May 16, 2012, Wednesday, 136

Continuing beyond the MSEE at Stanford

From Stanford Electrical Engineering Department Graduate Handbook

Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

Graduate study beyond the M.S. degree is the core of the research program at Stanford, and is offered to students who have demonstrated exceptional levels of achievement. Successful completion of an Engineer or Ph.D. degree program requires that the student find a regular faculty member who can serve as a research supervisor and guide academic and research progress. The Department is able to provide faculty research supervision for approximately 70 new post-M.S. graduate students each year. Students seeking the Engineer program must be admitted to the program as described in the Engineer’s Degree Program section below. Students pursuing the Ph.D. degree must be admitted or petition into the Ph.D. program and pass the Departmental qualifying examination, which is given in January each year.

Each year, the number of students who wish to take the qualifying exam exceeds the number who can be adequately supervised by our faculty, therefore we have established the following procedures to ensure that the number of post-MS students in each technical area within Electrical Engineering is consistent with the number of available research supervision opportunities. The process differs for students initially admitted to the Ph.D. program and those admitted to other programs; students should consult the relevant sections below.

The department allows students two attempts to pass the qualifying exam. We encourage students to apply to take the exam at their first opportunity, typically the Winter quarter of the first year for Ph.D. students, and in the second year for all others.


Students Admitted to the Ph.D. Program:

Advancement to Ph.D. candidacy requires degree program admission, completion of the Master’s degree curriculum, and successful passing of the qualifying examination. The department allows students two attempts to pass the EE qualifying exam. We strongly encourage students to apply to take the exam during their first year of graduate study, typically the Winter quarter of the first year after admission to the Ph.D. program. The University requires that all graduate students advance to candidacy before completion of the second year after entering the Ph.D. program.

Students admitted directly into the Ph.D. program must first complete the requirements for a Stanford M.S. degree before candidacy is approved. Credit for a Master’s degree completed at another institution may offset this requirement partially or in full, as described in the Ph.D. Program Information section of this handbook.

Students Admitted to the M.S. Program:

Students who are admitted to the M.S. degree program and wish to study beyond the M.S. to the Ph.D. degree must apply directly to the Ph.D. program. M.S. and Engineer students may, in exceptional circumstances, petition for eligibility to take the exam before formal admission to the Ph.D. program. Generally the deadline for the qualifying exam eligibility petition is in October each year. Approval of such petitions is most often contingent on the student securing agreement of an EE faculty advisor to supervise the student’s academic program and research.


Submitting a Petition for Eligibility to Take the EE Qualifying Exam:
Petitions are usually approved for students who have attained a high level of achievement as demonstrated by the following requirements:
• The student must have maintained a grade-point average of at least 3.50 in graduate-level, technical courses at Stanford for at least two quarters of full-time study (excluding the summer).
• The petition must be accompanied by a letter of support from a faculty advisor who is a member of the Academic Council at Stanford, who agrees to supervise the student's Ph.D. research and provides evidence of financial support.


The Admissions Committee meets once yearly, typically in November, to consider petitions for eligibility to take the qualifying exam. Students whose petitions are declined may petition again the following year or may apply directly to the Ph.D. program.


Students who wish to petition for eligibility to take the qualifying exam should submit the following documents:
1. EE qualifying examination eligibility petition form, available in Packard 173
2. Current (unofficial) Stanford transcript
3. One-page statement of purpose 

4. Letter of support from at least one faculty member. The faculty member should send it to the EE Admissions Office via email (admissions@ee.stanford.edu). The letter should clearly state the faculty’s willingness to supervise and provide financial support for the student’s Ph.D. research.

Petitions for eligibility to take the qualifying exam this academic year (January 2012) will be accepted starting on September 26, 2011. The deadline to submit the petition to the EE Admissions Office is October 14, 2011. Students will be informed of the petition decision by the end of October so there will be sufficient time to apply for the qualifying exam itself, as outlined in the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination section of this Handbook.

Applying to the PhD Program:
Students who pass the qualifying exam must also apply to the Ph.D. program. This is done by submitting the "Graduate Program Authorization Petition" form in Axess, for approval by the Department. The university assesses a fee of $125 for adding a new degree program. The fee will be added to the student's account at the time the form is received by the Registrar's Office.


Students will be informed of the committee’s admission decision in early February 2012. For more information, please contact the EE Graduate Admissions office at admissions@ee.stanford.edu.


Students Admitted to the Engineer’s Degree Program

Students currently admitted to the Engineer’s degree program may petition for change of status to the Ph.D. program and the qualifying exam by following the same procedure as students in the M.S. program.


Students Admitted to Other Programs

Students admitted to part-time study in the HCP program may petition for change of status to the Ph.D. program as described in the M.S. section above, but only after completion of the equivalent of two quarters of full-time study at Stanford. If this petition is approved, the student may apply to take the qualifying exam as described in the Ph.D. Qualifying Examination section of this handbook. We recommend that students take the qualifying exam at their earliest opportunity. Again, University policy dictates that students be admitted to candidacy within two years of admission to the Ph.D. program.

Students in the NDO program are not eligible to petition for the qualifying examination.


Next

Retrieved from "http://ee.stanford.edu/gradhandbook/Continuing_beyond_the_MSEE_at_Stanford"