The department's graduate admission is very competitive. Annually, there is a pool of approximately 700 applicants from all over the world. Unfortunately, the department can only admit less than 10 percent of the pool. Most of the EECS graduate students do receive comprehensive financial support from various funding sources.

The department primarily offers Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTAs) and departmental fellowships to graduate students. Graduate Research Assistantships (GRAs) are paid for and administered by individual faculty members who manage their own research grants.

Feb. 1 for fall admission and June 15 for spring admission. These are firm deadlines. We suggest applicants to apply as early as possible to receive full consideration, ideally four to six weeks before the deadline.

No. Students with a strong interest in research should consider directly applying for the EECS Ph.D. program. It is sufficient for an applicant to have a four-year undergraduate education with a bachelor's degree. The department's Ph.D. students can receive a master's degree during the course of their Ph.D. study, if they choose to do so.

The department significantly favors Ph.D. students when it comes to offering financial support. M.S. students are considered when there are positions remaining open after all Ph.D. students have been considered, although currently M.S. students can and do get financial support from the department. Outside the EECS department, graduate students can often find assistantships in other departments on campus due to their specialty and job skills.

The personal statement is one of the most important elements of your application. Specifically, the department looks for indications of your research interests, why you are interested in those areas and evidence of preparedness for a successful graduate study in your proposed areas.

We accept only three reference letters for each applicant. Please choose three referees who are in the best position to comment on your academic background, aptitude and career potential.

Yes. The department will not consider any applications without valid scores from a GRE general test. GRE subject tests are optional.

The department does not have a minimum requirement by which it automatically deny applicants. But the departmental admissions committee will typically only review applicants with GRE scores of at least: verbal 450, quantitative 700, analytical 3.5, regardless of which field or program you apply to (Ph.D. and M.S. program). For international students, the department would like to see TOEFL scores above 95 in the new computer-based tests

GRE subject tests are optional for all EECS applicants. Strong performances on GRE subject tests in areas such as engineering and computer science will greatly strengthen your application.

The department's admissions process is centralized through the Office of Graduate and International Admissions. Consequently all evidential materials, including GRE and/or TOFEL scores, transcripts and financial statements, should be sent to the Office of Graduate and International Admissions. Besides the university-wide requirements, the EECS department requires some additional materials to better evaluate your research potential. Those materials should be submitted via EECS electronic admissions page.

No. Your application will appear in the university-wide electronic admissions system only after your application fee is paid in full. The department cannot act on your application until then.

Our faculty’s diverse areas of expertise provide many opportunities for specializations throughout the fields of computer science, computer engineering and electrical engineering. External support for research and scholarships in EECS exceed $10 million per year, which reflects the high productivity of our faculty. The department has a close relationship with nearby Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), including joint management of a new supercomputer facility. As the largest science and energy laboratory for the Department of Energy, ORNL employs more than 1,500 scientists/engineers and 3,000 guest researchers. ORNL offers an extensive well paid internship program for UT EECS students to work in the summer as well as during the academic year. Internship possibilities with other local industry also exist.

If your proposed M.S. area of concentration is in EECS (i.e. computer science, computer engineering and electrical engineering), the MBA program and the EECS department jointly make the admission decision. MBA program is always the first to evaluate an applicant. EECS will only consider those applicants that have received favorable decisions from admissions committee of the MBA program. Students in the dual MBA-M.S. program do not typically receive financial assistance from the EECS department.

Please start the process by contacting Graduate and International Admissions, and then proceed to fill out the EECS online application. The department will review your application as it becomes ready in the electronic application system. The deadlines of Feb. 1 (fall admission) and June 15 (spring admission) should be observed if you would like to receive financial support from the department.

One way to strengthen your background is to enroll at UT as a non-degree student. The application process with Graduate and International Admissions is very straightforward and does not involve EECS. As a non-degree student, you can take up to 15 credit hours of courses to make up any deficiencies needed for your intended graduate study. If you do well in those courses and get admitted into EECS's graduate program, all credit hours that meet our degree requirements can count towards your degree.

Please make a special note here. Registering as a non-degree student does not in any way guarantee that you will be admitted by our graduate program. This option is only advisable if your overall application is competitive (e.g. strong reference letters, high GRE scores, high undergraduate GPA) but lacks a few key courses in your academic background.

No.

Yes. Please submit your financial statement to UT Graduate and International Admissions as early as possible, ideally together with your application materials.

Please do not send that form to our department. EECS aims to offer financial support to as many graduate students of ours as we can. Our admission decisions do not consider your financial ability in any way. Your financial statement should simply reflect the true level of financial resources available to you.

Contact the Office of Graduate and International Admissions or check your application status online. Please do not contact the EECS department directly to inquire about your status.

Please consult the Knoxville Tourism & Sports Corporation, its an excellent resource on the Knoxville area. Visitor info for the EECS department is available at here.