Admission Requirements
Operations Research (OR) courses are offered for graduate credit leading to a Master of Science degree. A limited number of courses (up to 9 credit hours/units) can be taken with nondegree status. Regardless, all students must apply for admission to the Graduate School as either a master's degree candidate or must complete the Graduate Nondegree Enrollment Request form and must submit a copy of their undergraduate transcripts. All application materials should be sent directly to the Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering Department.
To apply as a degree-seeking master's degree candidate, complete the online application.
Degree-Seeking Students
Across the United States, operations research is taught in numerous departments, such as Industrial Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, and Business. Thus, a variety of undergraduate degrees provide suitable preparation for K-State's MSOR program. Some of these undergraduate degrees include industrial engineering, mathematics, statistics, engineering, and business (if the student has emphasized quantitative techniques). The primary condition is that the student has sufficient mathematical preparation for the degree. Students are expected to have an advanced mathematical background, as many of the courses have simple proofs required as part of the course.
Students entering this program must meet K-State's Graduate School admission requirements (Chapter 1.A-1.C of K-State's Graduate Handbook). The Graduate Record Examination (GRE) is not required.
Note: International applicants whose native language is not English must take the TOEFL exam. Those who have received a degree in the last two years from a United States college or university are exempt from this requirement.
In addition, the student must meet the following requirements:
- A bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, engineering, mathematics, statistics, or business (if the student has emphasized quantitative techniques) with a strong background in applied mathematics including calculus and linear algebra.
- Undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or above for the last 60 hours of courses taken
- A calculus-based probability/statistics course (equivalent to K-State's STAT 510).
- *An introductory operations research course (equivalent to K-State's IMSE 560 or IMSE 680).
- Some knowledge of computer programming (equivalent to K-State's CIS 200 or CIS 209).
*If an entering student has not taken an introductory OR course, then the student should enroll in IMSE 680, Quantitative Problem Solving Techniques, to gain this knowledge. This IMSE 680 class can count as one of the program's electives and provides a broad overview and many applications of OR. This class covers background information and serves to fulfill all prerequisites for the OR core courses.
