M.S. Degree Program in
OPERATIONS RESEARCH

History

A graduate program in Operations Research was started at SMU in 1969 and is managed by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering within the School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Special Features of the Program

A special feature of the program is its interaction with other allied areas in mathematics, statistics, engineering, computer science, and business administration. Around a nucleus of faculty in the department, faculty members in other departments partic ipate in the operations research program.

Graduate Admissions Requirements

A bachelor's degree with a major in engineering, computer science, or mathematics is required.
Applicants should have earned an undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 (B) or better in the last two years of their undergraduate work and in graduate work they previously have completed. All applicants also must submit an official Graduate Reco rds Examination (GRE) score. A score of 650 on the quantitative portion of the GRE is usually required. Applicants not meeting these requirements may be conditionally admitted.
All international students must provide three letters of recommendation and a notarized certificate of finances. In addition, they must submit a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score of 550 or better.
Finally, all applicants must submit official transcripts from all previous undergraduate and graduate institutions.

Transfer Policy

A maximum of six semester-hours of graduate course work from another institution may be transferred with the approval of the adviser, department chair, and assistant dean.

Degree Requirements

The M.S. degree with a major in operations research requires a minimum of 30 credit-hours of course work. Additional hours may be required depending on the student's academic background, objectives of the specific degree program, and demands of the discipline. Course work is distributed as follows:
CORE Courses
Elective Courses

Fifteen semester-hours of the required courses must be at the 6000 level or above. Some courses require the successful completion of prerequisite classes.
All work attempted must be completed with an overall GPA of 3.0 or better. A thesis may be substituted for six hours of course work.

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