Accelerated undergraduate/graduate program

The accelerated program allows advanced Virginia Tech undergraduate students to pursue a graduate degree while they are completing a bachelor's degree. Students interested in this option may apply for master's admission after completing 75 hours of undergraduate study.

Eligibility
If you plan to earn a Master of Engineering degree (requires 10 courses, no thesis), you must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• Must have a 3.30 GPA overall
• Must have completed CS 2114 or CS 3114 with a B- or better
• Application must include one letter of recommendation, preferrably from an academic source (a faculty member in any department)

If you plan to earn a Master of Science  (requires seven courses plus a thesis), you must meet the following eligibility requirements:

• 3.50 GPA overall
• Be a current computer science (CS), data-centric computing (DCC), or secure computing (SC) major, or a computer science minor
• Have completed CS 3114 with B- or better at time of application
• Submit three letters of recommendation, with at least one from a Virginia Tech computer science faculty member

Non-CS/DCC/SC majors are responsible for obtaining support from their academic advisor in their home department regarding any course substitutions needed for double counting M.S. graduate courses in place of corresponding undergraduate major requirements (we already handle substitutions for degree requirements for the CS major or minor)

How it Works
Computer science students in this program may take up to four graduate courses during their senior year in place of required 4000-level courses.

These courses will "double count" toward a bachelor's and a master's degree in computer science.  A Master of Science requires seven courses and a thesis, while the Master of Engineering requires 10 courses. These courses must be taken for a grade, and 5974, 5994, and 5944 do not count.

No more than a total of 12 credits may be double counted. To receive graduate credit, a grade of B or higher must be earned in each course that is double counted.

Award of the bachelor's degree occurs on completion of the requirements as spelled out in the appropriate major checksheet, including the (up to) 12 credits of graduate work and the other departmental and university curriculum requirements.

The remaining graduate courses for the master's degree should be taken after conferral of the bacehlor's degree. Double counted courses must be taken during the final 12 months of the undergraduate degree. accellerated students typically complete their bachelor's degree within two semesters after being accepted into this program.

When to Apply
The accelerated undergraduate/graduate program application is based on your intended graduation date.

The deadline for applications is May 1 each spring semester and December 1 each fall semester
Students should apply in the semester one year before they will complete the B.S. For example, a student intending to graduate from the bachelor's program in May 2025 should apply in the semester ending in May 2024. If accepted into the program, this will allow participation in double counted courses for the final two semesters of the undergraduate degree.

If you are unable to apply one year before completing your B.S., you can still apply during your final year, in your second-to-final semester. If you apply at that time and are accepted, you will only be able to double count courses taken in your final undergraduate semester, but are still permitted the same maximum of 12 credits of double counted courses.

How to Apply
Computer science majors interested in applying for the accellerated program should:

• Apply by Dec. 1 for fall semester and May 1 for spring semester.
• When starting a graduate application, choose the date corresponding to the first semester after you will complete your B.S. degree. For example, if you expect to graduate in May 2025, then choose Fall 2024 as the date of entry for your graduate school application (i.e., the first semester of the "+1" year).
• Test scores for the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam are not required when applying to the accellerated program.
• You do not need to request or pay for an official transcript from Virginia Tech when applying to the accellerated program a .pdf of your unofficial web transcript can be uploaded instead.
• Students applying to the M.Eng accelerated program must upload the UGG form, signed by their undergraduate advisor, as part of their application. Applicants should not send the form directly to the Graduate School. Instead, the CS department will review the form and forward it to the Graduate School for further processing. The Graduate School will then review the forms and make a final decision on the applicant’s eligibility for the accelerated track. Forms without the advisor's signature should not be uploaded to the application portal, as this will prevent the student’s file from being reviewed for admission to the program. For any questions, students can contact techtalent@vt.edu. 
• Accellerated applications are reviewed shortly after grades are issued for the semester in which you apply. You will be notified of the result via email.
   

Frequently asked questions

What forms do I have to fill to enroll in the accelerated program?
Admission to the program is neither automatic nor guaranteed. Although as an undergraduate student you are somewhat of an "insider" in our department, admission to the BS/Master's program is highly competitive, just as regular college admission is. Only the standard Graduate School application is necessary to apply, as described above.

What factors do you look for in admitting applicants?
Unlike a bachelor’s degree, completing a Master of Science degree requires independent, unstructured research work. We evaluate applicants by their potential to succeed in research. We expect our B.S./M.S. students to engage in research projects with faculty members, leading to a master's thesis. The GPA is an (imperfect) indicator of this trait, so if you have more direct evidence, such as publications, participation in a Virginia Tech Undergraduate Research in Computer Science project, or undergraduate research or independent study projects, those are good features to highlight in your application. For the M.Eng degree, we are less concerned with research potential and more concerned with technical ability.

My GPA is slightly below 3.50 (for M.S.) or 3.30 (for M.Eng). Can I still apply?
The minimum GPA requirement is a requirement for all accelerated programs at Virginia Tech. It is set centrally by the Virginia Tech Graduate School. In the past, exceptions to the GPA requirement have been granted extremely rarely. These have typically gone to students who have otherwise demonstrated superior potential for research (e.g., prior research publications and/or faculty recommendation).

My GPA is greater than 3.50/3.30. Will I get admitted?
Typically yes, but not necessarily. It really depends on the entire application package, such as the letters of recommendation and any prior research record.

Okay, I would like to do research but do not know what I would like to do research in. Can I decide that after I am admitted?
You can. But recall that the online application would require you to write a statement of what you would like to do in your graduate studies. Vague statements such as "I am interested in software engineering, bioinformatics, networking" (i.e., listing multiple areas of specialty in our department) are not taken as seriously as some specific theme you want to pursue. Graduate school is all about having a focused goal and preparing a plan of study to attain that goal. So the more concrete your plans, the more weight your application will be given.

Can I send you my application before I submit, and can you help me make it more competitive?
We are unable to do pre-reviews of applications. You should treat this like a regular college or graduate school competitive admission process. The only sure-fire way to know if you will be accepted is to apply.

How do I find out what areas of research are being conducted in the department? How do I find out which faculty members have interests similar to mine?
See our lists of faculty by research area. Cross check them with this list of faculty and their student recruiting status.

How many students do you accept into the accelerated program each year?
We do not have a fixed number of seats that we seek to fill. The program has grown in recent years, the department is now admitting about 100 students annually.

I have already finished my B.S. Can I get admitted to the acclerated program?
No. The accelerated program only accepts students who have not yet completed their B.S. Those who have completed a bachelor's degree must apply for traditional graduate school admission.

So when is the "right" time to apply for the accelerated program?
The primary virtue of the accelerated program is that it allows you to "double count" up to 12 credits between the B.S. and Master programs, taken during the last 12 months of your undergraduate program. The "Concurrent UG/G form" is where you specify which four courses (three credits each) you would like to double count. You must apply before registering for any of these 12 credits. Courses cannot be double counted in retrospect, so you must be admitted to the accelerated program and submit your Concurrent UG/G form before you take any of these courses.

What courses can I double count?
Since double counting is toward an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree, you should ask this question separately to two people: your undergraduate program advisor and your graduate program advisor. The generic answer for the graduate program is: Any 4000-, 5000-, or 6000-level course available for CS graduate degree credit can be counted toward your master's degree, with the restriction that at most two 4000-level courses can be used toward that degree and the course cannot be a 4974, 4984, or 4994.

• See here for a list of graduate courses and whether they count toward the master's degree. 
• See here for a list of CS4000-level courses that can be used for graduate degree credit. For B.S. requirements, consult your undergraduate program advisor.
   

Should I take CS5944 Graduate Seminar?
Master's and Ph.D. students must take two instances of CS5944 Graduate Seminar (M.Eng students do not get credit for this class).  Note that this course cannot be double counted, nor can it be substituted with or for the Senior Seminar. You may take CS5944 while you are still an undergrad and claim it toward the graduate degree on your plan of study. Or you may wait until you are officially a graduate student.

Note that traditionally the graduate seminar is given on Fridays from 2:30-3:45 p.m. during fall semester. During spring semester, the time of given seminars is highly variable, so it may be easier to schedule them during the fall semester.

I am happy to have been accepted to the accelerated program. What courses do I need to take now?
Welcome! Be sure to attend the orientation that usually happens the week before the first week of classes. Here's a brief summary of what will be discussed there:

• M.S. degree requires a thesis, while the M.Eng is entirely coursework
• M.S. requires 21 credits of coursework (seven courses), plus nine credits of research culminating in a thesis.
• M.Eng requires 10 courses

The set of courses used for the master's degree must satisfy several requirements and constraints which are discussed in the detailed degree requirements. Since 12 credits (four courses) overlap with the B.S. program, a B.S./M.S. student pursuing the thesis option need only do three more courses during year five of their study. B.S./M.Eng students should need to complete six more courses, which can easily be done in two semesters.

I plan to do the M.S. degree (with thesis). What else should I know about this?
The important thing to know is that a thesis typically takes about 12 calendar months to complete. This almost always means that accelerated B.S./M.S. students need to make good progress on their thesis project during the final semester before they graduate with their bachelor's degree. The alternative would be to work extensively on the thesis project during one summer. You should also turn in your plan of study before classes begin in your first graduate semester to correct any errors in time to graduate. If you have any questions about the thesis process, what your timeline should be, and whether you are on track, you should schedule a meeting to discuss it with the director of graduate programs.