interesting one to read. Many time I see students do not know how to make a good summary. Do not panic with summarizing.

As you write more summaries, you will automatically tune to the things. My other best suggestion is to read other’s summaries how they exactly look like. Once you read, you will know the method to write any summary.

So make it one for you. Each chapter must be summarized with elements and point that has been discussed. I have just told that it must be short on each chapter. Short in the sense, you must not skip the main points of the chapter at all. You must never skip the main gist of the chapter.

While doing a summary of a chapter you must take care of how practical are you doing it. This must be understood.

Set separate hours for studying each chapter

Do not read all the chapters at a time. You have to read them clearly one by one. Set some days to read one chapter and then follow the timetable.

Once you set some timetable for studying one each chapter in depth, do that without forgetting or getting lazy. If you do not feel interested to study that particular chapter, wait till you cultivate interest.

Try to get interested. But never jump to other chapters just because you are not interested in reading the designed chapter. If you do this way, you cannot really study well.

You will miss out some chapters at the end or you will just not learn about some chapters thoroughly. And there are possibilities that you may forget that too.

There are certain ways to study chapters separately. Now that already you know summaries very well, It becomes very easy to read all the chapters separately in detail. While reading your chapters separately, you must write some questions coming across the chapters,

Underline some important points which will help you for further study. If you do not understand any vocabulary, you must try to check a dictionary without postponing then and there itself. Never read chapters without understanding or become lazy to know the meanings of difficult words.

This is the best practice and you can crack your PhD entrance exam easily If you have enough depth of knowledge about the concepts of each chapter read in different days. Your timetable must be effective.

Plan the timetable for a number of days

Plan your timetable for 60 days and stick to those days without giving any room for procrastination. In the beginning, it may be difficult to follow the timetable that you have prepared.

But later on, you will get accustomed to doing it. Once you are in the well, you will have no problem what so ever in following the timetable. So make sure you get to note these points. I myself have made this type of timetable and I was really confident after some days about my Ph.D. entrance exam.

Your success lies in how good you have formulated your timetable rather than how much you studied. If you do not cover all the chapters in the number of days that your timetable has been designed, then what is the use of studying so much hard. You may get questions for other chapters too in the Ph.D. entrance exam.

That is why I tell you to take more interest in framing the timetable clearly. This will take you towards the road of cracking your Ph.D. entrance examination.

While preparing your timetable you must make sure to relax in some days. Like, for example, make Sunday free from the timetable or any other day that you feel comfortable to relax your mind.

All other days you can study hard according to the given schedule. This way of doing will refresh your mind and you can easily remember what you study on all the other weekdays.

Take Ph.D. mock entrance tests

If you have some money to pay online for mock exams conducted by some experts, then you can go for it. But do it 10 before your Ph.D. entrance test.

I say it is not required for the entrance exam. But it is all an option from your end. This will only extend our 120-hour plan to somewhat more hours. If you do not have money to attend mock exams online, then it is well and good. It is not a big problem what so ever.

There is a process of attending Ph.D. mock entrance test. Do not just go and pay blindly online. Just make some research about quality mock tests that are currently relevant and not age-old mock test with the old syllabus. Some online service will screw your money down from your pocket and they give you cheaper services.

So once you find a good site that serves with genuine mock tests online, Pay them the fees and join the group and take the regular test for some 10 days. Here there is a problem that after subscribing to the service, we are not determined to take those tests. In another case, you may attend just one mock test and keep silent for lack of your interest.

Do not do this way. This will waste your money. Unless you are serious with Ph.D. mock tests only, you try this methodology of studying.

Otherwise, it is always better for go with my suggested 120-hour schedule to crack the Ph.D. entrance test. Mock tests are really useful if you utilize them the proper way.

Practice previous papers of different PhD tests

One of the biggest mistakes that any Ph.D. aspirant can do is not going through the previous papers of PhD entrance test from a particular university that you are attending to.

Never do this. Unless you are sure about what type of questions are the giving in the exam, you cannot plan your 120 hours timetable effectively. So it is very important to gather all the PhD previous papers list and get through them with proper answers.

Learn the important question and include them to study in your 60 days normal study. I recommend collecting papers from the last 3 years.

Do not study older than 3 years. Usually, examiners will not give questions from too old question papers. Another secret I am giving out freely is that just stay away last years question paper.

For example, you are attending an exam in 2022, never study question paper that has been given in 2021. Nobody wants to give last years question paper exactly this year.

This is the right way. So leave out studying previous years question paper and practice the other last 3 years from then that you have left. This we call a smarter study which will help so much to crack your Ph.D. entrance test. Do not study supplementary question papers too.

Try to study regular exam previous papers to know exactly what are the important questions that are repeatedly given in the exam and that there is a chance to get in the upcoming exam of yours.

Give a break after a week of preparation

This is something psychological while preparing for your entrance exam. When you give some long after studying some chapter and revising, you will come to know whether you have sent all the information to your long-term memory or short-term memory.

Either are you able to recollect the information after a long time or you are forgetting such read information after a certain period of time? When you give a break for a week,   you must be in a position to remember what you have studied. You must be able to answer questions clearly.

There is no meaning to study casually for that day’s satisfaction. You must send all information to long-term memory by revision again and again and testing your brain after some break.

Usually, I say this just because there are enough chances to forget because of tension during your PhD entrance exam. I have seen many PhD students saying me that they have forgotten what they have studied during the PhD entrance exam. So here tension plays its role.

So studying must be a serious task as long as you are able to remember during certain circumstances. I suggest you give a break for a week or even for a month to test your memory strongly.

This way of practicing your brain or training your memory will lead to a good chance of success in your entrance exam. Follow through all these techniques and think about doing and implementing them strongly. Be a doer rather than satisfied.

Follow certain PhD entrance tips

These are the tips that I am giving out from my success cracking a PhD entrance exam. But there are a lot more outside in some books or somewhere out there in the library about how to study effectively.

You can use all those resources and follow one regime without mixing up and getting confused well. In the end, you will give up. So follow the one-time table strongly that you are convinced.

The amount of effort that you put to crack this Ph.D. depends on how well you organize your studies. So not wasting much of your time. Start today itself doing things better to crack your Ph.D. entrance exam. Once you do them you will remain confident even in your oral interview.

This all happens with your steady determination about achieving something. This is to get admission in the university you desire and not the university that offers you admission for the sake of money. So think cleverly before feeling to appear for any Ph.D. entrance examination.

Prepare with all the techniques and smarter way of preparation will pay you much better than what you think to be. I am very confident that if you follow all that I have just told you in this article, you will win for sure.

You will stand first among all the Ph.D. aspirants. Admission is 100% guaranteed. Today itself you go out and collect some books that are important to study for the Ph.D. entrance exam and start studying them. I recommend studying research topic in details.

Sometimes universities ask you to write something about the topic you have chosen in a few lines. You must be ready for any type of question to answer in your Ph.D. entrance examination.

Never leave any questions blank in your Ph.D. entrance examination just because you do not know them. Attempt every question even though they are not up to the mark. Examiner will award you marks even for the garbage stuff.

So attempt fully all the questions and use all the exam time given to you. Do not leave your exam hall beforehand without the time getting over.

Use all the time until the end. This is another mistake that I have found with Ph.D. aspirants. They leave the exam hall within 30 minutes. This is not fair. If the exam time is 1-hour use that hour to write something good stuff or revise for some spelling mistakes.

Books for PhD entrance exam in English Literature

There are many books on Amazon. Once can easily look into one good book on English literature and prepare for PhD entrance exam.

PhD entrance exam question papers English literature

How to prepare for phd entrance exam in management.

Firstly you must try to understand what are the important chapters in management that more questions will be coming in every exam. For this, you must collect previous papers of PhD entrance exam in management subjects and try to observe them deeply. Here you will come to know which questions are important and which are not. This way you can understand which to include for your studies and which to exclude that are unimportant. For preparation books: check on amazon. You will get so many PET books for cracking PhD entrance exam.

PhD entrance exam question papers for psychology

These are the real time questions given in PhD entrance for Psychology subject

Syllabus for PhD entrance exam in English literature

The syllabus for English literature covers most of the periods. Below is the original syllabus that is almost common to every exam.

PhD examination previous question papers

Here is the site that can give previous questions for PhD exam.

Syam Prasad Reddy T

Hello, My name is Syam, Asst. Professor of English and Mentor for Ph.D. students worldwide. I have worked years to give you these amazing tips to complete your Ph.D. successfully. Having put a lot of efforts means to make your Ph.D. journey easier. Thank you for visiting my Ph.D. blog.

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Google PhD Fellowship Program 2024-25

Graduate Students in computer science and related fields

MSU may nominate up to 4 students for the  Google PhD Fellowship .

The Google PhD Fellowship Program was created to recognize outstanding graduate students doing exceptional and innovative research in areas relevant to computer science and related fields. Fellowships support promising PhD candidates of all backgrounds who seek to influence the future of technology. Google’s mission is to foster inclusive research communities and encourages people of diverse backgrounds to apply.

How to apply

Students who can prepare a full nomination packet by May 3, 2024 should ask their advisor to complete  the pre-screening form  by 8 a.m. on April 22, 2024. Based on pre-screening, finalists within MSU will be notified on April 29, 2024, and their full nomination packets are due at 8 a.m. on May 3, 2024. The pre-screening form requires a short version of the full nomination packet. The Graduate School is coordinating MSU’s nomination process. Please direct questions to  [email protected] .

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