Computer Engineering Ph.D. Pre-Qualifier Guidelines

The goal of the pre-qualifier is to ensure that the student has demonstrated the
necessary breadth and proficiency in their academic preparation to pursue a Ph.D.
degree.
 
In order to be in good standing with the computer engineering curriculum track, a student must apply for this pre-qualifier procedure within 40 credit hours beyond the Masters degree or 70 hours beyond the Bachelor's degree. If a student does not pass the prequalifier within these time limits, a registration bar may be placed on the student.

In order to apply for the Prequalifier, the following conditions must be met.

1.      Student must be enrolled in the computer engineering track.

2.      The student has taken at least five graduate courses from five DIFFERENT faculty members. At least four of these five graduate courses must be in the CE (computer engineering) area. Students entering the ECE graduate program with a Masters degree can apply for this procedure when they finish 3 CE graduate classes that provide rank.

Course ranks for the purposes of coursework evaluation come only from ECE courses taken in the traditional (Option I) graduate ECE program.

3.      The student can include at most three courses from the current semester for which grades and class rankings may be unavailable at the time of the application. At the end of the semester, the student must submit a current transcript. The evaluation will happen after the end of the semester, when the ranks, and transcript are available.

To pass the pre-qualifier, all the following conditions must be met.

  1. The average percentile rank for the student in all graduate computer engineering courses is at least 50. The percentile rank in a course is obtained using the formula (N+0.5-R)/N * 100 where N is the number of students in the class and R is the rank of the student in the class. The rank in a class is a number ranging from 1 (best student in the class) to N (worst student in the class). There must be at least three classes for which ranks are reported, and the average percentile rank is the arithmetic mean of percentile ranks.
  2. The UT GPA of the student is at least 3.5.
  3. The student has a recommendation letter from an ECE GSC member who is willing to either supervise or co-supervise the student.

 

Computer Engineering Ph.D. Pre-Qualifier Approval Form

 

Instructions: Submit this form along with a current transcript and reference letter from your supervisor to  Melanie Gulick (ENS 101, melanie.gulick@mail.utexas.edu) during the first 3 weeks of any long semester.

1.      Name (last, first):
Phone:  
E-mail:  
Mailing address:  

2.      Education: (Year graduated and Institution)

Bachelors:
Masters:

3.      Record in UT Grad School:
Semester of first enrollment:  
Graduate credit hours completed:          current GPA:  
Source(s) of financial support (RA/TA/Scholarship/Work/Self):

List all UT faculty that have supervised you and for what (EE 397, thesis, RA, TA, etc.):



4.      Projects: Give one-sentence description of any key project that you may have completed.

5.      Test scores:
GRE: Verbal __________ Quantitative __________ Analytical __________
TOEFL:

6.      Work Experience: (starting with current employment if any):



7.      Research Interests: Give a brief statement of your research interests.

8.      Research publications and academic honors or awards :




9.      Coursework: Please list all courses that you have taken or are currently taking as a graduate student at UT-ECE. Do not fill up the rank information. The graduate student office will determine that information. Only the ranks in graduate computer engineering (CE) courses are used to determine the overall average percentile rank.

Course #

Course Name

Instructor

Semester

Grade

Rank

Average Percentile Rank



















10. 
Declaration: I hereby attest that the information provided by me in this form is complete and correct to the best of my knowledge. I understand that misrepresentation or withholding of information asked is grounds for penalizing action that may include suspension from the CE graduate program.

Signature:__________________________________________Dated:

 


---Do not write below this line------------------FOR OFFICE USE ONLY----------------

CE Ph.D. Coordinator's Signature:__________________________________________Dated: