Program Overview

The MS program, through course-work and thesis options, lets students strengthen their foundational education, prepare for technical careers in industry, or prepare for advanced study at the doctoral level. The department's faculty work in the areas of algorithms, artificial intelligence, bioinformatics, database systems, data mining, information assurance, machine learning, and non-standard parallel computing.

Application Deadlines

January 15 (for fall admission)
October 1 (for spring admission)
Apply Online

Contact

Mark Maloof
Director of Graduate Studies
P: 202.687.5034
E: mscs at georgetown dot edu

Admissions Requirements

Applicants to the Master of Science program must have a Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, information systems, electrical engineering, or a closely related field. Candidates must have taken basic courses in programming, data structures, computer hardware, and mathematics, such as discrete mathematics, calculus, linear algebra, probability, and statistics. They must have a grade-point average of at least 3.0 in their undergraduate studies. All applicants must take GRE, and foreign applicants must take the TOEFL. Applicants must provide the following documents:

1. graduate school application forms
2. all undergraduate transcripts
3. three letters of recommendation
4. statement of academic, professional, and personal goals
5. GRE scores
6. TOEFL scores, if necessary

Applicants for the Master's program must submit an online application.

Prospective applicants who lack the requisite background in computer science and mathematics will be considered for admission only after they have successfully completed preparatory courses in computer science and mathematics. Such courses may be taken at another university or at Georgetown. People in this latter category must enroll as a Special Student in Georgetown College through the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

Those who are admitted as a Special Student in Georgetown College must take an introductory programming course, such as COSC-072 in C++ or COSC-175 in Java, as well as Data Structures (COSC-173), Hardware Fundamentals (COSC-250), and any prerequisites these courses require. They must also take one course in mathematics beyond integral calculus, such as multivariate calculus (MATH-137) or linear algebra (MATH-150). Students who plan to enroll in equivalent courses elsewhere are advised to consult first with the Department's Director of Graduate Studies.

Regardless of where they enroll, students must earn at least a grade of "B" in each of these preparatory courses. After successfully completing these prerequisites, students may apply for admission to the Master's program in Computer Science. The completion of the prerequisite courses does not guarantee admission, and none of these prerequisite courses may be applied toward the credit requirements of the Master of Science in Computer Science.

Degree Requirements and Sequence

Students may elect to complete the requirements of the degree by taking ten courses (30 credits) or by taking eight courses (24 credits) and writing a thesis. All students must take Algorithms (COSC-531) and Architecture (COSC-560). Students pursuing the course-work option take a total of eight electives to complete the degree. A generic schedule for a full-time student pursuing the course-work option appears in Table 1, which leads to a number of possible courses of study.

Students may choose as an elective any course numbered 350 or higher, but at least five of these classes must be numbered 510 or higher. (Computer science courses in the range 500–509 do not count toward the degree requirements.)

Students may also elect to substitute up to two courses from another department for similarly numbered electives, provided that the courses support the student's plan of study and have been approved by the student's faculty advisor. Indeed, we have prepared a list of approved external electives. Students may petition for the use of other courses as external electives, but in addition to satisfying the previous criteria, such courses must be approved by the Department's curriculum committee. Students must obtain all necessary approvals before enrolling in the class.

Within the first three weeks of the semester that they intend to complete the requirements for the degree, students should notify the Director of Graduate Studies of their intent to graduate and complete the Graduate School's Web form Application for Graduate Degree.

Thesis Option

Students choosing to write a thesis complete similar requirements, but substitute Graduate Thesis Research (COSC-999) for two electives numbered 350–499. That is, such students complete the core requirements, take one elective numbered 350–499, and take five electives numbered 510 or higher, for a total of twenty-four credit hours. Students selecting the thesis option must maintain a grade-point average of 3.4 or higher. A hypothetical schedule for a full-time student pursuing the thesis option appears in Table 2.

Before the end of their first year, students should identify a topic, a thesis advisor, and a review committee. The thesis advisor must be an ordinary faculty member in the Department of Computer Science, and need not be the same person advising the student on curricular issues. If appropriate and approved by the thesis advisor, one member of the review committee can belong to another department at Georgetown or another university. Research for the thesis and its proposal should begin during the summer before the second year.

Students must submit a thesis proposal to the Graduate School. Ideally, students will submit their thesis proposal in the same semester they finish their course work. Students may enroll in COSC-999 (Graduate Thesis Research) only after completing their course work.

Within the first three weeks of the semester that they intend to defend their thesis and complete the requirements for the degree, students should notify the Director of Graduate Studies of their intent to graduate and complete the Graduate School's Web form Application for Graduate Degree.

Once students complete their thesis, with their advisor's approval, they distribute the thesis to other members of their committee for a period no shorter than three weeks. After this period, the advisor oversees any necessary changes to the thesis. Once these changes have been completed, students complete the Graduate School's Thesis Reviewer's Report (Word|PDF) and obtain all necessary approvals.

Once students obtain all necessary approvals, then they work with their advisor, committee, and the Director of Graduate Studies to schedule a public presentation of the work. After doing so, they submit the completed Thesis Reviewer's Report to the Graduate School at least one week prior to the date of the defense. Students should bring to the public defense the Graduate School's Master's Thesis Coversheet (Word|PDF). (For more information, see the Graduate School's Guidelines for Dissertation and Thesis Writers.)