Information for International Students

Non-US citizens are not required to have an F-1 visa to enroll in the online degree if they reside outside the U.S. F1 visas are not granted to non-U.S. citizens enrolled in online educational programs.

English Proficiency and International Student Final Admission Requirements

Every applicant whose native language is not English must demonstrate English language proficiency in one of the ways listed in Graduate School Memorandum #8: http://www.grad.washington.edu/policies/memoranda/memo08.shtml.

International Students may be required to provide additional application materials to the Graduate School for final admission, including official transcripts, degree statements, proof of English proficiency, and a Statement of Financial Ability. After you submit your application and are approved by the department, please log back into your application and click on the "status" button. This will tell you what specific documents you need to submit to the Graduate School AND provide you access to the Financial Statement of Ability form. Please read the graduate school website regarding these requirements: http://www.grad.washington.edu/admissions/finability.shtml.

International Student I-20 and Visa Application

After all requested materials are filed with the Graduate School, international students will be formally accepted and issued an I-20 and subsequent visa application at the U.S. consulate in your home country from the Graduate School. For further details about registering subsequent to being admitted by UW Graduate School, including obtaining an I-20 and visa, please carefully review the information at the following web site: https://www.grad.washington.edu/applForAdmiss/gasfaf.pdf (PDF link).

Other Admission Information

Who Should Apply

The MS-CF&RM degree program is ideally suited for:

  • Finance professionals with several years of experience
  • MBA graduates with exceptionally strong quantitative and computational skills and an exceptionally strong academic record
  • Individuals who have completed an undergraduate, or a Master's degree, with a strong academic record in a science or engineering field, including applied mathematics, economics, mathematics, physics, statistics, computer science or electrical engineering.

The CF&RM certificates are best suited for:

  • Professionals that are interested in computational finance or risk management but cannot fully invest in the time or effort required in the MS-CF&RM degree program. For some individuals the CF&RM certificate can serve as a stepping stone to the Masters degree with successful completion of the certificate and admission to MS-CF&RM.

Proficiency Requirements

Successful applicants to the MS-CF&RM degree program will show proficiency in:

  • Calculus through partial differentiation, matrix algebra, and one-dimensional optimization
  • Probability and statistics at the level of an upper level undergraduate course or entry level graduate course
  • A programming language such as Java or C++, or in a math or a statistics programming language such as Matlab, R/S-PLUS

Students lacking proficiency in 1 or 2 of the items above should:

Students lacking proficiency in all 3 items above should take AMATH 500 Foundations of Programming in R. Proficiency requirements for the CF&RM certificates are similar to, but less stringent than those of the MS-CF&RM program.

Graduate Record Examination (GRE)

Applicants with little or no professional experience are required to take the GRE exam. It is strongly recommended that interested applicants take the GRE Exam at least 30 days prior to the application deadline to assure their score is reported on a timely basis. More information on the GRE can be found at http://www.ets.org/gre. When taking the test, use 4854 (University of Washington) under Score Report Recipients and 0702 for the department code. While the GRE is preferred, applicants who wish to substitute a (GMAT) may do so. Individuals who have been out of school for some time may petition for a waiver of the GRE requirement by contacting us.

Individuals who have been granted a waiver of the GRE should consider taking one or more refresher courses that are offered prior to the start of autumn quarter.

Application Deadlines and Program Costs

MS-CF&RM

Applications from domestic applicants (US citizens or others not requiring a student visa) for the on campus program are due February 15, 2013
. If enrollment space permits, applications from well-qualified candidates may be considered on a case-by-case review after the stated deadline.

Applications from international applicants for the on campus program are due February 15, 2013.

Applications for the online program (from both domestic and international applicants) are due May 1, 2013.

 

The 2013-14 MS-CF&RM program will start in autumn quarter with suggested but optional preparatory classes offered online in spring and summer quarters.

CF&RM Certificates

Applications for online certificate programs are due August 31, 2013. Online instruction for the CF&RM certificates begins in autumn quarter.

Program Costs

CF&RM fee rates of $900 per credit are in effect through spring quarter 2014 and are subject to change in summer 2014. The current course fee charges results in costs as follows: 

  • $37,800 for the 42 credit MS-CF&RM degree
  • $10,800 for the 12 credit Computational Finance Certificate
  • $9,900 for the 11 credit Quantitative Fundamentals of Computational Finance Certificate
  • $17,100 - $18,900 for the 19-21 credit Actuarial Science Certificate

Other University of Washington service and activity fees are additional and are dependent on the program and courses taken.

Apply to MS-CF&RM Degree Program

 

Apply by filling out the online application with the Graduate School at https://www.grad.washington.edu/applForAdmiss/.

  • For "Application Type," MS-CF&RM applicants select "Graduate"
  • For "Graduate Program," select "Computational Finance and Risk Management".

As with all University of Washington Graduate Degree programs each applicant must pay a nonrefundable fee of $75 when applying to the MS-CF&RM degree program. The application will list all materials required by the department and the Graduate School, and applications can be saved before final submission. After you submit your application and are reviewed by the department, please log back into your application and click on the "status" button to see if any further documents are required to complete the UW admission process.

International students should read Info for International Students for further final admissions requirements.

Information for International Students

Non-US citizens are not required to have an F-1 visa to enroll in the online degree if they reside outside the U.S. F1 visas are not granted to non-U.S. citizens enrolled in online educational programs.

English Proficiency and International Student Final Admission Requirements

Every applicant whose native language is not English must demonstrate English language proficiency in one of the ways listed in Graduate School Memorandum #8: http://www.grad.washington.edu/policies/memoranda/memo08.shtml.

International Students may be required to provide additional application materials to the Graduate School for final admission, including official transcripts, degree statements, proof of English proficiency, and a Statement of Financial Ability. After you submit your application and are approved by the department, please log back into your application and click on the "status" button. This will tell you what specific documents you need to submit to the Graduate School AND provide you access to the Financial Statement of Ability form. Please read the graduate school website regarding these requirements: http://www.grad.washington.edu/admissions/finability.shtml.

International Student I-20 and Visa Application

After all requested materials are filed with the Graduate School, international students will be formally accepted and issued an I-20 and subsequent visa application at the U.S. consulate in your home country from the Graduate School. For further details about registering subsequent to being admitted by UW Graduate School, including obtaining an I-20 and visa, please carefully review the information at the following web site: https://www.grad.washington.edu/applForAdmiss/gasfaf.pdf (PDF link).

Apply to CF&RM Certificate Program

Additional information about the Computational Finance certificate program can be found at the UW Professional and Continuing Education (UWPCE) website. Applications for the autumn start certificate programs are accepted starting in the previous spring quarter. For more information about the Computational Finance Certificate program, please send an email to 'eanastasio [at] pce.uw.edu'.

There is a $50 nonrefundable Certificate program application fee.

Applying Certificate Courses Toward The MS-CF&RM Degree

Students will often take the Computational Finance certificate program with the thought that they may subsequently want to enter the MS-CF&RM degree program. Upon successful completion of the certificate with a strong grade point average (GPA) and acceptance into the MS-CF&RM program, such students will be able to apply up to 12 of their course credits toward the MS-CF&RM degree.

Considering the MS-CF&RM degree after a certificate? Then submit an application through the Graduate School for UW Graduate Non-Matriculated (GNM) status when applying for one of the certificate programs.

For more information about GNM status, visit: http://www.grad.washington.edu/admissions/gnm.shtml.

For admission, please apply by filling out the online application with the Graduate School: https://www.grad.washington.edu/applForAdmiss/

  • For "Application Type," GNM applicants should select "Graduate Non-Matriculated"
  • For "Graduate Program," please select "Computational Finance and Risk Management-Online" if you are an online student and "Computational Finance & Risk Management" if you are taking a residential, classroom section of a Computational Finance degree course.

Policy on Applying Credits from CF&RM Certificate Program to MS-CF&RM Degree

The fee-based MS degree in Computational Finance and Risk Management (MS-CF&RM), requires a minimum of 42 fee-based credits. To be specific with regard to double counting: a course that a student has taken in fulfillment of their graduate program course requirements may not be applied toward the MS-CF&RM degree. Petitions to transfer more than 12 credits will be considered on a case-by-case basis if such petition is submitted not later than the end of autumn quarter.

Single Course Enrollment

Online courses in the MS-CF&RM curriculum may be taken on single course enrollment (SCE) basis, provided the student has adequate course pre-requisite experience. Applications for SCE are available through the PCE web site for the following courses: AMATH 541, 542, and 543. If a student has an interest in a single course enrollment in other courses, please send an inquiry for consideration. For courses other than AMATH 541, 542, and 543, applicants who are not currently UW graduate students may be required to complete a GNM application for consideration..