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Since I receive many inquiries from students interested in joining my group, I am unable to answer each person individually. Therefore, this page is intended to answer some common questions from prospective graduate student, and to help you understand whether you should apply or not. I hope you find it useful. You are welcome to contact me, but please note that I will not be able to give your emails individual responses. I will follow up with select individuals (including phone/skype interviews) once the full applications have been received.

• Are you looking for students to join your group?

Each year I typically look for one or two exceptional students to join my group.

• What are my chances for admission to EE in UC Santa Cruz, and the MDSP group in particular?

Our admission is very competitive, and the typical admission rate for our department has recently been around 25%. Each year, the admission has become more competitive. In my research group, I only take 1 or 2 students a year. So if joining my group is not your top priority, I do not recommend applying as a "backup" plan.

• Do all admitted students receive full financial support, and if so in what form?

No. Overall, about half of the students admitted to our Ph.D. program receive offers of full financial support. Historically, however, all of my students have been fully funded. Generally, these admitted students will receive a combination of fellowship, research assistantships (RA), and teaching assistantships (TA) covering all fees and tuitions, stipends, etc. for the first year. Support in subsequent years is usually not guaranteed ahead of time, but is generally provided to students in good standing by your adviser in the form of RA, or from the EE department in the form of TA or fellowship.

• I am only interested in obtaining a Master's degree at UCSC, should I apply?

I am looking for students who have a long-term commitment to obtaining a PhD degree in my group at UCSC. I am not currently looking for students interested in MS degree. Of course you are welcome to apply to our department in any case.

• I have never worked on research problems in image or signal processing or computer vision, can I join your group?

I am looking for students who already have experience in one or more of these areas. Even if your research background is in communication systems, I do not typically find this to be a good match.

• What are your expectations for students in the MDSP research group?

I am looking for students who are first and foremost creative. You should have excellent technical, mathematical, and English communication skills. Generally, PhD students are expected to finish their course requirements within their first year at UCSC. While I do not have a specific numerical target, PhD students in my group publish 3 or more full length papers in the highest quality journals before completing their degrees. Our group is relatively small (5 or 6 students) and runs as a team. I like to work very closely with my students, while giving them sufficient intellectual freedom to pursue their own creative ideas. While each student has well-defined research problems that they work on, these problem will have deep connections to each other. Therefore, exchange of ideas and scholarly collaboration between the students is common and expected.

• How does the graduate admission process at UCSC work?

The admission/funding decisions are not made by individual faculty members. Applications are evaluated by a committee of EE faculty based on (1) grades, (2) letters of recommendation,(3) input from our own EE faculty in the applicant's specific technical area of interest, and (4) GRE scores. The committee's decisions are forwarded to the university dean of graduate studies, who makes the formal admission offer. While Toefl scores are not considered as a competitive factor in EE admission, failure to meet our school's minimum requirement will keep you from getting in. Specifically, Toefl minimum scores are as follows: 230 out of 300 for the paper exam ; 89 out of 120 for the computer-based exam. If your score does not meet the minimum, you will not be admitted by the University regardless of the rest of your application.

• Where can I find more information about the EE graduate program at UCSC?

Further information is available on our department website . Information on the rankings of our department in comparison to others in the US are available here. There is also a brief presentation for new incoming students which you might find interesting.

Please note: the above answers are provided for your information only. They do not represent, nor imply, any formal policy or position of the EE department.