Graduate Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What areas of concentration does the department offer?

A. The department of Electrical and Computer Engineering offers study leading to the degrees of Master of Science (M.S.) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in the field of study “Electrical Engineering” with one of the following two areas of concentration:

  1. Information, Communication, Decision, and Biosystems
  2. Electronics, Photonics, and Biophotonics

An M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering without an area of concentration is also available.

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Q. How many letters of recommendation are required with my application?

A. This program requires three Letters of Recommendation. PLEASE NOTE: All departmental requirements, (ie. Personal Statement, Recommendations) must be submitted via the Graduate School On-line Application System.

Any Departmental Requirement submitted to us on paper, via e-mail or fax will not be accepted and will result in an application status of “Incomplete”, until such time that it has been properly submitted online.

You must also submit a Statement of Purpose Letter (Personal Statement). This document should tell your program’s admissions committee all you would like to bring out in a personal interview. Include your reasons for undertaking graduate work, your ultimate plans, and how you happened to select the field in which you hope to concentrate. Details about your preparation, your strengths and weaknesses as a student, any academic honors, scholarships, or fellowships you have received, will all be helpful. The committee wants to know those things about you that cannot be expressed quantitatively.

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Q. What if I’m having technical issues (uploads too big/not saving, can’t submit, etc.) with submitting my application?

A. Please use the following website to shrink the document, and upload the document again:
http://smallpdf.com/compress-pdf
If the document is still too large to upload, send a support request to gradIT@uconn.edu.

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Q. Which test scores are required with my application?

A. All applicants are required to submit test scores from the General Test of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Test scores can be waived by the departmental graduate committee for current University of Connecticut students or graduates, or applicants who have an undergraduate degree in engineering, math or science with a GPA >= 3.75 from a US university.  For Spring 2024 and Fall 2024 applicants, the GRE requirement is waived.

There are no specific minimum scores on the Quantitative, Verbal, and Analytical parts of GRE. A high score, especially on the Quantitative part, can improve the competitiveness of your application.

A student whose native language is not English must show evidence of proficiency in the English language by having earned a minimum score of 550 (written test) or 213 (computer-based) on the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), or 79 for the Internet-based test. If you submit results from the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), you need an average overall band score of at least 6.5. Only the scores from the Academic Module, not the General Training Module, are applicable.

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Q. Is Financial aid available?

A. There are several ways for well-qualified graduate students to obtain financial support with which to pursue their advanced degrees. This support, in the form of pre-doctoral fellowships and graduate assistantships (research and teaching) is available on a competitive basis. Students desiring financial aid are encouraged to submit their applications early. Application fee waivers are considered in certain circumstances, and on a limited basis (the capacity for waivers for the 24/25 Academic year for ECE department has been reached).Application Fee Waivers | The Graduate School (uconn.edu)

IT IS NOT POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE IN ADVANCE OF THE FULL REVIEW PROCESS WHETHER A PARTICULAR APPLICANT WILL QUALIFY FOR FINANCIAL AID.

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Q. Can I receive credit for courses taken elsewhere?

A. Up to six credits of advanced course work completed or to be completed at other institutions may be approved for transfer to the student’s graduate program at the University of Connecticut, pending the condition that the grades earned in these courses are B or higher, and that the advisory committee approves the transfer.

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Q. Can I take graduate courses without having been admitted to a degree program?

A. Domestic students who do not satisfy the admissions requirements, or do not wish to be accepted into the regular graduate programs, can take courses under the non-degree status.

Non-degree students may register for courses in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering with the approval of the department head. A student who wishes to take courses on a non-degree basis must register through the Office of Credit Extension, U-56, Phone: (860) 486-3832.

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Q. How can I obtain more information?

A. Information about our graduate program and the faculty is most easily obtained via a visit to our web site. 

For all routine communications regarding admissions, questions can be sent to:

Director of Graduate Admissions
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering
University of Connecticut
371 Fairfield Way, Unit 4157
Storrs, CT 06269-4157
USA

Telephone: (860) 486-4816

Fax: (860) 486-2447

Email Director of Graduate Admissions: helena.silva@uconn.edu

Email Graduate Application Processor: jodi.peterson@uconn.edu

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Q. What are the application deadlines?

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Q. When are acceptance decisions made?

A. While acceptance decisions are made on a rolling basis, all admission decisions involving international applicants will be made by April 15th (for Fall admission) or October 15th (for Spring admission). Please note that it takes the Graduate School up to two weeks after the department submits its recommendation to make the final decision and inform the applicant.

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Q. When requesting ETS to forward my GRE Scores to the University of Connecticut, which University Code do I enter?

A. 3915

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Q. When requesting ETS to forward my GRE Scores to the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, which Departmental/Major Field Code am I most likely to use?

A.

  1. 1201– Computer Engineering,
  2. 1202-Communications Engineering,
  3. 1203-Electrical Engineering,
  4. 1204-Electronics Engineering,
  5. 1299-Electrical & Electronics Engineering-Other,
  6. 1612-Systems Engineering, or
  7. 1699-Engineering-Other

Since our department does not use these codes to locate your scores, it doesn’t matter which one you use.

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Q. Who do I contact regarding any questions about TOEFL/IELTS scores, GPAs, Transcripts or the On-line Application System?

A. Since TOEFL/IELTS scores, GPAs and transcripts are a university level requirement, they are all handled by the Graduate School. Therefore, you should contact the Graduate School directly with any questions that you might have (including which codes to use). They may be reached at (860) 486-3617 or gradschool@uconn.edu.

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Q. Are application fee waivers available?

A.We are no longer offering application fee waivers for 2024.

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