Prospective students willing to enter the Department of Computer Science will have to comply with the admission requirements of the College of Basic Sciences:

   Junior Division students who contemplate entering the College of Basic Sciences should give special attention to the mathematics and science courses they select and should consult a representative of the Department of Computer Science prior to completing their initial registration.

   Junior Division students will be admitted to the college when they:

   Transfer students from other divisions of the University or from other accredited colleges or universities will be permitted to enter the college when they:

   Students who, after initial enrollment in this college, wish to obtain credits from colleges other than LSU and who plan to offer such credits toward their degree requirements must obtain prior approval from the dean on a specific-course basis.

   For further information on admission requirements visit the the College of Basic Sciences website.

Requirements for M.S. Program

The entrance requirement to the M.S. program of our department is a bachelor's degree in a systems-related area from an accredited college or university. This undergraduate preparation must include the following courses or their equivalents:

   Gifted students who have not satisfied these requirements may be admitted to the program on probation provided that the deficiencies are successfully made up (usually by Pass/Fail) by the end of the first semester in the program. Such students might require more than the usual amount of time necessary to satisfy the degree requirements.    

   Admission is on a competitive basis, with GRE (Graduate Record Examination) scores, undergraduate records, and recommendations used to determine those students who are accepted into the program. Financial aid is also available on a limited, competitive basis.

Requirements for Ph.D. Program

Regular admission to the Ph.D. program requires a sound computer science background, a satisfactory grade point average (in general, at least 3.0), satisfactory performance on the Graduate Record Examinations (in general, at least 600 on quantitative, 1250 combined verbal-quantitative), proficiency in English (in general, at least 550 in TOEFL for foreign students residing outside U.S.A.), strong recommendations and a proven research track record (which will override the other requirements if needed). There are also provisions for minority recruiting.

   The applicant's computer science background should include programming in some high level language, and assembler, plus data structures, operating systems and program languages.

   Consideration will be given to applicants who fail to meet one or more of these requirements but show outstanding promise in other ways.

   Foreign students residing outside the U.S.A. should furnish their TOEFL scores. TOEFL is an essential part of the foreign students' application and must be taken and satisfactorily passed prior to being considered eligible for admission to graduate school in Computer Science. In order to be acceptable, a TOEFL score must be in general at least 550 (600 to be considered for a graduate assistantship).

Deadlines for Admission

Deadline for admission to the Fall semester: February 1

Deadline for admission to the Spring semester: October 15

Financial Aid for Graduate Students

Students who have been admitted will automatically be considered for financial assistance. All financial assistance is awarded on an annual basis and no award implies automatic renewal from year to year. No additional application form is required for consideration for financial aid.

Deadline, for financial aid consideration: February 1