FAQ

No. Graduates of all majors are welcome to apply.

Eligible domestic students can submit a FAFSA online.

No, students are admitted once a year – for the following FALL quarter.

No, the GRE General Test is not required. However, you are welcome to submit official test scores if you have them.

Please review our admissions requirements on this page for more information

No, MSWE students will engage in a capstone project.  If you are interested in pursuing research or a doctoral degree, the Master of Science in Software Engineering (MSSE) may be a more appropriate program for you.

Applicants are waived from the English Language Proficiency requirement if they have earned an undergraduate or master’s degree from an institution at which English was the sole language of instruction according to the World Higher Education Database (WHED). Please see WHED’s instructions on how to search for your institution. If English is not the sole language of instruction listed or if no language is listed at all, the waiver does not apply and the applicant is required to take and pass an approved English proficiency test.  Approved tests and minimum scores are outlined on UCI Graduate Divisions website in the English Language Proficiency Requirements for Admission section.

Three professional letters of recommendation are required, but you may submit as many letters as you wish.

Yes, domestic students are eligible for part-time study. This option is reserved for students who are working full-time only.  We encourage all students not working full-time to study full-time.

Yes, you may submit an application. Note that doctoral and MS students have first priority. We also discourage students to hold TA positions during the first quarter as the workload is extremely heavy.

International students are eligible to work at an on-campus job up to 20 hours per week. You must seek approval from the International Center prior to working. Please see here for details. Domestic students are eligible to work both on-campus and off-campus.

Yes, as a professionally-oriented program, the summer internship is an opportunity to gain more industry experience. Sometimes summer internships result in full-time job offers.

It is still required that you do a summer internship during the second summer of the program.  Review the part-time curriculum here. Please contact the Program Manager if you have a full-time job to determine if you are eligible for a waiver, or to discuss options to fulfill this requirement.

Not necessarily. Although we expect most internships to offer compensation, it is entirely at the discretion of the employers in which students secure their internships.

The program is intended to improve students’ skills to help them become more confident during technical interviews.  If a student is still unable to secure an internship after diligent effort, the student should consult with the Program and Faculty Directors to arrange an assignment with a faculty member or department on campus to develop a concrete software project that provides hands-on experience for the student, and a useful product or service to the faculty or department.

Yes, students will automatically be enrolled in health insurance.  Please note that health insurance is not included in the program fees.  Please find more information on fees here. If you have equivalent coverage, you may submit a waiver.  Please note the strict deadlines for submitting waivers.

No, classes take place on campus.

To accommodate working professionals, all courses will be offered in the late afternoons and evenings.

No, students can only take the designated courses offered through the program. These include any graduate courses with the moniker SWE and letter P after the course number.  The set curriculum can be found here.