All general Mason and specific College of Engineering and Computing admissions requirements apply. Candidates for the PhD program typically must hold an MS degree from an accredited institution of higher education in systems engineering, operations research or related areas in engineering, mathematics, and computer science with a minimum graduate GPA of 3.50 and a minimum undergraduate GPA of 3.00. In addition, well-qualified candidates holding a BS degree in these areas may apply directly to the PhD program.

All applicants should have a strong background in engineering mathematics, which includes three semesters of calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, and probability. In addition, students entering the doctoral program must have a sound working knowledge in computing.

The admission process involves submitting the application for admission, undergraduate and graduate transcripts from previous colleges and universities attended, GRE test results, three letters of reference, a resume and a statement of career goals and aspirations, and a self-assessment of past background. Translations of international credentials must be provided if they are not in English, in some cases, applicants will be required to have documents evaluated by an external agency. A satisfactory score on the TOEFL examination is required for non-native English speakers. All of an applicant's background is examined before an admission decision is made.
IELTS - 6.5 total band score, no subsection minimum
TOEFL iBT - 80 or higher, no section minimum