Graduate Programs


Endorsements

"Today's business world demands both deep technical skills and expansive business acumen. Excellent USF CS graduates demonstrate both these traits and BEA looks forward to hiring more outstanding talent."
Alfred S. Chuang
Chairman, co-founder, CEO
BEA Systems  (USF CS alumnus)

"I wish there had been an entrepreneurship emphasis like USF's when I was in computer science graduate school; my career has been a combination of just that: technology and management. I hope USF's MS students, particularly those taking the emphasis in entrepreneurship, will consider Adobe upon graduation."
Dr. Charles M. Geschke
co-founder and Chairman of the Board, Adobe Systems

Programs                                                                                                                                 

We offer outstanding gra duate in computer science and web science: 
The MSCS degree is a traditional Masters degree, giving students a broad education in computer science from computer architecture and operating systems to algorithms and artificial intelligence. The web science degree is focused on developing applications for the Internet, which means studying algorithms such as Google's map-reduce and building large distributed systems. Both degrees stress software development experience. Graduates are productive the first day on the job.


Computer Science Graduate Admission and Fellowship Award Policy

Admission to USF's Master's in Computer Science and Masters in Web Science programs is based on the following information:
  • GRE general scores
  • GRE subject scores (optional)
  • Official undergraduate transcripts
  • 2 Letters of recommendation (work and/or academic)
  • Applicant's  Experience and Background Essay
Each of these items will be evaluated by the graduate admissions committee. The experience essay gives applicants the opportunity to describe their programming and extracurricular experience and to indicate why they want to attend graduate school at USF. The GRE subject test is not required and the GRE general test may be waived for candidates with exceptional professional or academic experience. 

A number of research fellowships (max of US$20,000) are granted each year. Recipients of fellowships will engage in research under the direction of faculty members. These fellowships are awarded to the top applicants purely on the basis of merit. To continue receiving units, awardees must earn a GPA of 3.3 or better and be involved in a research project with a faculty member after their first semester. Awards are reviewed each semester. 

The admissions committee may contact recommenders, interview applicants, and request additional information to more accurately evaluate candidates for admission and fellowship awards.

International students and working in the United States

USF is your gateway to the Silicon Valley. As of Spring 2007, the co mputer science graduate school offers a  Practicum Option  that allows students to gain practical work experience in the Silicon Valley  while going to school . Students typically earn between $20 and $40 per hour, which makes school much easier to afford. Students take internships with companies such as BEA, Adobe, SAP, Intel, Technorati, Lawrence Berkeley Lab, and Internet Archive. Students that wish to work in the United States after completing a Masters degree apply for optional practical training (OPT), which lasts for one year. Under certain conditions, F-1 students  may be eligible for a 17-month extension  for total of 29 months.

About USF CS department

USF's computer science department is an exciting place to study. For example, in 2004, the department hosted the first ever "FlashMob Supercomputing"  event, an experiment in democratizing supercomputing. Another group of students  traveled to Tacna, Peru  to install and network computers at two schools -- these schools now have Internet access for the first time!

The typical day includes attending interactive lab/lecture sessions in the department's state-of-the-art  multi-media classroom , experimenting with the department's 128-processor supercomputer, working directly with professors on exciting  research projects , and traveling to inner-city computing centers to  help bridge the digital divide  in our own neighborhoods. Additionally, the USF  student chapter  of ACM holds weekly meetings and special events.

Perhaps the best part of the USF experience is the intimacy of the learning environment -- class sizes range from five to thirty students, almost all classes are taught by full-time faculty, and students have the opportunity to work directly with faculty on research projects.

Our students have taken jobs at top companies such as Apple, IBM, Intel, Sun, Microsoft, and Oracle to name a few. Silicon Valley continues to provide fantastic jobs and high salaries (not to mention a fabulous climate and highly desirable place to live).  According to Information Week magazine, application developers in San Francisco made between US$80,000 and US$115,000 in 2005. A survey of practicing engineers by EETimes magazine found that two of the most important ways to get the best salary were to "work for a Silicon Valley employer" and "get an MS or a PhD." USF is your gateway to exactly this combination.

Student representatives

Prospective students often have questions that are better answered by their peers. The following is a list of current students that have agreed to act as student representatives for prospective students from the indicated countries.

India:
asundaravaradan at cs.usfca.edu
Sri Achutan, sachutan at cs.usfca.edu
Ari Apathi, apathi at cs.usfca.edu
USF Indian newsgroup

China:
Will Chang, william0703 at hotmail.com
Yang Jiang, yang.jiang.z at gmail.com
Suli Xu, sxu2 at cs.usfca.edu
Xue Yin, bearjoeyin at hotmail.com
Erli Ling, el_ling2006 at yahoo.com.cn
Peng Liu, pliu3 at cs.usfca.edu
USF Chinese newsgroup

Spain:
Rai Garcia, voodoorai2000 at gmail.com

Africa:
Papanii Okai, okai at cs.usfca.edu

Saudi Arabia:
Batr Abduljawad, bgabduljawad at usfca.edu