MS in CL Degree Requirements

1. Satisfy the program that his or her undergraduate preparation indicates a high potential for successful advanced study of computational linguistics.
2. Have a minimum of 3.0 GPA in their undergraduate studies; or a minimum of 3.2 GPA in their graduate studies.
3. Submit two letters of recommendation from faculty members in their undergraduate institutions.
4. Submit a personal statement that clearly articulates educational and professional goals. The personal statement should explain the applicant’s reasons for applying to the computational linguistics program, his/her learning objectives, any experience related to the CL field, and long-term professional objectives.

Upon acceptance into the program, students will be assigned a faculty program advisor (PA) who will serve as the student’s academic advisor and will mentor the student during his/her active enrollment in the program.

In case a student is accepted into the program without the necessary background and is assigned additional preparatory courses, the student’s admission status will be “deferred acceptance”. After completing these additional courses, the student’s status will be reclassified to “full acceptance/matriculation”.

Overview of Degree Requirements

A total of 32 credits is required to complete in the regular, two-year MS in CL program. The coursework depends on the background of the student. Prerequisite courses will be determined in consultation with the MS in CL Program Coordinator.

Prerequisites for the students with a BA in Linguistics:

CSIT 505 Python Programming (4)
CSIT 504 Discrete Math in Computing  (4)

Prerequisites for the students with a BS in Computer Science:

APLN 500 Language and Linguistics (3)

Students coming in with a background other than Linguistics or Computer Science will have to complete up to 11 credits of prerequisite classes. These courses may be taken concurrently with some of the MS in CL core courses  Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 in order to continue in the program.

Coursework

Required (26 credits)

APLN 504 Syntax  (3)
APLN 505 Semantics & Pragmatics (3)
APLN 506 Phonetics and Phonology  (3)
APLN 550 Computational Linguistics  (3)
APLN 553 Text Analysis Tools  (3)
APLN 552 Current Issues in NLP (3)
CSIT 506 Data Structures in Python  (4)
CSIT  598 Machine Learning  (3)
APLN 605: Research Questions in Applied Linguistics (a project in NLP)  (1)

At least two electives from the following list (6 credits)

APLN 563 Quantitative Linguistics  (3)
APLN 570 The Structure of ASL   (3)
APLN 580 Corpus Linguistics  (3)
APLN 581 Linguistic Annotation  (3)
APLN 582 Languages & Mobile Communication (3)
APLN 590 Topics in Applied Linguistics  (3)
CSIT 528 Statistics for Data Sciences  (3)
CSIT 553 Exploratory Data Analysis & Visualization (3)
CSIT 554 Big Data Analytics  (3)
CSIT 555 Database Systems  (3)
CSIT 558 Data Mining  (3)
CSIT 571 Computer Algorithms & Analysis  (3)
INFO 583 Introduction to Business Analytics  (3)
MATH 535 Linear Algebra I   (3)

Other courses might be taken with the approval of the Program Advisor.

The decision to waive course prerequisites will be made based on a performance threshold (the overall grade not lower than B+ to waive prerequisites) and a recommendation of the program coordinator in consultation with the course instructor.

Tuition and fees

Tuition and fees for the current academic year are can be found at Red Hawk Central. A small number of graduate assistantships are available, as well as internships in department research and externships in local industries.