Frequently Asked Questions
1
For Fall semester admissions, the offers of financial aid are made throughout April and sometimes into May. If you do not hear from us that probably means that we are not prepared to offer you financial aid at this time. However, we keep your application on file just in case an opening develops or we receive funds to hire additional graduate students. In that case, we will contact you for your availability. This can happen at any time during the year including the possibility of starting in the Spring semester.
2
Research assistantships in a particular area of concentration are generally awarded by a faculty member working on funded research in that area. You may contact a faculty member for the availability of research assistantships in your area of specialization.
3
Yes, first year international students who have been accepted in our graduate programs may apply for TA and RA positions.
4
The offers of financial aid depend on several factors including GRE/TOEFL scores, personal/phone interviews, previous research/industrial/teaching experience, area of concentration, department needs and the financial factors. Competition for teaching and research assistantships is always very keen and admitted students are always encouraged to find other sources of support including personal/family funds. Several students start their graduate education based on personal funds and later find some form of financial support including assistantships and on-campus employment though clearly, it can not be guaranteed.
5
No. Every student accepted into the graduate programs is considered for financial aid. The student would be contacted directly if they are eligible for financial aid. For additional sources of funding visit the Graduate School Financial Information page.
6
There are no set minimum requirements. The offers of graduate admission depend on several factors including previous coursework and performance therein, previous research/industrial experience, GRE/TOEFL scores, recommendation letters, area of concentration and the department needs. You may apply to either the MS or the PhD program though requirements for admission to the latter are obviously much higher.
7
TOEFL scores are valid for 2 years from the date you take the test. If your GRE scores are more than 2 years old, see if you can get an official score report (directly from ETS) to include with your application packet.
8
For international applicants, TOEFL and GRE scores are required for admission into our graduate programs. For domestic students, GRE scores are welcome (in fact, recommended) though not required and will be considered in the admission process if submitted.
9
There is no formal deadline for submitting applications for admission to the graduate programs in Electrical & Computer Engineering. Applications are processed as they are received. However, keep in mind that most of the GTA / GRA offer decisions are made in March and April for the upcoming Fall semester admissions. Therefore, applications should be submitted by February 15 if you want to be considered for the first round of GTA / GRA offers.
10
To apply, complete the GTA Application form and send to Glen Archer at gearcher@mtu.edu, along with a copy of your current resume. Or submit the documents to the main ECE office in 121 EERC.
11
After identifying an area of interest, choose courses that are of interest and meet the guidelines given at:
Electrical Engineering—MS, PhD
Simply stated, you must meet each condition given in those guidelines for a particular degree. For example, if you are pursuing a Plan D MS, you must have 18 credits minimum of EE5000-6000 AND 9 credits maximum EE4000 series courses AND 3 credits minimum 4000 or higher outside the department AND 3 credits maximum of EE5805. That is, you should "logically AND" each of the requirements in a given list. Regarding courses outside the department, courses chosen from other engineering disciplines: math, physics, or materials science are all permitted. Within the ECE department, recommended course sequences are given below.
Recommended Grad Course Sequences
Electrophysics
Basic Courses – Taught every year
EE 5410 – Engineering Electromagnetics
EE 5415 – Applied Optics & Photonics
EE 5430 – Electronic Materials
EE 5460 – Solid State Devices
Advanced Courses – Taught (perhaps) every other year
EE 5431 – Techniques of Computer-Aided Circuit Analysis & Design
EE 5451 – Modeling of VLSI Interconnections
EE 5480 – Advanced MEMs
EE 5528 – Antenna Engineering
Computer Engineering
Basic Courses – Taught every year
EE 5495 – Design of Multimedia Systems
EE 5496 – GPU and Multicore Programming
EE 5726 – Embedded Sensor Networks
EE 5750 – Distributed Embedded Control Systems
EE 5780 – Advanced VLSI CAD
Advanced Courses – Taught (perhaps) every other year
EE 5726 – Embedded Sensor Networks
EE 5755 – Fault-tolerant Systems
EE 5821 – Computational Intelligence
EE 5841 – Machine Learning
Signals and Systems
Basic Courses – Taught every year
EE 5500 – Probability and Stochastic Processes
EE 5715 – Linear System Theory and Design
EE 5521 – Detection and Estimation Theory
EE 5527 – Digital Communications
Advanced Courses – Taught (perhaps) every other year
EE 5511 – Information Theory
EE 5522 – Digital Image Processing
EE 5523 – Radar Systems l
EE 5524 – Radar Systems ll
EE 5525 – Wireless Communications
EE 5526 – Microwave Systems
EE 5528 – Antenna Engineering
EE 5535 – Wireless Communications ll – Advanced Topics
EE 5726 – Embedded Sensor Networks
EE 5750 – Distributed Embedded Control Systems
Power
Basic Courses – Taught every year
EE 5200 – Advanced Methods in Power Systems
Specialization/Advanced Courses – Taught every year
EE 5295–Advanced Propulsion Systems for Hybrid Electric Drive Vehicles(co-listed with ME)
EE 5296–Advanced Propulsion Systems for Hybrid Electric Drive Vehicles Lab(co-listed with ME)
Advanced Courses – Taught (perhaps) every other year
EE 5220 – Transient Analysis Methods
EE 5221 – Advanced Electric Machinery and Drives (taught in alternating fall semesters)
EE 5223 – Power System Protection
EE 5224 – Power System Protection Lab
EE 5227 – Advanced Power Electronics (taught in alternating fall semesters)
EE 5240 – Computer Modeling of Power Systems
EE 5250 – Distribution Engineering
Advanced Courses – Taught every third year
EE 5230 - Power System Operations
EE 5260 – Wind Power Grid Integration
EE 6210 – Power System Stability