Graduate Program Admissions

Minimum Requirements for Graduate Admissions

  1. Documentation of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with an undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.0, or documentation of a bachelor’s degree and record of successful achievement at an accredited college or university that uses narrative evaluations rather than grades
  2. Two letters of recommendation
  3. Successful completion of a course in Linear Algebra
  4. Successful completion of a course in programming or proof of programming proficiency

Admissions Factors

The following admission factors will be considered for applicants to the Master of Science in Applied Data Science program:

  1. Graduate Application for the Master of Science in Applied Data Science program
  2. Recent employment and/or academic experience (including fellowships, internships, research positions)
  3. Academic record (all post-secondary transcripts), with documentation of a bachelor’s degree from an accredited US college or university (or the foreign equivalent, as determined by a NACES-member transcript evaluation service)
  4. Letters of recommendation
  5. GRE, GRE Subject, or GMAT scores (if provided)
  6. Students with academic records from non-US colleges or universities should arrange for professional evaluation (and translation, if necessary) of their transcripts by a NACES-member service.
  7. Students who are not US citizens or US Permanent Resident Aliens, and whose first language is not English, must provide proof of English proficiency. Typically, recent scores (within the past two years) will be required, as follows:
    1. Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL): score of 83 or better on the TOEFL IbT, or 560 on the Paper-Based TOEFL; or
    2. International English Language Testing System (IELTS): score of 6.5 or better; or
    3. Recent records (within the past two years) of successful academic or professional work in a setting where English is the primary language in use may be considered as a substitute for the testing requirement.

Policies on Acceptance of Academic Credit

Candidates who seek to transfer to the program from another Master’s level program in another institution will be required to submit, at the time of their application, all relevant graduate-level coursework previously taken and not counted towards earning a graduate degree. These candidates will be allowed to transfer no more than 12 SCH worth of coursework, and will be required to complete both Industrial Practicums during their term as a graduate student in the proposed program.

Credit by Exam

Applicants may petition the Graduate Admissions Selection Committee for permission to take a written qualifying examination. Applicants who pass the qualifying examination will receive credit by exam for up to 12 graduate credit hours towards a Master’s degree in Applied Data Science.

If the petition is granted, the Data Science Program sets an appropriate examination and certifies competency in four areas required for further study in Data Science: statistical inference, data storage and retrieval, algorithms for data science, and data munging and exploratory data analysis. Enrolled students may not receive credit by examination when the same course has previously been failed.

International Documents and Testing

Because of possible mail delays, students with international records should attempt to complete the graduate admission application file at least two weeks prior to the deadline.

Applicants with records from school systems abroad and all international applicants (students who are not US Citizens or Permanent Resident Aliens of the United States) are required to provide any translation, evaluation, and proof of English proficiency needed for review of the admission application file. Please contact gradadmissions@ncf.edu regarding any request to waive materials that may not be necessary. The applicant is responsible for ordering and providing these required materials (including payment to service providers in the case of translation, evaluation, and testing).

Translation

Documentation of any college or university-level studies presented in any language other than English must be accompanied by a professional, certified English translation.

Evaluation

Documentation of any college or university-level studies that do not have US accreditation must be evaluated on a course-by-course basis (with grade and credit equivalents and grade point average) by a NACES member service such as www.jsilny.com. Translations and evaluations supplement, but do not replace, the original documents, and should be sent directly by the service to the graduate program assistant.

Proof of English Proficiency for Non-Native Speakers of English (Documentation by Exam or by Language Experience)

The applicant should indicate how English proficiency will be documented (contact Nikita Bagley, nbagley@ncf.edu).

By exam—the applicant’s Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score must be no more than two years old and sent to institution #5506 by the testing service. The minimum TOEFL score required for admission to New College is 560 (paper test), or 83 (Internet-admissions based test). The College will accept a minimum score of 6.5 on the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam as a substitute; the IELTS score must be no more than two years old. Scores must be sent directly to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid by the testing service. For more information see homepages www.toefl.org and www.IELTS.org.

By language experience—recent records (no more than two years old) of successful academic or professional work in a setting where English is the primary language in use may be considered as a substitute for the testing requirement.

New College of Florida Financial Statement for International Students Seeking the F-1 Student Visa

Proof of ability to cover all educational and living expenses (including international student medical insurance coverage that meets state requirements) is a condition of eligibility for the F-1 student visa. Proof of an additional $5,000 USD per year is required for each dependent. The Financial Statement form should be completed no earlier than 6 months prior to the proposed semester of entry.