Office of Graduate Admissions
Southern Station, Box 10066
Hattiesburg, MS 39406-0066
Phone: (601) 266-5134
The student
may also secure the application materials directly from the Graduate Admissions
Office located in Room 208 of the McCain Library and Archives.
Credentials
to be submitted to the Graduate Admissions Office by the deadline published
in the University bulletin include:
1.
Completed application forms
2. Two official transcripts from each institution
attended
After all credentials are received, the Graduate Admissions Office computes
the applicant's grade point average on the last 64 hours of class work
and forwards the application and transcripts to the Chair of the Department
of Computer Science and Statistics, the Dean of the College of Science
and Technology, and the Graduate Dean. As soon as the application has
been processed, the Director of the Graduate Admissions Office notifies
the applicant of the University's decision on the request for admission.
There are
two types of graduate admission that prospective students may attain.
These admission types are regular and conditional. To attain regular admission
the student must satisfy all of the following criteria:
1.
Applicant must hold a baccalaureate degree from an institution approved
by a recognized accrediting agency.
2. Applicant must be eligible to re-enter in good
standing the last college
or university attended.
3. Applicant must present evidence of a grade
point average of at least
2.75/4.0 for the last 64 hours of study and a GPA of at least
3.0/4.0 on undergraduate courses in the field of proposed study.
This means that the student must attain at least the equivalent
of a 3.0/4.0 GPA on all prerequisite courses.
4. Applicant must submit acceptable scores from
the GRE.
5. The Chair of the Department of Computer Science
and Statistics, the Dean
of the College of Science and Technology, and
the Graduate Dean must be satisfied that the applicant shows
promise of satisfying graduate degree requirements.
A student
who does not meet the minimum standards for either Grade Point Average
or GRE scores may be admitted on a conditional basis provided he/she meets
either of the following criteria.
He/she
must have a Grade Point Average of at least 2.5/4.0 on the last 64 hours
of undergraduate classwork and attain acceptable scores on the verbal
and quantitative components of the GRE.
He/she
must present an overall Grade Point Average of at least 3.5/4.0 if his/her
score on the GRE is near acceptable.
A student
with a Grade Point Average of less than 2.5/4.0 will be reviewed on an
individual basis provided his/her Graduate Record Examinations scores
are outstanding.
Conditional
Admission can be given only upon the specific recommendation of the Computer
Science Graduate Admissions Committee, the Chair of the Department of
Computer Science, the Dean of the College of Science and Technology, and
the Dean of the Graduate School.
A conditional
graduate student must meet the following conditions in order to continue
in the Graduate School:
If the
first enrollment is as a full-time student, he/she must attain grades
of "B" or better on each graduate course attempted during
that first semester.
If the
first enrollment is as a part-time student, he/she must attain grades
of "B" or better on the first nine semester hours of work,
and grades of "B" or better on all courses (graduate or undergraduate)
taken while completing the nine graduate hour requirement.
Students
meeting admission criteria but not prerequisite criteria may be classified
as either Senior Prospective or required to complete a 2nd B. S. degree
in Computer Science before reapplying for graduate status.
Foreign
Student Admission
The requirements for foreign student admission are exactly the same as
described earlier with the following additional stipulation: A score of
550 or better on the TOEFL or a USM English Language Institute Certificate
II with a score of 58 or better.
Master's
Degree Requirements
There
are a set of non-coursework requirements and limitations that are applicable
to both degree programs. The requirements and limitations are outlined
below.
Credit
Hours Taken
The M. S. in Computer Science program requires minimum of 33 hours (including
thesis or project) of graduate credit is required to obtain a Master's
Degree in Computer Science. The M. S. in Computational Science requires
a minimum of 36 hours of graduate credit.
Time
Limitation
Both programs require that the student complete the degree within six
calendar years from initial enrollment in the graduate program.
Credit
Hour Limitations
Both programs have several credit hour limitations. These limitations
are as follows:
A minimum
of 18 semester hours must be earned at The University of Southern Mississippi.
A minimum
of 50% of the credit earned at The University must be taken on the campus
from which the degree is awarded.
A maximum
of six semester hours of Computer Science graduate credit from other
institutions may be transferred to the student's program with the approval
of the Chair of the Department of Computer Science and Statistics, and
the Graduate Dean, provided the course work transferred falls within
the six-year period allowed for the degree.
The maximum
load of a full-time graduate student is 16 hours. The normal load for
a full-time graduate student 12 semester hours (9 hours during summer
terms).
Grade
Requirements
The grade requirements for both programs are as follows:
An average
of "B" or better (3.0/4.0) is required of all candidates for
the Master's Degree in Computer Science. This average must be attained
by the time the student completes the course requirements for the degree.
On the
recommendation of the student's graduate committee (see Section VII),
a student may re-take one graduate level course to improve his/her grade
point average.
A student
who earns more than six semester hours of grades of "D," or
more than three semester hours of grades of "F" will not be
considered as a candidate for degree.
