Professional Certificate Admissions

Admissions Deadline(s)

Fall semester: June 12
Spring semester: December 1

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Admission Requirements

Applicants must document at least one year of work experience in a relevant field to be eligible to enroll in the distance learning professional certificate program.

Minimum of Baccalaureate Degree

• Your B.S. degree should be preferably in engineering, mathematics, or science, and conferred by an accredited college or university. For students with foreign credentials, you must have an equivalent degree from a college or university of recognized standing.
• The Systems Engineering program expects you to have taken—at the minimum—differential calculus, integral calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations as math undergrad requirements. For Cornell undergrads these courses are required: MATH 1910, MATH 1920,MATH 2930 or 2940, and a mathematics course chosen by the major.

Statement of Purpose

Your Statement of Purpose should provide the admissions committee with a sense of you as a whole person, and you should use it to describe how your personal background and experiences influenced your decision to pursue a graduate degree.

Unofficial Transcripts

Please note that that there is space for you to list a maximum of three schools that you have attended. If you attended more than three colleges or universities, you must upload those transcripts in the writing sample portion of the application.

One Letter of Recommendation

Only one letter of recommendation is required, although two may be submitted. Recommenders may submit their letters online. Once an application is submitted, recommenders receive an automated email soliciting their letter. You will be prompted to provide contact information for recommenders before you submit your application.

Official TOEFL Scores

TOEFL is required from international applicants. We require an overall minimum score of 105. This is in addition to the minimum sub-scores for each element of the TOEFL iBT as outlined by the Graduate School: Writing – 20, Listening – 15, Reading – 20, Speaking – 22.

For further information on this requirement as well as exemptions, please visit the Graduate School's English Language Proficiency Requirement website.

Probability and statistics

*Required for Systems Engineering Specialist Professional Certificate

• An undergraduate course in probability and statistics is required to matriculate into the System Engineering program.
• f not already completed at the time of admission, this requirement may be satisfied by completing ENGRD 2700 or CEE 3040.
• Students may complete a similar course at another university upon approval of the Curriculum Committee. You will be required to submit a transcript as verification that this course has been completed before the end of your first semester in the program.
• More information is on the Google Doc, "Probability and/or Statistics Requirement for Incoming Students."

Application Fee

Application fee is $75.00.

Application Expectation

Cornell University expects all applicants to complete their application materials without the use of paid agents, credentials services, or other paid professional assistance. The use of such services violates University policy and may lead to the rejection of application materials, the revocation of an admissions offer, cancellation of admission, or involuntary withdrawal from the University.

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