The applicant must decide by April 15 for Fall admission.

We typically admit 20-22 students per year. This corresponds to a selectivity rate of 10%.

Applications are initially ranked and placed on a shortlist from which faculty select which students to admit. This means that early applications may greater chance of getting on the shortlist. Faculty selections, however, do not begin until after the submission deadline.

No individual component (GRE, TOEFL, or GPA) is crucial for acceptance. We evaluate each application as a whole. With that being said, the averages for students who applied between 2016-2019 and were offered admission are as follows: GRE Verbal: 154, GRE Quantitative: 166, GRE Analytical Writing: 3.63, TOEFL Reading: 27, TOEFL Speaking: 24, GPA: 3.75/4.00

All PhD students receive finanical support unless they are self-supported. All MS-only students must be self-supported (or supported by a company).

Open admissions is for the Fall semester. Meaning that we prefer to make admissions to students entering in Fall. Spring admits are only made if an advisor requests a particular student.

Yes. Start your application with GPA, areas of study, personal statement, GRE, TOEFL/IELTS, and transcripts. Then request a fee waiver at eegrad@nd.edu. We will respond with a decision provided the started application has the necessary information. The decision to grant or deny the waiver will be based on how competitive your application is, demographic factors, demonstrated financial need, and how many fee waivers we have already given out.

First year PhD students are either admitted as research assistants (RA) or teaching assistants (TA). In both cases, that admission was based upon a faculty member's recommendation. This means that the recommending faculty member acts as the students first year advisor and is willing to serve as the student's advisor in following years provided the they have funding and the student makes adequate forward progress toward degree. For either case (RA or TA), the student has to find a faculty advisor willing to financially support their future studies before the end of their second semester.

A research assistant (RA) is supported by a faculty member in their first year of study. This means they can start their research work in their first semester. A teaching assistant (TA) is supported by the department in their first year of study. In exchange for this support the TA will serve as teaching assistants for both semesters of that first year. This means that a TA will probably not start their research work until the second semester of their first year.

PhD students receive full financial support from the department and graduate school. This support comes as a tuition waiver ($60k/year), living stipend ($30-35k/year) and health insurance ($3k/year). Full finanical support corresponds to a $100k/year salary if one includes the graduate school's tuition waiver. The university also has select fellowships whose living stipend is somewhat higher. Applicants are nominated for these fellowships by the graduate admissions committee.

The advisor assigned to you is the one who initially recommended to you. But you (or your advisor) are free to switch to another advisor before the end of the second semester. The only issue is that the advisor you select will have to agree to advise and support your future studies.

As early as September at http://graduateschool.nd.edu. Click the "Apply Now" button on top right corner.

This program’s emphasis is on the Ph.D. program, so we typically offer financial aid only to students who wish to pursue a Ph.D. In your application, please choose the Ph.D. program if you wish to pursue a Ph.D. (including a first master’s degree, if appropriate). A master's degree is not required. You can apply to the PhD program with only a BS degree in engineeringor the physical sciences.

We do accept MS-only applications for the Fall semester. This department's faculty, however, are primarily here to do research. This means that our financial resources go to PhD student and not MS-only students. Students who are only seeking an MSEE degree are admitted only if they have independent means of supporting their studies (about $100k per year including tuition, living expenses, and health insurance) and their application materials suggest they can succeed in our program.

Decisions are typically made in an ongoing fashion from March to May.

Yes, you can apply after the deadline. However, early submissions are encouraged as their are a limited number of slots and selections begin immediately after the deadline.

Yes. Any Bachelor's of Science in engineering or the physical sciences can apply to the EE program. In particular, students with a BS in mathematics or physics often do very well in our program.

No, the HND is a two year degree program. You can use your HND to apply to a 4 year undergraduate program.

We strongly recommend the GRE for students with GPAs below 3.75/4.0. It simply provides another data point that can offset a low GPA. You are free to submit an application without the GRE, but your chances for admission are reduced unless your GPA is above the threshold or unless their are other factors in your application that offset having no GRE.

Yes. We have found, however, that DUOLINGO is a poor predictor of success in our program. We will accept applications with the DUOLINGO only when it is the only exam available in your country. That being said, your chances of being admitted will be lower if you only have the DUOLINGO result.

Each section of the application is important since we evaluate the application holistically. What we look for in the application, as a whole, is ambition and a drive to excel in the chosen area of study. Metrics like GPA, transcripts, and GRE are only used to assess if you have a high probability of succeeding in the program.

No

Simply type "cannot find" into the space provided for the school name. The Graduate School will find it.

Our department has two general areas of study: Electronic Circuits and Systems (ECS) and Electronic and Photonic Materials and Devices (EPMD). The main research topics in each area are listed below.

1. Signal, Image, and Video Processing
2. Wireless Communication and Networks
3. Networked Control Systems
4. Machine Learning in Sensing and Control
5. Error Control Coding and Information Theory
6. Intelligent Robotics and Infrastructure

1. Electronic Materials
2. High Speed Circuits and Antennas
3. Quantum Computing
4. Electronic Devices
5. Optoelectronics and Photonics
6. Biophotonics and Biomedical Devices

You are welcome to reach out to the faculty and introduce yourself. But in practice, most faculty do not reply to such introductions. However because admission decisions originate with a faculty member, it is critical that your application identify those faculty advisors the student wishes to work with. You should identify potential advisors prior to admission. You indicate your advisor preferences in the Online application as well as in the your statement of intent. To help applicants connect with faculty members, the department holds a number of online ZOOM information events during the Fall (October-December). Selected faculty participate in the ZOOM session's breakout rooms. The schedule for these ZOOM sessions will be sent to all students who request more information about the EE department at https://gradconnect.nd.edu/register/request-more-information. Prior to these ZOOM events, applicants should visit the department's research page to see what research our faculty are currently pursuing in the department.

The statement of intent is an essay that provides a picture of your ambition and commitment to pursuing scholarly work. This statement gives us a glimpse into the depth of your technical and intellectual maturity. The statement of intent should discuss your area of interest, why this is important to you, what you want to do in this area, and how your ambitions dovetail with the research efforts at NDEE. This essay is your best way of putting a personal spin on your application that sets it apart from the rest of the pool. The essay is just as important in our decision making process as are your test scores and grades.