Admissions
Deadlines
No Application Deadline for Plain Admission
Applications are continuously evaluated and students will be promptly admitted to the nearest starting term or semester. Earlier admission means that you get to register online for classes earlier, and some classes may fill up. In particular, registration for Fall starts in April, for Spring in late October, and for Summer in February. It is to your advantage to be admitted before those times for the earliest access to advising and registration.
Deadlines for Teaching Assistantships
While regular admission does not have a deadline, see teaching assistantships for application deadlines to be considered for such an award.
Admission Prerequisites
For admission to the graduate degree program in the Department of Computer Science, submit the general prerequisites below that are not listed as optional. You may also submit further items if you feel they would help bolster your admissions case.
Please note:
- These prerequisites apply to all applicants.
- You can apply and be accepted without having all the undergraduate prerequisites listed for degree programs.
- If you are an international student read the section on international student prerequisites later on.
- Contact the graduate program personnel with any questions after reading
General Prerequisites
1. Completed application form, preferably completed online.
Note: This form is used for many programs in graduate school, and not all graduate programs are available to students in all locations. The application requires you to fill in all the personal data before showing you all the programs that you can apply to and other parts of the form.
For navigating the application, note that the programs are in the School of Arts and Sciences, and all are offered by the Computer Science department, so the Information Technology and Software Engineering degree names are prefixed by “Computer Science”
2. Those who would like to get financial assistance should see Teaching Assistantships or for non-departmental financial aid
3. Submit official transcripts, in English, of all undergraduate work and any post-baccalaureate work by official electronic submission between your institution and Loyola or in sealed envelopes sent from the academic institution.
When sending sealed envelopes, do not open such envelopes yourself!
If you do not have easy access to the sealed official documents, you can initially submit copies for a conditional admission. You can send a transcript in the semester before your graduation, showing all the courses you will be having for graduation, even though grades are still missing from the final courses, and still be eligible for conditional admission.
In all cases, final officially-sent transcripts are required by the end of your first semester at Loyola.
4. GRE scores are not required for admission. If you choose to submit them, Loyola’s institutional code is 1412; the department code is not needed.
5. An informal Statement of Purpose document is highly recommended, though not required.
This extra information helps with initial advising for you, and occasionally the narrative will clear up some questions about the application.
Additional Requirements for International Applicants
These are additional requirements for international student admission to the graduate degree programs in the Department of Computer Science. General requirements are still required. Complete information can be found at the LUC International Admission page.
Though there is no admission deadline, be sure to leave time to get the necessary official English test results and transcript evaluations to Loyola before admission, and allow time after admission for obtaining a visa. If the process takes too long, you can request to roll your admission over to the next semester.
If you have written and defended a doctoral dissertation in English, make sure you note this in your application.
Submitting and Verifying transcripts
Students with transcripts issued by international universities or colleges must be evaluated by an outside evaluator for GPA calculation and determining if the degree is equivalent to an American Bachelor’s degree (four-year degree or 3-year degree with an extra year of study after that).
Applicants may send international transcripts for a general evaluation to any NACES (National Association of Credential Evaluation Services) member company for international evaluation and allow 4-6 weeks for them to evaluate transcripts and get the results to Loyola.
If you do not yet have your undergraduate degree, you must send transcripts to the evaluator when all your final courses are shown, though some without grades. This is usually in your final semester. The evaluators can only determine the equivalence to a US 4-year degree if they see all the relevant courses listed on the transcript (again, possibly some without grades yet).
The conditional admission requires the university to receive another official transcript, showing degree completion, though this transcript can be sent to Loyola during your first semester here as a student.
If you have international graduate-level coursework after 4 years of college-level work, you need a course by course evaluation to transfer international graduate credit. If you are expecting to get transfer credit, it is most economical to ask for the course by course evaluation the first time transcripts are submitted to an evaluator. Be sure the rest of your application is submitted when making this request, so it can be properly considered. Official notification of a passing English test score must be included at that time. Requesting that Loyola handle the evaluation will require extra time, since the transcript forms must be received first by Loyola and sent off again to Educational Perspectives.
Required English Exam
The English requirement is waived for students meeting certain criteria, for example, US citizens, permanent residents, and citizens of certain countries. All other students will have to take an English exam such as TOEFL, IELTS, PTE, and Duolingo. Please see the LUC International Admission page for complete information on minimum scores and waiver criteria.
If you do not meet the minimum scores, you can still be admitted conditionally to the ICAP program which requires you to complete the English Language Learning Program (ELLP) to determine your placement in ESL (English as a Second Language) preparation courses. For more information, please see the LUC International Admission page
Visas
International applicants who will be on an F-1 visa (including those who are seeking financial aid from the department) are encouraged to submit proof (affidavit) of financial support to our International students’ office along with filing their application.
The form should be linked on the page http://luc.edu/iss/forms.shtml under something like the name, Declaration of Finances for Graduate & Professional Students. This will help save a lot of time in processing the visa papers, namely I-20 or IAP-63. Students who are chosen for the merit awards or scholarships will be notified regardless of their financial standing or ability to support themselves financially.
Deadlines
No Application Deadline for Plain Admission
Applications are continuously evaluated and students will be promptly admitted to the nearest starting term or semester. Earlier admission means that you get to register online for classes earlier, and some classes may fill up. In particular, registration for Fall starts in April, for Spring in late October, and for Summer in February. It is to your advantage to be admitted before those times for the earliest access to advising and registration.
Deadlines for Teaching Assistantships
While regular admission does not have a deadline, see teaching assistantships for application deadlines to be considered for such an award.
Admission Prerequisites
For admission to the graduate degree program in the Department of Computer Science, submit the general prerequisites below that are not listed as optional. You may also submit further items if you feel they would help bolster your admissions case.
Please note:
- These prerequisites apply to all applicants.
- You can apply and be accepted without having all the undergraduate prerequisites listed for degree programs.
- If you are an international student read the section on international student prerequisites later on.
- Contact the graduate program personnel with any questions after reading
General Prerequisites
1. Completed application form, preferably completed online.
Note: This form is used for many programs in graduate school, and not all graduate programs are available to students in all locations. The application requires you to fill in all the personal data before showing you all the programs that you can apply to and other parts of the form.
For navigating the application, note that the programs are in the School of Arts and Sciences, and all are offered by the Computer Science department, so the Information Technology and Software Engineering degree names are prefixed by “Computer Science”
2. Those who would like to get financial assistance should see Teaching Assistantships or for non-departmental financial aid
3. Submit official transcripts, in English, of all undergraduate work and any post-baccalaureate work by official electronic submission between your institution and Loyola or in sealed envelopes sent from the academic institution.
When sending sealed envelopes, do not open such envelopes yourself!
If you do not have easy access to the sealed official documents, you can initially submit copies for a conditional admission. You can send a transcript in the semester before your graduation, showing all the courses you will be having for graduation, even though grades are still missing from the final courses, and still be eligible for conditional admission.
In all cases, final officially-sent transcripts are required by the end of your first semester at Loyola.
4. GRE scores are not required for admission. If you choose to submit them, Loyola’s institutional code is 1412; the department code is not needed.
5. An informal Statement of Purpose document is highly recommended, though not required.
This extra information helps with initial advising for you, and occasionally the narrative will clear up some questions about the application.
Additional Requirements for International Applicants
These are additional requirements for international student admission to the graduate degree programs in the Department of Computer Science. General requirements are still required. Complete information can be found at the LUC International Admission page.
Though there is no admission deadline, be sure to leave time to get the necessary official English test results and transcript evaluations to Loyola before admission, and allow time after admission for obtaining a visa. If the process takes too long, you can request to roll your admission over to the next semester.
If you have written and defended a doctoral dissertation in English, make sure you note this in your application.
Submitting and Verifying transcripts
Students with transcripts issued by international universities or colleges must be evaluated by an outside evaluator for GPA calculation and determining if the degree is equivalent to an American Bachelor’s degree (four-year degree or 3-year degree with an extra year of study after that).
Applicants may send international transcripts for a general evaluation to any NACES (National Association of Credential Evaluation Services) member company for international evaluation and allow 4-6 weeks for them to evaluate transcripts and get the results to Loyola.
If you do not yet have your undergraduate degree, you must send transcripts to the evaluator when all your final courses are shown, though some without grades. This is usually in your final semester. The evaluators can only determine the equivalence to a US 4-year degree if they see all the relevant courses listed on the transcript (again, possibly some without grades yet).
The conditional admission requires the university to receive another official transcript, showing degree completion, though this transcript can be sent to Loyola during your first semester here as a student.
If you have international graduate-level coursework after 4 years of college-level work, you need a course by course evaluation to transfer international graduate credit. If you are expecting to get transfer credit, it is most economical to ask for the course by course evaluation the first time transcripts are submitted to an evaluator. Be sure the rest of your application is submitted when making this request, so it can be properly considered. Official notification of a passing English test score must be included at that time. Requesting that Loyola handle the evaluation will require extra time, since the transcript forms must be received first by Loyola and sent off again to Educational Perspectives.
Required English Exam
The English requirement is waived for students meeting certain criteria, for example, US citizens, permanent residents, and citizens of certain countries. All other students will have to take an English exam such as TOEFL, IELTS, PTE, and Duolingo. Please see the LUC International Admission page for complete information on minimum scores and waiver criteria.
If you do not meet the minimum scores, you can still be admitted conditionally to the ICAP program which requires you to complete the English Language Learning Program (ELLP) to determine your placement in ESL (English as a Second Language) preparation courses. For more information, please see the LUC International Admission page
Visas
International applicants who will be on an F-1 visa (including those who are seeking financial aid from the department) are encouraged to submit proof (affidavit) of financial support to our International students’ office along with filing their application.
The form should be linked on the page http://luc.edu/iss/forms.shtml under something like the name, Declaration of Finances for Graduate & Professional Students. This will help save a lot of time in processing the visa papers, namely I-20 or IAP-63. Students who are chosen for the merit awards or scholarships will be notified regardless of their financial standing or ability to support themselves financially.