Introduction | Curriculum | Environment | Admissions | Regulations

Master's of Science in Engineering (M.S.E.)

Admissions

Applications to the M.S.E. in Robotics program can be electronically submitted using the online application system Penn ApplyYourself at https://app.applyyourself.com/?id=upenn-eng

The application deadlines are:

Fall Term 2008 Entry: June 1, 2008
Spring Term 2009 Entry: November 1, 2008

Applicants interested in applying to the program before the above dates above are encouraged to contact the Program Director or Program Coordinator.

Application Requirements

Every application to the M.S.E program requires the following:

biographical information;
personal statement of research and professional interests;
three (3) official letters of recommendation (one must be from a faculty member who is familiar with the candidate's scholarly abilities);
one (1) official transcript from each university or college attended, including an academic evaluation that lists candidate's class rank and grade point average;
non-refundable application fee;
official score report for the Graduate Record Exam (GRE)

In addition, applicants whose native language is not English are required to satisfy our English language proficiency requirement by submitting:

official score report for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) with the score of at least 600 (written test) or 250 (computer-based test);
this requirement can be waived if the candidate has completed at least three (3) years of academic work on a full-time basis at a university-level institution in the United States or in a country in which English is recognized as the official language.

Admission Decisions

Admission decisions are made on a rolling basis within the deadlines. When an application is completed within the deadlines, it is evaluated promptly by our faculty. Admittance is based on an estimate of the applicant's ability to successfully complete our graduate program. When an admissions decision is reached, the applicant will be notified by letter from the SEAS Associate Dean for Graduate Education and Research. Applications received after the deadlines may be considered at the discretion of our faculty and the Program Director.

Academic Preparation

Due to the cross-departmental nature of the M.S.E. degree, we expect that successful applicants entering the program will have the right background for performing very well in the Foundational Courses. Therefore, potential applicants are encouraged to look at the prerequisites of the Foundational Courses, and ensure that their undergraduate studies have sufficient addressed them. In particular, sufficient exposure to courses in Linear Algebra (for CIS 580), Signals and Systems (for ESE 505), and Probability (for CIS 520) will be useful. Applicants that are not exposed to all the above prerequisites, may strengthen their background before taking the corresponding Foundational Course.

Financial Aid

At Penn, M.S.E. students do not receive financial aid. Students are self supported and are encouraged to find their own source of support or financial aid; some alternative funding info may be found at www.cis.upenn.edu/grad/funding.shtml. M.S.E. students may be able to find partial financial assistance either as teaching assistants and graders in the Departments of ESE, CIS, and MEAM, or as research staff in a variety of research projects that are under development in the GRASP lab. Such projects can also be used for M.S.E. thesis projects. It should be noted, however, that such forms of partial financial aid is typically possible only after the student has completed one semester of full study at Penn. Information re: enrollment costs is at www.cis.upenn.edu/grad/costs2.shtml

questions - mfelker@cis.upenn.edu

GRASP Laboratory
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Last update:11 July, 2008