Admission:
Admission to the Graduate School and completing a Graduate Certificate Application are required for both degree- and non-degree seeking students.
Degree-seeking applicants:
The Graduate School requires completion of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution with a GPA of 3.0 or better for admission to Certificate Status. Applicants with an undergraduate GPA < 3.0 may qualify for Commonwealth Campus admission. Students pursuing a degree and a certificate simultaneously are classified within their degree program. Certificate credits may be used to meet degree requirements if they are appropriate for inclusion on the degree Plan of Study.
Non-degree seeking applicants:
A qualified person who wishes to enter Virginia Tech to obtain a graduate certificate, without being enrolled in a degree program, may apply for graduate admission to Graduate Certificate status. Such applicants submit an Application for Admission and a Graduate Certificate Application https://graduateschool.vt.edu/content/dam/graduateschool_vt_edu/forms/Application_for_Graduate_Certificate_Program.pdf, and must meet the following criteria:
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GPA of 3.0 for admission for the last half of the credits earned for the undergraduate (bachelors) degree*
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official transcripts must be submitted.
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academic background meets the requirements of the admitting academic unit.
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International applicants must submit scores from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). A minimum TOEFL score of 550 paper-based (PBT) or 80 internet-based test (iBT) is required for consideration of the application. On the iBT, subscores of at least 20 on each subtest (Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing) are required for admission. A minimum IELTS score of 6.5 is required for admission. Some departments have higher TOEFL or IELTS score requirements than those set by the Graduate School.
Curriculum Requirements and Descriptions
Number of Credit Hours:Students should complete at least 2 courses from the core list (see below) and 2 courses from the elective list, for a total of 12 credits. For all students, courses taken must span all three departments; Computer Science, Statistics and Electrical and Computer Engineering. All courses must be graded A-F, and students must attain a minimum 3.0 GPA in the designated courses. Transfer credits are not permitted.
Core Courses: (Choose 2)
CS/STAT 5525 Data Analytics I
CS/STAT 5526 Data Analytics II
CS 5824/ECE 5424G: Advanced Machine Learning
Restricted Elective Courses: (Choose 2)
CS 5234 Advanced Parallel Computation
CS 5604 Information Storage and Retrieval
CS 5614 Database Management Systems
CS 5764 Information Visualization
CS 5804 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
CS 5834 Introduction to Urban Computing
CS/ECE 6524 Deep Learning
CS 6604 Advanced Topics in Data and Information
STAT 5114 Statistical Inference
STAT 5314 Monte Carlo Methods in Statistics
STAT 5414 Time Series Analysis I
STAT 5444 Bayesian Statistics
STAT 5444G Advanced Applied Bayesian Statistics
STAT 5504 Multivariate Statistical Methods
STAT 5544 Spatial Statistics
ECE 5524 Pattern Recognition
ECE 5554 Computer Vision
ECE 5605 Signal Detection and Estimation
ECE 5734 Convex Optimization
ECE/CS 6524 Deep Learning
ECE 6554 Advanced Computer Vision