How To Apply

1. Application Form - Complete the online application form here. Do not use a post office box for an address.
   
   
2. Statement of Purpose - Prepare a statement of purpose, using a separate sheet. Type or print a concise statement, no longer than two pages in length, containing the following information:
   • Part 1: Your objective in pursuing a Master of Software Engineering degree and your reasons for choosing to apply to Carnegie Mellon.
   • Part 2: Your background in software development and other fields relevant to your objective. Describe how your industrial or commercial experience prepares you for admission to the MSE program. Verify that your description here is consistent with your resume. Option: Outline the parts of the software life cycle with which you have experience or exposure.
   • Part 3: Any additional details you wish to give the Admissions Committee.
     
     
3. Professional Experience - Describe the most interesting projects on which you have worked; limit your description to no more than three projects. Our preference is for industrial projects, but others, such as co-op experiences or class projects are acceptable. On one-page, detail the:
   • Size of the software system
   • Size of the software for which you are/were personally responsible
   • Duration of the project
   • Your involvement/work with the products
   • Kind of system, e.g. MIS, DBMS, embedded
   • Interesting features of this system, such as safety-critical, distributed over three continents, etc.
   • How these features affected development
   • Was this/is this a team effort? If so,
     • Number of people on the team
     • Number of users outside the development group
     • Your role in the effort
   • Methods of software development used; e.g. object-oriented analysis/ design, rapid prototyping, structured methods
   • Operating systems and languages used
   • Briefly describe the software development activities in which you were involved, such as project leadership, requirements analysis and specification, requirements review, architecture, design, code, unit testing, integration testing, system testing, installation, maintenance, quality assurance, verification, validation, configuration management, etc.
   • Aspect of the project you found most/least rewarding
     
     
4. Resume - Provide a complete and current resume. Order the relevant work experiences chronologically, with the most recent first. Clearly distinguish part-time, co-op or intern work from full-time positions.
   
   
5. Transcript -Official transcripts of education from all undergraduate and graduate institutions must be requested and forwarded directly to the MSE program. No copies of transcripts will be accepted. Applications will not be considered complete without official transcripts.
   
   
6. Recommendations - Request three letters of recommendation. If possible, one recommendation should be from an instructor and at least one must be from a professional supervisor. People who recommend you should know you relatively well and be able to discuss the quality of your work. Three forms are provided in the application form; one for academic recommendations and two for industrial recommendations. You may photocopy these forms if necessary.
   
   
7. TOEFL - All international applicants MUST provide TOEFL scores from tests taken within the last 1-2 years. International applicants whose undergraduate degree was completed in The United States, using English as the language of instruction, or whose mother language is English, are exempt from this requirement. Scores should be added to the online application and originals sent directly to the Program Administrator.
   
   
8. GRE - All applicants MUST take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) general test. Your scores must be sent directly to the School of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University.
   
   Institute Code: 2074
   Department Code: 0402. To apply to the MSE/MSIT programs, the GRE general test is required; the computer science subject test is preferred, but not required.
   
   
9. Mailing Address - Mail all materials, including application fee, to:
   
   Admissions Coordinator
   Master of Software Engineering Program
   School of Computer Science
   Carnegie Mellon University
   Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3891 USA