FAQ

No. There are no degree prerequisites for admission to the program. Two core courses require competencies that may be demonstrated prior to taking those specific classes, but CISAT admits students from a wide array of backgrounds looking to transition into studying information systems and technology.

Yes. The Information Systems & Technology program offers aid in the form of fellowships, which are competitive and merit-based and reduce the total cost of tuition.

Yes. The Information Systems & Technology program offers aid for both domestic and international students in the form of fellowships, which are competitive and merit based and reduce the total cost of tuition.

The application process for international students is the same for domestic applicants. Prospective students can submit their online application to CGU at admissions.cgu.edu/apply with the required $80 application fee. You will need to complete/provide:

• Online application
• Application fee
• Current resume or curriculum vitae (CV)
• Statement of purpose
• Official transcripts from all degree-granting institutions
• 2 official letters of recommendation (professional or academic)
• Official GRE or GMAT scores (where applicable)
• TOEFL, IELTS, or Pearson PTE scores (for international applicants)

No. While a 3.0 GPA or higher (out of 4.0) is a good baseline to assess overall competitiveness, rather than examine overall GPA, we look mainly at performance levels in courses that are most relevant in the Information Systems & Technology program.

The GRE/GMAT test score is optional for applicants to Master’s level degrees in Information Systems & Technology and required for applicants to the PhD in Information Systems & Technology. All applicants are encouraged to submit a GRE/GMAT test score to strengthen their application.

Yes, GRE/GMAT waivers are granted on a case by case basis for PhD program applicants with eight or more years of related professional experience. To be eligible for GRE/GMAT waiver consideration, applicants must submit a complete application with resume included that has clear start/end months and years for all positions held and job titles, and contains a detailed description of duties for each position. Applicants should also notify the Office of Admissions of their request for a GRE/GMAT waiver consideration (via email) upon submission of the online application.

Claremont Graduate University (CGU) accepts applications on a rolling basis and operates on a priority deadline cycle. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit complete applications by the priority dates in order to assure maximum consideration for both admission and fellowships. Official versions of all required application materials must be received before the priority deadline for your application to be to be reviewed. After the passing of the priority deadline, CISAT will move to rolling admissions and applications will be accepted on a space-available basis until the final deadline.

CISAT follows the standard CGU application deadlines.

While an internship or post-graduate work experience may strengthen an application, students without work experience are strongly encouraged to apply.

The time required to complete the MS program is 12 to 18 months for full-time students (3 courses per semester), and 18 to 36 months for part-time students (1 or 2 courses per semester). The time required to complete the PhD program can range from 60 to 84 months, depending on course enrollment and time required to complete the dissertation.

Yes. Many students in our program are working professionals who study part-time. There is no difference between part-time or full-time students except for the number of classes the student chooses to enroll in per semester.

Students cannot transfer any units into the MS program. Doctoral students may transfer up to 24 approved graduate units into the PhD program.

No. An internship is not required, but is strongly recommended during the summer or while in the program after your first semester, especially for students with limited work experience. The Office of Career Development works closely with students to help prepare them for their internship searches. Internships can be non-credit or taken as a field study, which may apply toward the practicum requirement upon prior approval.

There are limited positions to work with professors as research or teaching assistants, and competition for them is strong. Once admitted (after the first semester), students may have the ability to secure teaching or research assistantships that provide a stipend to students in the form of paycheck. Such positions are awarded to top-performing students by faculty members based on student performance, as well as comprehension of the subject (for TA positions) or research interests and abilities (for RA positions).

No. These competencies are only required prior to enrolling in Software Development & Programming (for the programming competency) and by week eight of the Databases & Big Data course (for the databases competency).

Prior to enrollment in Software Development & Programming, students are expected to demonstrate competency in an object-oriented programming language, such as Java, Python, C++, VB.net, or Ruby.

Verifiable completion of self-instruction through any of an almost countless number of tutorials or courses is sufficient—some online, others not; some free, others not. Some options include:

• Completion of an online or in-class university, community college, or extension program course
• Coursera – Learn to Program and Analyze Data with Python
• edX – CS For All: Introduction to Computer Science and Python Programming
• edX – Introduction to Computer Science and Programming Using Python
• edX – Introduction to C++

Students with limited or no experience of relational databases and SQL are expected to finish the following two self-paced courses:

1. https://www.udacity.com/course/database-systems-concepts-design–ud150
Students should complete the following lessons:

• Lesson 2 Fundamentals of databases
• Lesson 8: Normalization
• Lesson 10: Relational algebra and Calculus
• Lesson 11: SQL

Each lesson has videos and knowledge checks that may take about 40 minutes to 1 hour to finish.

2. https://www.khanacademy.org/computing/computer-programming/sql
Students should complete the following:

• SQL Basics
• Relational queries in SQL

These two parts have about 40 minutes video and some hands-on exercises.

Graduates with a background in Information Systems & Technology are afforded an array of career prospects in an ever-changing, technologically integrated world. While not a comprehensive list, some of our alumni positions include:

• IT Director
• Software Engineer
• Web Developer
• Senior Infrastructure Architect
• Senior Software Design Engineer
• Director of Academic Computing
• Database Administrator
• Systems Analyst
• Senior Big Data Analyst
• Project Manager
• Director of Health IT
• Sales Manager
• IT Analyst
• Information Security Engineer
• Health Data Consultant
• Business Intelligence Architect
• Risk Analyst
• Management Consultant
• Research Scientist
• Professor
• Consultants

While not a comprehensive list, some of our alumni work for the following companies:

• NASA Jet Propulsion Lab
• Esri
• Boeing
• Cal Poly Pomona
• Google
• IBM
• Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems
• California Institute of Technology (Caltech)
• DirecTV
• City of Hope Hospital
• University of California, Riverside
• Kaiser Permanente
• California State University, Fullerton
• Veterans Health Administration
• University of California, Los Angeles
• University of Southern California
• Amazon
• Costco Wholesale
• Taylormade-Adidas Golf
• Wells Fargo
• Microsoft
• San Diego State University
• Loyola Marymount University