Admissions Criteria and Process

A. Prerequisites and prior degrees

Applications for the ISDS PhD program are encouraged from students with a wide variety of prior (four-year) undergraduate backgrounds such as, but not restricted to, business, computer science, economics, engineering and psychology.

We do not require that applicants have a prior business degree or a graduate degree in information systems. However, students with prior business degrees or graduate degrees in information systems may be able to waive some foundational and core courses as noted in the Program Structure section.

B. Test scores

GRE or GMAT is required. International students are also required to take TOEFL.

C. Writing samples

The ability to think and write clearly is important for most careers, but particularly for research careers. Applicants are therefore encouraged to include any articles (academic or otherwise) they have written as part of their application package.

D. Funding

Full funding – tuition waiver plus assistantship – is available to a limited number of students on a competitive basis. Such funding could be renewed on an annual basis based on satisfactory progress in the doctoral program.

E. Applicants who do not seek funding

Consideration will also be given to exceptional applicants who do not seek funding, but have the motivation and resources to be enrolled as a full-time student and complete the requirements of the PhD within the time frame indicated in the college of business graduate catalog. As of October 2007 this time frame is a maximum of four years to complete all required coursework and examinations, and a maximum of four years thereafter to complete and defend the doctoral dissertation.

F. Typical student profile.

A typically admitted and successful doctoral student has:

1. An outstanding academic record demonstrated by high GPAs and test scores.
2. Prior course work or experience in Information Systems (such as a completed IS project or related work experience).
3. Evidence of good oral and writing skills.
4. Strong motivation

Note that the criteria listed above are not requirements in order to apply and neither do they guarantee admission.

G. Deadlines.

Students who seek full funding must get their applications in as early as possible.

Applications will be reviewed starting January 2, and funding decisions will be made on a continuous basis as the committee identifies candidates who may be admitted. Only a limited number of students each year are offered full funding and completed applications filed on or before January 2^nd will have a higher chance of being funded.

To be guaranteed full consideration completed applications should be in by January 2. If we do have open slots for admitting PhD students we will continue to review outstanding applications that come in after January 2^nd.

H. What to expect after sending in your application.

Selected candidates will be interviewed and a final decision will be communicated in writing once the process is completed.