Application and Admission

Application Materials and Deadlines
The admission process is described in detail on our Web site, www.cs.stonybrook.edu. The Web site includes downloadable application forms, the most current information about the deadlines, and a host of other information about our programs. In addition to completing the forms, applicants need to provide: (1) two official transcripts of undergraduate and (if applicable) graduate coursework; (2) official Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores (Stony Brook’s code for score reporting is 2548); (3) an acceptable score (550 minimum) on TOEFL for foreign students; (4) three letters of recommendation; and (5) a non-refundable $60 fee.

Admissions to the programs (M.S. and Ph.D.) are handled separately, but both are highly competitive. The minimal requirements for admission to graduate study in computer science are a bachelor’s degree, usually in a science or engineering discipline or in mathematics (the transcript should show a grade average of at least B in all undergraduate coursework, and in the science, mathematics, and engineering courses); and two semesters of college-level calculus, plus courses in linear algebra and discrete mathematics. Also desirable is a course in either probability theory or probability and statistics; if the bachelor’s degree is not in computer science or computer engineering, the student should have the equivalent of the usual lower-division computer science course sequence, including courses in C, Java, and UNIX, digital systems design, finite mathematics, automata theory, operating systems, and compilers. Students who have not completed such courses can take them on a non-matriculated basis prior to applying to the Department.

Send your application directly to us at Graduate Admissions, Department of Computer Science, 1440 Computer Science Building, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4400, USA. The deadline for receipt of applications and all supporting materials is usually January 15 for fall admission and October 1 for spring. However, applicants are well advised to consult the admission information on our Web site to make sure that the deadlines have not been changed.

Financial Support and Benefits
Teaching assistantships are generally available only to first-year Ph.D. students, and research assistantships to continuing Ph.D. students. However, research/teaching assistantships are sometimes given to qualified M.S. students, and a number of support opportunities in other University academic and administrative departments generally become available to Computer Science students each year. Assistants are assigned part-time duties in the undergraduate instructional program or in faculty-supervised research projects, but are still able to carry a full academic program. An assistant works 20 hours per week for the nine-month academic year and receives the current state stipend plus tuition reimbursement and health benefits. In addition, the Department adds to the state rate for incoming students in the form of a supplement for the first summer. Thereafter, Ph.D. students are eligible for additional financial support through their research advisor.

Summer stipends are funded almost entirely by research grants, and the availability of such support and the amount of the stipend may vary from year to year and depend on the student’s research area and advisor. For more information, visit the Office of Student Financial Aid Services on the Web at http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/Prov/financial.nsf or The Graduate School’s Finances page at http://ws.cc.sunysb.edu/bursar/grad.shtml.

Department Web Site
Prospective graduate students can also find useful information about Stony Brook on the University’s home page on the World Wide Web (www.stonybrook.edu). The first page of this site directs the reader to information about the Stony Brook area, campus events, libraries, and research programs. One can also go directly to the Department of Computer Science home page (www.cs.stonybrook.edu). Here, one can find more detailed information about the Department, our faculty, and our research. In many cases, faculty members have included information about the students who work with them, photographs from their laboratories, and summaries of current research and publications.

 

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