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Frequently Asked Questions for Prospective students and new Applicants

You're expected to have questions. To make it easier for you, the FAQ section below has answers for students interested in our graduate programs in Electrical and Computer Engineering. After you read the FAQs, if your questions are not answered, please contact us. This is a link to FAQs for current BU graduate students. Click this link if you are a BU student in the Accelerated Program.

General
Application Process
Interfolio Submissions
Dates and Deadlines
Degree
Examination Requirements
Financial Information
Non-Matriculation

General FAQs

Application Process

Interfolio Submissions

Dates and Deadlines

Degree

Examination Requirements (TOEFL, GRE, IELTS, GPA, etc.)

Financial Information

Current Student FAQs

Click here to go to FAQs for current students.

 

Answers

General

Where is the Graduate Coordinator?

What about the job opportunities after graduation?

What percentage of your students are international students? Are there any Chinese students?

Where can I find course information if I don't have a log-in yet?

I am an international student. Where can I find information about Full Time Certification?

When a student is course complete as a Master’s student and therefore only needs to register for 1 credit (of thesis or project), he/she needs to complete a Full-time Certification form for students not receiving funding.

The full-time certification forms can be downloaded here; choose the correct form for funded or non-funded. You must be registered for qualifying classes before you can be certified.

As an international student you are required to be full-time. As a PHD student, 9 credits is considered full-time. If you have completed all coursework, you may register for one credit per the policy above, and be certified full-time for the balance.

Note: If you are beginning your first year of PHD study it is unlikely you have met all course requirements and can be certified full-time per the policies found at the 1st link. If you aren’t registered for a qualifying course as noted in the procedures you cannot be certified full-time

 I am interested in bioelectronics. Do professors in your department work in that area?

Professor Zhanpeng Jin has interests that may align with yours. His interests include medical cyber physical systems and instrumentation, sensor-enabled embedded systems, reconfigurable computing, hardware systems (FPGA/SoC/VLSI/ASIC) and electronic devices design, neural networks and neuromorphic systems, computer architecture and microprocessors.

Finally, we are currently looking to hire a new professor to start in Fall 2012 with a research interest in a biomedical area. We are looking at candidates from a wide array of backgrounds but almost all of them will likely be researching something that aligns well with your interests.

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Application Process

I am a BU student. Do I need to submit letters of recommendation?

Please click here for guidelines that current, former, and accelerated BU students should follow when they apply to the Graduate School.

What should a former BU student do to apply to the Graduate School?

Is graduate admission ultimately decided by the Graduate School or by the department? And do I need to send one package of application materials to the grad school and another to the department separately when I apply?

Do you consider the reputation of applicant's undergraduate university?  Is it important?

What kind of applicant background is competitive? High test scores, research experiences or something else?

Can an MS student be a Research Assistant?

Can letter of recommendations be sent electronically?

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Interfolio Submissions

I submitted an application for the Graduate School. How long until I will be able to pay my application fee?

I paid my application fee but the status checker doesn't show it has been received. What should I do?

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Dates and Deadlines

When does the fall application process start?

When are the deadlines for fall and spring applications?

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Degree

I'd like to apply to a computer engineering program, but I cannot find such a program in your department.

I am a non-matriculated student but I'd like to apply to be a matriculated student. What should I do?

You will need to create a temporary username and password, however, once submitted, you should be able to access it using your PODS login.

Please make sure to enter your name and birthdate as it appears on your current school record, because if there’s any difference the system may stop your application from going through or assign you a new B number, which would create an obvious delay in your plans. If you get a new B number, please let me know.

All application material, including recommendation letters, must be submitted for consideration through Interfolio. Once you establish an account with them you can send an email to your recommenders and the response they make will be returned confidentially as a recommendation. If you have hard copies in your hand, you may mail them in to Interfolio and they will add them to your credentials vault.

For information on how to establish and use Interfolio, please see this online tour.

I am still a senior student, can I apply for the PhD program along an MS/PhD track... or should I apply for the MS program instead?

If I apply to the PhD program and am denied, can I be considered for the MS program?

I am an Accelerated Senior. What 500 level courses should I take? Is there a guideline?

I am a PhD student about to fill out a form to be ABD. What forms do I need to graduate?

There is a form you will need when you take your comprehensive exam on our forms web page called the "PhD Comprehensive Exam Approval Form" at this link. The "Recommendation for Admission to Candidacy" form (to be advanced to ABD status) is also at that link.

Information about deadlines and what the Graduate School needs you to do.

You need to fill out the Graduate Application for Degree Form before the date listed on the Graduate School's web site.

There is a triplicate form in the ECE secretary's office that needs to be filled out and requires signatures.

After that, the triplicate form, your proposed course of study form which is also found on our resources page-see the link above (signed by your advisor, found at the forms link) and your PhD Comprehensive Exam Approval Form go together to our Graduate Director, Professor Fowler. From this point our office handles the travel of the forms through these next steps. Once they are reviewed and signed, they go to the Dean of Watson. From there they go to our Graduate Coordinator, Ellen Tilden, who processes them and takes them to the Graduate School.

How many years would it take for a graduate student to complete the PhD program in Electrical Engineering?

Does the department prefer applicants immediately out of undergraduate programs or applicants who have work experience?

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Examination Requirements (TOEFL, GRE, IELTS, GPA, etc.)

 What is the Binghamton University code?

 What are the exam requirements for international students? What is an acceptable TOEFL or IELTS score?

 I'm an international student, but I will be receiving an undergraduate degree from a U.S. school. Am I required to submit TOEFL/IELTS scores?

 I am a US citizen and I graduated from an ABET accredited school. Do I need to submit TOEFL/IELTS or GRE scores?

 I am a BU student, do I need to submit GRE & TOEFL scores?

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Financial Information

What about the financial aid for master's students?

What are the approximate tuition, fees, and living expenses?

What Financial Information will be needed for an international student before an I20 can be processed?

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Last Updated: 4/4/12