What is the institute code for GRE and TOEFL scores? Our institution code is 5813 for the GRE and for the TOEFL. We do not use department codes since all scores are reported to one location in our office. (As long as the applicant enters the correct school code, it shouldn't matter what they enter for the department code.) Do you accept students for Spring semester start? We do not generally admit student for spring semester start. Under exceptional cases, after consulting a prospective research advisor and his/her strong support, we may admit students for Spring start. Can I get a waiver for the application fee? Because the application fee is administered by the graduate school, the department cannot waiver the application fee under any circumstances. I have a BS degree in XXX, my undergrad GPA is XXX, GRE score of XXX (V), XXX (Q), and TOEFL score of XXX. Can I apply? What is the chance for the admission? It is difficult to gauge the chance of being admitted because an applicant is reviewed holistically against the whole pool of applicants for a given year. As long as you meet the minimum requirements stated in the above "Requirements" section, you are encouraged to apply. Note that GRE is not require, but it may be submitted if you have it. What is my chance of receiving Teaching Assistantship? Do I need to apply for the TA support? What is the 4/9 (44%) support mean in the offer letter? There is no separate application for the teaching assistantship. All accepted students will receive TA support for their first 1.5 years (guaranteed 44% level during the first three semesters). Regarding to the 4/9 of support: In USA, a full time worker works for about 9 hours a day (minus one hour lunch time, so effectively 8 hours a day). A graduate student cannot be employed as a full time worker because the “real” job of a student is being a student. So, the maximum level of employment (i.e., teaching assistant) for a student is less than 50% and this limit is expressed as “4/9” in the common graduate school expression. This means that it is equivalent to ‘4 hours of work a day’. With actual teaching labs, grading duties, preparations for lab teaching, after lab tasks, etc. are all counted toward this limit. In reality, a student with 44% support (i.e., 4/9 of TA) is asked to teach about 3 labs a week with occasional gradings. As of 2022 Fall, 4/9 of TA is receiving about $2,408 per month (before tax).
