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University of Mary Washington - Virginia Tech Collaborative Partnership

Master of Engineering (MEng) in Computer Science and Applications (csa)

The Virginia Tech College of Engineering is partnering with University of Mary Washington to help position students for mid-level and advanced positions in industries related to computing technology. By establishing an accelerated pathway of foundational courses at partner universities, currently enrolled students can be prepared for early admission to Virginia Tech’s MEng degree in computer science as early as spring of their junior year. Once accepted these students during their fouth year can begin taking up to 6 credits from an approved set of courses that can be applied beyond the 120 required credit hours required for University of Mary Washington undergraduate degree towards their MEng degree (UMW course level approved: 4XX (max. 6 credits) from approved course list).

By outlining a clear pathway and course equivalencies, both the engineering and liberal arts student are able to participate in Virginia’s Tech Talent Pipeline. Many students will find that they can complete their MEng degree in just one extra year.

Watch this information session.

How to apply

Access to the program is limited to those enrolled at University of Mary Washington. Completion of the bachelor’s degree will be according to the requirements of University of Mary Washington, and completion of the MEng computer science and applications degree will be according to the requirements of Virginia Tech. Interested University of Mary Washington students must be in the second semester of their junior year by credit status, and have taken the CPSC  340 Data Structures and Algorithms before they apply to Virginia Tech’s CSA Collaborative UG/G program and be accepted. Applications must be submitted online, and fee waiver instructions will be provided as part of the online application process prior to submission. This process will allow all University of Mary Washington MEng applicants to apply without an application fee. Application to the MEng computer science and applications degree does not require submission of GRE scores.

The accelerated undergraduate/graduate program application is based on your intended graduation date.

The deadline for applications is May 1st each spring semester and December 1st each fall semester.
Students should apply in the semester one year before they will complete the BS. For example, a student intending to graduate from the BS program in May 2024 should apply in the semester ending in May 2023. If accepted into the program, this will allow participation in double-counted courses for the final two semesters of your undergraduate degree.

If you are unable to apply one year before completing your BS, you can still apply during your final year, in your second-to-final semester. If you apply at that time and are accepted, you will only be able to double-count courses taken in your final undergraduate semester, but are still permitted the same maximum of 12 credits of double-counted courses.

  • Students must complete one of the approved Pathways below:

Pathways

Pathway for University of Mary Washington Computer Science and Applications major students to the UMW/VT Collaborative UG/G CSA MEng

University of Mary Washington Computer Science undergraduate majors naturally meet the basic course requirements to apply for the UMW/VT Collaborative UG/G CSA MEng and undertake the process detailed above to apply for admission into the program.

Pathway for University of Mary Washington non-Computer Science and Applications major students to the UMW/VT Collaborative UG/G CSA MEng

University of Mary Washington non-Computer Science majors may also be eligible to apply in their junior year and be accepted into the UMW/VT Collaborative UG/G CSA MEng program by completing a set of introductory Computer Science and applications courses. To be successful for admission, University of Mary Washington and Virginia Tech recommend that University of Mary Washington non-Computer Science and applications major undergraduate students complete the following courses by the secong semester of their junior year and maintain an overall minimum GPA of 3.3. These course pathways include the following scenarios:

UMW Course VT Equivalent
CPSC110
Introduction to Computer Science
CS1114
Introduction to Software Design
CPSC220
Computer Programming and Problem Solving
AND
CPSC240
Object-Oriented Analysis and Design
CS2XXX
Electives
CPSC340
Data Structures and Algorithms
CS2114
Intro to Software Design and Data Structure

University of Mary Washington 4xxx courses currently eligible for transfer

The following courses are eligible for transfer into the graduate program in Computer Science:

UMW Course VT Equivalent
CPSC415
Artificial Intelligence
CS4804
Introduction to Artificial Intelligence
CPSC420
Modeling & Simulation
CS4214
Simulation and Modeling
CPSC425
Parallel Computing
CS4234
Parallel Computation
CPSC435
Advanced Cybersecurity
CS4XXX
General Elective
CPSC444
3D Computer Graphics
CS4204
Computer Graphics
CPSC445
Software Security
CS4XXX
General Elective
CPSC460
Human Computer Interaction
CS4XXX
General Elective

For questions or more information regarding the Virginia Tech MEng degree program, contact Virginia Tech computer science and applications MEng admissions.  For questions or more information regarding what courses to take at University of Mary Washington to be prepared for admission into the Virginia Tech MEng degree program, please contact University of Mary Washington Computer Science graduate program director, Karen Anewalt.

To learn more about the MEng computer science and applications program, click here.