Univ of Illinois - urbana champaign (UIUC) Master of Comp Sci (MCS) program

[uclacolumbia]

Does anyone have any opinion on this non-thesis MCS program from a highly ranked CS department at UIUC? This is of course designed for working professional without emphasis on original thesis.

I am just wondering what the reputation of this MCS program is... and how competitive is it to get admitted to this non-thesis program (is it really that hard to get into as the ranking suggests)?

Edited February 11, 2012 by UclaColumbia

[kalai_nalla]

Hey !

I got admitted into UIUC MCS for fall 2012.. I dint have great GRE scores or TOEFL scores bt I had very good undergrad GPA. I am not sure if its difficult to get into but I have the same concern abt the reputation of the course. That's the very same reason I am oscillating between my two admits Purdue MS Vs UIUC MCS !

[weninger]

Its not terribly difficult to get into the MCS program at UIUC. As a current PhD candidate at UIUC, my understanding is that if you have reasonable grades, GRE and SPEAK score, then you stand a reasonable chance at admission. There is never funding given for MCS students, and they don't receive an adviser, so its the department is more comfortable to open the doors :-)

Same at Stanford and Berkeley from what I understand.

However, this is not to be confused with the MS in C, i.e., MS != MCS. MS has the same admissions standards and process at PhD.

[uclacolumbia]

not "terribly difficult".... ? meaning that is it still selective?

I think MS with thesis is probably less selective than PhD.... otherwise, what's the point of having two application processes for each?

[weninger]

By... not terribly difficult, I mean, if you meet the stated requirement (GPA, TOFEL, SPEAK, GRE or whatever) and you seem like a serious candidate, you are likely to be admitted (same with Stanford, Berkeley, etc. MCS from what I understand).

PhD and MS with thesis is identical admissions process, that is, very very selective (source: I review applicants (now that this cat is out of the bag... I shall not be answering specific questions.) )

[rjjjjj]

@weninger I understand you cant reveal any specific details but can you tell me whether MS admits have been given out ?

[weninger]

Most have been admitted... but many have not.

[rjjjjj]

But haven't seen any MS admits till now. May be few people didnt bother to mention.

[UCLAColumbiaUNC]

seems like there is a change in degree requirement... I believe it used to require 36 credits,.. now only 32 credits required to graduate MCS (online or on-campus).

[UCLAColumbiaUNC]

Interestingly, UIUC's MCS/MS/PhD programs do not require GRE for admission. I think UIUC is the highest ranked computer science program that does not require GRE for admission.

[UCLAColumbiaUNC]

I got some info from someone in UIUC CS department. It looks like the acceptance rate for the MCS program is about 1 in 10 for Fall admission, and about 2 in 10 for Spring admission. So it's definitely a competitive process to get admitted, if the information was accurate.

[mynamjef]

This thread is dead but still relevant for current and future applicants.

While UIUC's CS department doesn't publish stats, the Division of Management Information (DMI) at UIUC does (and not just for CS, but for all programs at UIUC).

You can find admit stats by going to dmi.illinois.edu, clicking on Campus Profile, and then searching for 4160 (Graduate Computer Science)

It breaks it down by degree, MS, PhD, MCS, etc.

And you can see the number of applications, admits, etc for each year by program.

For 2016, UIUC's on campus MCS admit rate is ~1 in 6. Online MCS admit rate is ~40%. MS is 1 in 12, and PhD is 1 in 6.