Admission Requirements

Admission to the program is competitive, and applicants are evaluated individually. In addition to meeting the Graduate College’s minimum requirements, applicants must satisfy the following program-specific criteria:

• Baccalaureate Field: No specific restrictions, but prior academic work should include courses in areas such as mathematics, statistics, programming, machine learning, computer science, optimization, analysis, and business.
• Grade Point Average: A minimum GPA of 3.00/4.00 for the final 60 semester (90 quarter) hours of undergraduate study.
• Tests Required: GMAT or GRE scores are required, with results from a test taken within five years of the intended entry date. The writing assessment is also required. Applicants who wish to request a waiver for these tests should contact the admissions office for guidance.
• Minimum English Competency Test Score: Required and cannot be waived. 
  • TOEFL iBT 80, with subscores of Reading 19, Listening 17, Speaking 20, and Writing 21, OR,
  • IELTS Academic 6.5, with 6.0 in each of the four subscores, OR,
  • PTE-Academic 54, with subscores of Reading 51, Listening 47, Speaking 53, and Writing 56.
• Letters of Recommendation: Three letters are required, ideally from individuals who are familiar with the applicant’s intellectual capabilities, perseverance, and integrity. At least one recommendation should come from an academic who is familiar with the applicant’s work.​
• Personal Statement: Required, outlining the applicant’s interests, qualifications, and research goals, along with the expected impact of this work on their career.

• Writing Sample: It is strongly recommended that applicants submit a sample of no more than 40 pages appropriate to their proposed area of study. A sample may consist of a prior research publication, a paper submitted to a graduate-level course, or another example of scholarly-level writing demonstrating their ability to think and write critically.

• Other Requirements: Students are admitted only in the fall semester.
• Deadlines Application deadlines for this program are listed on the Graduate College website.

Degree Requirements

• Minimum Semester Hours Required: 96 semester hours from the baccalaureate; 64 from the MBA. 
• Coursework The PhD program requires a total of 96 semester hours, with at least 32 dedicated to dissertation research. Of the remaining 64 credit hours, 48 must be completed through coursework. Study will include a two-course requirement in mathematics, statistics, or computing; a four-course breadth requirement (four MBA core courses, no two of which are from the same functional area and none of which is from the area of inquiry); and a six-course depth requirement (advanced courses, at least two of which are sufficiently rigorous to provide the basis for the qualifying exam). Following the qualifying exam, additional course requirements are determined by the student’s advisor or the director of the PhD program. 
• Examinations
  • Qualifying Examination:  Students will write a qualifying exam at the beginning of their fourth semester. This exam will test the student’s knowledge in the following three areas: 1) Optimization, 2) Machine Learning, and 3) Probability theory and Stochastic processes (based on the foundational sequence of courses). The students will be advised of the syllabus for the different areas ahead of time.
  • Preliminary Examination: PhD students must select a thesis advisor and topic by the end of the fifth semester, and submit their thesis proposal by the end of the seventh semester. The thesis advisor must be a member of both IDS faculty and the UIC Graduate College. The graduate college typically requires at least one year between the thesis proposal and defense, although petitions may be made for an earlier defense. The IDS PhD program mandates a minimum of six months between proposal and defense.
• Dissertation: A dissertation demonstrating the ability to conduct original, scholarly research is required. No more than 32 hours of doctoral thesis research may count toward the degree.
• Other Requirements: Students must serve as teaching assistants or research assistants during their time in the program.