This is the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Your inquiry has been received. If you wish to reach another department or campus you must contact them directly. We can not forward your message to other departments or campuses. Please do not send email to bcicone@cs.uiuc.edu. This address is no longer valid for inquiries. SPECIAL NOTES: DEADLINE FOR SPRING 2004 WAS 9/1/03. NO LATE APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED. DEADLINE FOR SUMMER/FALL 2004 IS 12/20/03. NO LATE APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED. ALL APPLICATION MATERIALS MUST BE RECEIVED BY THE DEADLINE OF THE TERM TO WHICH YOU APPLY. THESE DATES AND REQUIREMENTS ARE FIRM AND APPLY TO BOTH ON AND OFF CAMPUS (DISTANCE LEARNING) DEGREE PROGRAM APPLICATIONS. THE DEPARTMENT WILL NOT RESPOND TO INQUIRIES VIA EMAIL OR TELEPHONE REGARDING THE STATUS OF AN APPLICATION NOR THE DECISION OF THE ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE. THE DEPARTMENT APPRECIATES YOUR COOPERATION IN THIS REGARD. FULL INFORMATION CONCERNING THE I2CS (DISTANCE LEARNING MASTER OF COMPUTER SCIENCE (MCS PROGRAM) CAN BE FOUND ON THE FOLLOWING WEB SITE: www.cs.uiuc.edu/i2cs PLEASE SEND EMAIL INQUIRIES CONCERNING INFORMATION NOT FOUND ON THE ABOVE MENTIONED URL TO i2cs@cs.uiuc.edu. PLEASE REVIEW THE FAQ COMPLETELY BEFORE SENDING YOUR INQUIRY. See below for more information on your inquiry: A. The preferred method of application is by the on-line application "Grad Connect" or ftp of the application materials. The department will no longer send paper application materials. Grad Connect, the on-line web-based application is available for Summer 2004 applications at: https://www-s2.aits.uillinois.edu/uidirect/GradStudies.html A new web-based application to be used for Fall 2004 and beyond has just become available. To begin the process go to the following website and follow the instrutions: http://www.oar.uiuc.edu/prospective/grad/gradBannerapp.html A paper application form can still be used and is available to download from the Graduate College's web site at (however, this is not the preferred method): http://www.grad.uiuc.edu/general/application.html The application form can be ftp'd from the following site: ftp.cs.uiuc.edu Use the anonymous login with your email address as the password.Go to pub/dept/applications. You will see 2 Directories: Citizens_Residents (for US Citizens or Permanent Resident applicants) International (for citizens a country other than US) You may then ftp all materials to your own computer and print them. Application deadlines are always as follows: For a summer or fall term's consideration December 20 For a spring term's consideration September 1 No late application forms will be accepted. The only other piece of information required by CS for application purposes is the "Interest Sheet". This can be printed (pdf format) from the following CS webpage: www.cs.uiuc.edu/join/gradmpr.html Admission to the CS department at UIUC is highly competitive. No informal evaluation or assessment will be done prior to submission of the official application and materials. Therefore it is the responsibility of the applicant to determine if they are within admissible range. The final decision for admission and financial aid is a committee decision. Applications will be forwarded to the committee for review when all credentials are received and the file is complete. The decisions of the committee are final. All credentials, including test scores, must be received no later than the deadline for the term to which you apply. The admissions committee will only review complete applications. Incomplete applications will be denied. You may, if you wish, submit photocopies of test scores such as TOEFL, TSE and GRE at the time of application. Please be aware that official copies from ETS will be required if your application is recommended for admission. This is the policy of the university and the department has not authority to waive the requirement.The Computer Science Department has no authority to waive any of the university or state requirements, such as the application fee or TOEFL or TSE scores. GRE subject exam scores are not required by CS at UIUC, but are higly recommended for doctoral applicants. GRE general scores, whether taken prior to October 2002 or after are acceptable. CS will accept either CBT or PBT for GRE general exam. If no application fee is received by the Office of Admissions and Records the application can not be reviewed by the department for admissions consideration. If the application reaches either the department or Admissions after the deadline for the term in which it is to be considered it will not be processed. The application fee is non-refundable therefore make sure you make sure the application is received by Admissions no later than the deadline. This is the date received by Admissions, not the postmark date of mailing. The department will not approve a late application, but will change the term of consideration if the applicant requests it. The State of Illinois requires a passing TSE (Test of Spoken English) be achieved prior to an award of a Teaching Assistantship (TA). A passing score is 50/60 on the new exam and 230/300 on the older version. Scores from SPEAK or other exams testing English communication skills taken off the UIUC campus are not acceptable. A passing score does not guarantee admission, an award of a TAship, or any form of financial aid. TAships are the most common form of financial aid for new Computer Science Graduate students. For full financial aid consideration the TSE must be received with all other application materials by the application deadline. B. If your inquiry was concerning the status of an application already sent for an upcoming term, please note that email concerning application file status (completeness) is always sent from the department directly to the applicants via the email address provided in the application. If your email address changes please contact the department as quickly as possible so that we can change our records and provide the latest information concerning the completeness of your file as quickly as possible. The volume of applications for each term is overwhelming at times, so please be patient. Email is sent as quickly as possible. Do not call or email the department for information. The staff is not allowed to give any information because of the Federal Rights and Privacy Act which forbids disclosure of this information. Applicants will be notified of admissions decisions as soon as they are available from the admissions committee. These are sent via regular or air mail. Because of security reasons, the department's policy is not to disclose the status of admission decisions in any other way. No status reports or admissions decisions will be given on the telephone. Please respect this policy and do not call the department regarding your file or decision status. The Federal Rights and Privacy Act works for you as an applicant and therefore no information will be given to anyone concerning the status of your application.You may, if you wish, designate someone on this campus to act as your representative concerning your application status or decision of our admissions committee. To do this you must send a signed letter to the department with the name of the person acting as your representative. This signed letter must come directly from you to the Department of Computer Science. It may be sent via regular mail or faxed to (217) 244-6073 to the attention of: "Director of Gradate Programs". It will be kept on file with your application. Your approved representative must appear in person when they wish information concerning your application. There may be times during processing when no information can or will be given to your representative because of the nature of our processing. Please make them aware of this. C. If your inquiry is about the status of your I-20 form please note that upon confirmation of your current mailing address, and finalization of your admission, the I20 form will be sent by express mail by the department. You will be notified of the date of shipping, express mail company, and tracking number. You will be requested to respond upon receipt of the document. Also please note that the Department of Computer Science can not speed up the processing of the I-20 in any way. During heavy processing periods Admissions works as fast as possible to finalize admissions and produce the necessary entrance materials. The department has no authority to influence the US consulate's office in regards to the issuance of visas. The department request that you inform us as soon as possible regarding any delays or failure to secure documentation to allow entrance to the US and join the department. Barbara E Cicone, Admissions Officer Assistant to the Director of Graduate Programs Department of Computer Science University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 2270 DCL 1304 W. Springfield Ave. Urbana, IL 61801 USA Fax 217 244 6073