How do I get an application?
You may apply on the web at www.engr.wisc.edu/ece/prospective/grad/admission.html.

What are the entrance requirements for a Master's Degree or a Ph.D. degree?
Applicants with a bachelor’s degree may apply directly to the PhD program. To evaluate if you are eligible to apply, please take our prescreening test.

How much time is needed for each degree?
Many students have their own plan for length of stay in either the M.S. or Ph.D. program. A typical average length for an M.S. degree is three to four semesters. Most students take approximately six years to complete a Ph.D. (entering program with a B.S. degree only).

What is the status of my application?
Students with B.S. or M.S. degrees from international schools may take at least 4-6 weeks to process. Students with B.S. degree from U.S. schools take a little less time. This is assuming ALL required documents are submitted properly. If they are not, the process will take longer.

Check your web page for the department to check receipt of application materials. Also, check your web page from the Graduate School for status.

When contacting the department or Graduate School, be sure to include your 10-digit campus ID number.

Follow-up inquiries — After the confirmation, wait at least one month for paper work processing before making any follow-up inquiry about application status. We will make a status check once a month if you have not heard anything. Please be sure to check your webpage on a regular basis.

When will I know if I am getting financial aid?
You will be notified by mid-December for spring semester or by mid-April for fall semester; however, this is a continual process, which means that some applicants will be notified later. You must apply directly to faculty via email or letter to inquire about research assistantships. The graduate secretary does not know if a particular faculty has funds for RA positions. Those questions should be directed to the faculty.

How many people get aid?
We normally admit approximately 175 students for a fall semester and all want aid! About 10% of newly admitted students receive financial assistance. In the ECE Department as a whole, about 50% of the student population receive aid. In the spring semester we admit about 35 students and about 5% or less of those new students receive financial assistance.

What are my chances of being admitted?
To see if you meet our minimum requirements, use our prescreening web page http://www.engr.wisc.edu/ece/prospective/grad/admission.html. We admit a majority (but not all) of those who pass the prescreening. Passing the prescreening does not guarantee admission or financial assistance.

If the admission was for the fall session and you wish to change to spring, we can process what is called a "change of session," and your application will be put through the review process again. A "change of session" does not guarantee an admission to the new semester.

If the admission is for the spring session and you wish the following fall session, you will need to apply and pay a new application fee.

Please send me a catalog.
The Graduate Catalog is on the Web: www.wisc.edu/grad/catalog.

If a student is declining/accepting admission.
Please email gradscty@ece.wisc.edu and be sure to provide all the information that is part of the "Intent to Register" form that came with your ECE recommendation of admission letter if you are unable to mail the Intent form itself or perhaps have misplaced it. Please include your campus ID number.

The faculty are not responding to my emails. What should I do?
The faculty are often inundated with many emails every day from prospective graduate students along with our on-campus students. They respond to the inquiries as quickly as they can; however, all admitted student information is circulated among the faculty for the purpose of finding a possible research assistant or someone who would be a good teaching assistant. The faculty would then contact you.

Please send me a TA application form.
The TA application form link is on your ECE department webpage.

Student has a new address or email.
Please send new information to gradscty@ece.wisc.edu and it will be added it to your file.

Where do I send the application?
Please carefully read and follow the instructions on the Web. Briefly, your intended department gets two complete sets of official transcripts plus other items (by reading the instructions you'll see what is required, so read carefully).

I sent email to the ECE address and I really want Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, or other departments.
Please check the Web at http://www.wisc.edu/grad/education/acadprogs.html for the proper email address and their graduate program information.