Graduate
Admission
Computer Science
How to Apply
We require that you submit your application online. If you need to submit additional materials by mail, send them to the appropriate address below. (International applicants should submit materials to this address, not to the Office of International Services.)
Computer Science Degrees
Graduate Admissions
Computer Science Program
Indiana University
150 S. Woodlawn Avenue
Bloomington, IN 47405-7104
soiccsgr@indiana.edu
What We Are Looking For
We want to know if your interests and abilities match the program you are applying for and if you seem likely to benefit from an education in the school. If you think it is helpful, you can supplement the required application materials with other information that sheds light on your capabilities. A resume or curriculum vitae is ideal for including citations or links to any published work, hardware artifacts, or software artifacts you have produced.
Items that are important in the evaluation process include:
EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND
We do not require a bachelor’s degree in computer science, informatics, or a related field, but we are looking for background in key areas. For example, for computer science degrees, you should have had courses in data structures, machine organization and assembly language, and discrete structures.
LETTERS OF REFERENCE
Except in special cases, references should be from academic faculty, including at least some in informatics and computing. We ask for three letters but you may submit more. If you have experience as a teaching assistant, a letter from your teaching supervisor attesting to your teaching abilities could help your application for aid.
GRE SCORES
We require GRE scores for all applicants and cannot process your application until we receive them. We do not have cut-offs for GRE scores, preferring instead to use the full information available in your application to evaluate. IU’s institution code for reporting your GRE scores is 1324 and the department code is 0402 for computer science degrees.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
The most important information to include in your statement of purpose concerns your academic goals. Tell us which research areas you are interested in and which Indiana University faculty you would like to work with. You may also use your statement of purpose to explain any anomalies in your record.
TRANSCRIPTS
You must submit a transcript from each previous undergraduate or graduate institution other than Indiana University that you have attended. We are most interested in the grades you received in courses that are relevant to our graduate programs.
Applicants must complete a supplemental form.
International Applicants
If you are not a citizen or permanent resident of the United States, you must submit the following with your application for admission:
- Financial Documentation. Federal regulations require every admitted international student to demonstrate that the student has current resources available to support himself/herself during their first year of study in the United States. This financial documentation is not part of your application. The Office of International Services strongly recommends that applicants submit their financial documentation using iStart after the application is submitted. By having your financial documentation uploaded into your iStart account, it will expedite the processing of immigration documents in the event you are admitted to our program and accept the offer of admission. Once the application is submitted, the Office of International Services will send you an email with instructions on how to set-up your iStart account and how to submit your Financial Documentation. Immigration documents will not be issued until the required financial documentation is received by the Office of International Services. If you have any questions about how to set-up your iStart account or questions about the required financial documentation, email the Office of International Services to newtoiu@indiana.edu .
- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or IELTS scores. All applicants who are not native speakers of English or who did not receive an undergraduate or graduate degree from a university in the United States must submit these scores. IU’s institution code for reporting TOEFL scores is 1324, and the department code is 78 for computer science degrees and 99 for informatics degrees. We normally expect a minimum TOEFL score of 100 on the Internet-based test, 250 on the computer-based test, or approximately 600 on the paper-based test, or a score of 6.5 on the IELTS. We may make exceptions when there is other evidence of English ability.
Do not worry if some of your materials, such as your GRE scores or a recommendation letter, have not reached us by the international priority deadline below. We encourage you to get them in as soon as possible, though.
Master’s Students Interested in a Ph.D. Program
When applying to one of our Ph.D. programs, current School of Informatics and Computing master’s students should contact Graduate Student Services for application procedures. Applicants must fill out the online application for the Ph.D. degree, but other procedures are different. You can reach us by e-mail at soiccsgr@indiana.edu.
Recent Applicants
If you applied here in the last two years and are applying again, contact us for instructions.
Deadlines
- Fall Semester Priority Deadline for Admission and Financial Aid
- PhD student applications: December 1
- Master's student applications: January 1
Admission Status and Notification
We evaluate applications for fall semester after the priority deadlines. We will let you know as soon as we have reached a decision, generally by March 15.
Occasionally students who are not admitted contact us for an explanation. Unfortunately, we receive several hundred applications per year, and we do not have the staff to explain admission decisions on a case-by-case basis.
Dual Master's Program
Students who are concurrently enrolled in two schools may qualify for two master's degrees under a provision that allows credit earned to satisfy the major requirements of one program to count as elective credit in a second program. Any area of substantial overlap in the two courses of study will be negotiated by the graduate advisor. A student must be formally admitted by both programs. All requirements for both degrees must be met. All course work must be completed within a period of six years.