Master's Degree

The ISU Computer Science program welcomes students of all nationalities and backgrounds interested in obtaining a Master of Science (MS) degree in Computer Science. With the industry embracing new technologies in machine learning, cybersecurity, blockchain, and augmented reality, now is a great time to pursue an advanced degree in Computer Science.

MS in CS Tracks

There are two tracks available for pursuing MS in CS:

Thesis-based MS
Non-thesis/Course-only MS

The requirements for admission and the degree requirements for each of these tracks are specified on the catalog.

MS Mission Statement

The mission of the ISU Master's of Science in Computer Science program is to prepare students to become the next generation of leaders in the competitive landscape of Computer Science industry and academia. Integral to this mission is to engage students in learning and participating in cutting-edge research. Other goals that may vary according to individual priorities and interests include:

Development of critical thinking and reasoning about experimental results.
Cultivation of proficiency in technical writing and communication.
Participation in the research process in generating ideas and producing results.
Learning team development and the skills needed to lead a team of programmers.
Improvement of the ability to design and implement software on an industrial scale.

Graduate Course Descriptions (ISU Course Catalog)

Interested students should apply online through ISU Graduate Studies. Applicants should thoroughly review university's application requirements in addition to CS program requirements. All application materials, including IELTS/TOEFL/Duolingo scores (when applicable) and letters of recommendation, must be received by the department before the department's deadline.

Admission Requirements

The CS Department currently adopts ISU's Graduate School requirements regarding CGPA, IELTS/TOEFL, and GRE. For further details, visit the Graduate School website at https://www.isu.edu/graduate/student-resources/future-students/

What If I Don't Have a BS in CS?

Applicants are expected to have a BS or BA in Computer Science (CS), Math, Engineering, or the Physical Sciences. To qualify for admission to the MS in CS program, an applicant must have completed a set of undergraduate courses listed on the catalog.

An Applicant not having a BS in CS (or equivalent) first needs to be admitted as a non-degree seeking undergraduate student to complete the prerequisites. Upon successful completion of the prerequisites with B- or above, they can apply to change their program of study to MS in CS. However, this pathway may not be applicable to international students due to visa related matters.

How to Apply Successfully

Know the admission requirements mentioned on the catalog and decide whether to pursue a thesis-based or non-thesis/course-based MS. Applying for admission with an intention to pursue a thesis-based MS may require to convince ISU CS professors that you can succeed in graduate study in Computer Science at ISU and that your research interests align with research opportunities in the ISU CS program.

In the evaluation of admission applications, the department will consider academic factors such as CGPA, transcript, letters of recommendation, and the statement of purpose. For international students originating from non-English speaking countries, their English proficiency (e.g., TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo) scores will also be taken into account. Early submission of application materials is very important for success.

Here are a few recommendations about how to increase your chances of success in applying:

Letters of recommendation are particularly impactful if they come from people who know both the student and Computer Science graduate study well.
Candidates interested in pursuing a thesis-based MS should review faculty research areas, and should identify and elaborate on areas of common interest in their statement of purpose. This helps to identify potential advisors.

For information about application deadline, financial assistance, and FAQ, please visit here.

If Admitted

Identify the catalog year that applies to you. Carefully review degree requirements specified in the catalog for the respective thesis-based or course-only tracks. Determine whether you will pursue a thesis-based or a non-thesis/course-only MS. Make a tentative plan for coursework (and thesis research if pursuing thesis-based MS).

A temporary faculty advisor may be assigned to admitted students. Students pursuing thesis-based MS should communicate the department's faculty to select a thesis advisor and work closely with the thesis advisor to complete the intended thesis-based MS.

Once all the degree requirements are completed, submit a graduation application through MyISU.

Overall Procedure

Students pursuing a thesis-based MS must conform to the procedures, rules, regulations, requirements specified on the Graduate School’s Thesis and Dissertation Manual. In brief, to pursue a thesis-based MS in CS, a student needs to have the following completed in due time.

Before the end of the first semester in the program, the student must identify a thesis supervisor by communicating with the graduate faculty in the CS department and have one of them agree to supervise their thesis research as the major professor.
Before the student completes the second semester in the program, the thesis advisor, in consultation with the student, creates a Thesis Advisory Committee and have the committee formalized and recorded within the department using the departmental Formation of Thesis-based MS Advisory Committee form.
The student works closely with their thesis advisory committee to carry out their thesis research and completes the required coursework identified in the catalog that applies to them.
The student must write a thesis report under close supervision of their thesis advisory committee.
Before scheduling the thesis defense, a thesis defense committee must be formed, which typically includes the same members of the thesis advisory committee. The thesis advisor, as the chair of the committee, must get the thesis defense committee approved by the graduate school using graduate school’s committee approval form.
With approval from the thesis advisory committee, the thesis advisor as the chair of the advisory committee, must schedule a thesis defense using the graduate school’s oral defense schedule request form. According to the approved schedule, the oral defense must be advertised to the campus community.
The student must successfully defend, make any recommended revision/corrections, and submit the final thesis (report) through ProQuest.
The student must submit a graduation application through MyISU before the graduation deadline for the respective semester.

Thesis Advisory Committee

An MS Thesis Advisory Committee must have at least three members including the thesis advisor; two of them must be CS graduate faculty and the third one must be a graduate faculty representative (GFR) from outside the CS department. The thesis advisor (i.e., major professor) serves as the Chair of the committee.

Once the committee is formed, it must be formalized and recorded within the department using the departmental Formation of Thesis-based MS Advisory Committee form.

Thesis Research

Under close supervision of the thesis advisory committee, a thesis research should aim to contribute to advancing the field of Computer Science. This may include the development of tools, theories, or solutions that others working in the same or related areas can use to solve problems of interest. Creativity and originality are fundamental elements of this process. To be impactful, the research needs to be tied in to existing related work in the research area and demonstrate knowledge, skills, and techniques gained during the student's Computer Science graduate education. Where possible, students should seek to publish their thesis research so that the field can benefit from their contributions.

Thesis Report

A thesis report, which is typically simply referred to by ‘thesis’, must be written and formatted conforming to the instructions on the Graduate School’s Thesis and Dissertation Manual.

Target Audience: Researchers who are presumed to be familiar with the general topic (e.g., your committee).

Thesis Structure: While variation in structure is likely and permitted, a typical thesis can be structured as follows:

Chapter 1 - Introduction of the problem and motivation for its significance.
Chapter 2 - A thorough summary of related and similar work
Chapter 3 ... n - A progressive description of work undertaken to prove the thesis, often including:

background information (e.g., terms and definitions)
methods descriptions (e.g., algorithms, theorems, and models)
evaluation and results (e.g., metrics, proofs, simulations, complexity analysis).

Final chapter - Summary of the thesis contributions and discussion of possible avenues for future work.
Bibliography
Appendices (e.g., extended results, code fragments, documentation)

Thesis Defense

Target Audience: Computer science faculty who are not familiar with your research topic.

A thesis oral presentation should be well-rehearsed. Practicing before a live audience can help to ensure that the presentation will go smoothly.

Format: Thesis defenses include a 25-minute presentation (and Q&A) open to the public, followed by a closed-door session for additional questions from the Advisory Committee members.

In preparation, the student must create a polished presentation to briefly provide a broad overview of the research and prepare for answering relevant questions.

After the defense presentation, the audience and committee will be afforded the opportunity to ask questions regarding the conducted research, related work, methods, validation techniques and such. Following the questions and answers, the committee may choose to ask additional questions with the audience being asked to first vacate the room. Once the committee members have no more questions, they will invite the student to step out so that they can deliberate and decide on the thesis defense result.

Result: The thesis committee can reach one of four possible decisions:

Pass without revisions
Pass with revisions (resulting from the need for thesis revisions and/or additional course knowledge)
Recess (resulting from the need for substantial thesis revisions and/or additional course knowledge—a subsequent defense cannot be held for at least one month)
Fail (resulting in termination from the MS program)

Course-only/Non-thesis

Successfully completing the course-only/non-thesis MS requires the student to complete only coursework credits within the time frame given for finishing the MS program.

More information about the admission and degree requirements are available on the catalog.

Upon completion of the required coursework, a student should verify on DegreeWorks and the student must submit a graduation application through MyISU before the graduation deadline for the respective semester.