Requirements

Applicants to the Master’s program in Computing Science must hold a bachelor's degree from an institution accredited by one of the regional accrediting agencies, with an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0. In addition, they must meet the following undergraduate prerequisites:

Programming Proficiency: Students entering the graduate program are required to have proficiency in a modern computer programming language such as Java, C++, C#, or C. Familiarity with the object paradigm is highly recommended. Programming proficiency must include the following:

• Fundamental data structures, such as arrays, lists, stacks, queues, and trees
• Elementary iterative and recursive algorithms, including searching and sorting techniques

Computing Systems: Undergraduate work in computer organization or computer architecture and operating systems is also required. The relevant topics include the following:

• Information representation
• CPU organization, operation, instruction sets, scheduling
• Memory organization, memory management
• File systems
• Concurrency, processes, threads

Mathematical Preparation: An undergraduate course in discrete structures (sometimes called discrete mathematics) is necessary for many aspects of computing. Additional requirements include calculus plus probability and statistics.

Options for Meeting the Prerequisites. The prerequisites may be completed at any accredited college or university, including community colleges. Villanova offers the required prerequisite undergraduate courses that may be taken through the part-time studies program if not already enrolled at Villanova.

How to Apply

1.      Please visit the web pages of the Office of Graduate Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at www.gradartsci.villanova.edu to request additional information, view application deadlines or to begin your online application.

2.      Contact Dr. Vijay Gehlot, the Program Director, at gradcomputing@villanova.edu or 610-519-7310 to discuss your interest in doing graduate work.

3.      Applicants to the Degree Program should submit the following materials:

• Application for admission.

• Application fee. $50 payable by credit card online. The fee is waived for students with a Villanova degree.

• Transcripts. Step 1 - You may upload unofficial copies of your transcripts in the online application in order to receive a conditional admission decision. However, those who are offered admission must complete the following process in order to enroll. Step 2- Official transcripts of all previous college work undergraduate (and graduate where applicable), must be sent directly from your registrar's office to the Office of Graduate Studies at Villanova. (Applicants in their last year of undergraduate study who have not completed their bachelor’s degree should provide a transcript of all courses completed at the time of application, and submit an official transcript when the undergraduate degree is completed.) For international students, official transcripts must be received in order for an I-20 to be issued.
  

• Three Letters of Recommendation. Please use the online recommendation system.  

• Graduate Record Examination. Please note that GRE scores from tests taken more than five years before the date of application will not be accepted. GMAT scores are acceptable as a substitute for GRE. GRE requirement may be waived for applicants with substantial professional working experience.

4.      Applicants to a non-degree Certificate Program should submit the following materials:

• Application for admission.

• Application fee. $50 payable by credit card online. The fee is waived for students with a Villanova degree.

• Transcripts. Step 1 - You may upload unofficial copies of your transcripts in the online application in order to receive a conditional admission decision. However, those who are offered admission must complete the following process in order to enroll. Step 2- Official transcripts of all previous college work undergraduate (and graduate where applicable), must be sent directly from your registrar's office to the Office of Graduate Studies at Villanova. (Applicants in their last year of undergraduate study who have not completed their bachelor’s degree should provide a transcript of all courses completed at the time of application, and submit an official transcript when the undergraduate degree is completed.)
  

International Students need to submit additional application materials:

Official TOEFL or IELTS scores.

Credentials Evaluation.

Financial Certification.

(Official Transcripts must be received before I-20 can be issued)