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Admissions

Minimum Admission Requirements

The following minimum criteria must be met in order for an applicant to be admissible to a University of Washington graduate certificate. For more information, reference the UW Graduate School’s minimum admission requirements.

Degree

  • Applicants must hold the minimum equivalent of a four-year baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited college or university in the United States or its equivalent from an accredited foreign institution. Holders of a Bologna bachelor’s degree must have a minimum of 180 European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits.
    • Holders of 3-year degrees may apply and be considered, but final approval from the Graduate School is required.
  • Alternatively, applicants may hold a master’s (MA, MSc, etc.), doctoral (PhD, DPhil, etc.), or professional degree (MD, JD, etc.) from a regionally accredited college or university in the United States or its equivalent from an accredited foreign institution.

Grade Point Average (GPA)

  • Applicants must have earned at least a 3.0 GPA (on a 4 point scale) for those credits earned at the institution awarding their bachelor’s degree or at least a 3.0 GPA (on a 4 point scale) for their last 90 graded quarter credits or 60 graded semester credits. If you earned additional credits from an accredited institution after your degree, you may include these credits in calculating your GPA.
  • For applicants who hold a master’s, doctoral, or professional degree, the total cumulative average from that degree course may be used.

The Graduate Certificate in Modern Artificial Intelligence Methods does not set a minimum GPA to be considered for admission, and the admissions committee reviews eligible applicants’ complete academic histories rather than considering only their cumulative or “major” GPAs.

Modern AI Methods Eligibility Requirements

We provide a self-assessment to determine your proficiency in the mathematics and programming skills needed for this certificate.

Self-Assess Your Skills Today!

Professional Experience

Applicants must have experience with mathematics, statistics, and hands-on programming, as evidenced by a combination of academic preparation and professional experience. No professional experience is required, but programming, mathematics, and statistics experience gained through a profession is accepted in place of formal academic training.

Academic Background

Academically, applicants should hold a bachelor’s degree. Those with STEM degrees, mathematically-focused business degrees, or equivalent experience are likely to find this graduate certificate a good match. Those with B.S or other degrees in computer science should instead consider the Allen School Professional Master’s Program, as the Modern AI Methods certificate is designed for a broader audience.

We provide a self-assessment to determine your proficiency in the skills needed for this certificate. The results of this self-assessment are not viewed by the admissions committee, and the self-assessment is not mandatory. Applicants need to document proficiency in the following math and computer science topics to show they will succeed in Modern AI Methods coursework:

Essential Math Skills

  • Calculus I & II
  • Functions of several variables 
  • Matrix operations 
  • Linear systems of equations
  • Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors 
  • Bayesian Statistics
  • Probability distributions
  • Maximum likelihood Estimation

Essential Computer Science Skills

  • Object-oriented programming basic skills (e.g. variables, conditional statements, loops, and functions)
  • Using simple data structures (e.g. lists, tuples, dictionaries, sets)
  • Understanding the function of more complex data structures (e.g. queues, stacks, trees)
  • Using tools and libraries (e.g. NumPy, Plotly, Matplotlib)
    • No experience with specific tools or libraries is required, but the process of using tools and libraries should be familiar

Demonstrating Proficiency

There are two ways to demonstrate your proficiency with these Essential Math Skills and Essential Computer Science Skills.

A) Completion of graded, for-credit coursework covering the topic, with a grade of at least C+/2.3 in each course. In the Essential Skills section of your application, enter the school, course name, course number, grade earned, and (if possible) a URL that links to the course webpage or syllabus. Also, include the following information in the “Demonstration Text” box:

  • If the class has an official school course catalog description that lists these skills, enter the course description in the Demonstration Text box.
  • If the class required these skills as a prerequisite, enter BOTH the description of the course you took and the description of prerequisite classes that include these skills in the Demonstration Text box.
  • If the class covered these specific skills, but the skills were not listed in the official school course catalog description, enter a list of topics covered each week in the class in the Demonstration Text box. We strongly encourage you to include a URL that links to the class schedule on a course webpage or syllabus.

B) Technical Endorsement from an experienced individual. If you have prerequisite skills that you cannot demonstrate through course descriptions or a schedule of course topics, you may submit a Technical Endorsement of these skills. In a Technical Endorsement statement, an experienced individual personally confirms your mastery of the prerequisite skill. A Technical Endorsement might come from an internship mentor, employer, boot camp instructor, course TA, or anyone else with technical expertise and first-hand knowledge of your work. 

The Technical Endorsement must contain the following information:

  • Name of person endorsing your skills  
  • Specific skill or skills they will be endorsing 
  • Summary of their expertise with the skill 
  • Description of how they have seen you use the skill 
  • Assessment of your competency with the skill 

The Technical Endorsement statement must include two demonstrations of the identity and expertise of the person endorsing your skill. These demonstrations may include contact information, a LinkedIn profile, a webpage showing the individual’s role at a workplace or school, or the use of official letterhead for the Technical Endorsement statement. 

The Technical Endorsement is different from a Letter of Recommendation. Please upload the Technical Endorsement as a .pdf file in the “Essential Skills” section of your application.

Seattle-Area Residency

Applicants must commit to reside in the Seattle area by the time of the certificate’s start date. As the Graduate Certificate in Modern AI Methods is an in-person graduate certificate, its students must furthermore reside in the Seattle area for the duration of their studies.

No GRE Score Requirement

The Graduate Certificate in Modern AI Methods does not require the GRE or other graduate study entrance exam and applicants do not need to self-report scores nor send official score reports. There is no benefit to providing GRE scores during the application process as any scores that are received will not be referenced during the application review process.

International Applicants

The Modern AI Methods certificate does not support F-1 or J-1 student visas. International students are welcome in the Modern AI Methods certificate but must hold another visa or immigration status that allows them to reside and study part-time in the United States.

English Language Proficiency

All applicants who are non-native speakers of English must enclose proof of their English proficiency in their application. For official UW Graduate School policy information, please refer to Graduate Policy 3.2: English Language Proficiency Requirements.

This certificate accepts the following methods by which non-native English speakers may meet this requirement:

  1. Having earned a degree in the United States or another country specified in Policy 3.2 in which English was the language of instruction
  2. Enclosing documentation from a prior degree-granting institution, if outside the US or one of the countries specified in Policy 3.2, that English was the language of instruction. A minimum of three years of enrollment at the institution is required.
  3. Providing official, valid scores from one of the English language proficiency exams listed below. Scores must be submitted to UW electronically and matched to the application for this requirement to be met.
    • Official, valid TOEFL scores showing a total or MyBest score of 92 or higher
    • Official, valid academic IELTS scores showing a total score of 7.0 or higher
    • Official, valid Duolingo English Test scores showing a score of 125 or higher

Further information about enclosing this documentation in the application may be found on the How to Apply page.