FAQs

There is a university-wide TOEFL requirement for certain students, but the DM program does not require a specific TOEFL score. You will need to meet the university-wide requirements in order to apply to our program. For questions about qualifying for a TOEFL exemption, please contact GT Admissions. Please note that the DM department does not grant waivers for the TOEFL exam.

TOEFL Exam Website: https://grad.gatech.edu/english-proficiency

The graduate program begins every Fall semester. Georgia Tech’s Fall semesters begin in mid-August. There are generally orientation meetings the week before school starts. Students are only admitted for Fall semester enrollment. Exact dates are posted in the Georgia Tech Academic Calendar.

Students interested in obtaining assistantships should submit an email to the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) after they have officially been offered admission and accepted the offer. The email should include a link to an online CV and portfolio. Students with strong production, programming, and/or design skills are more likely to receive assistantships. Students should arrive at Georgia Tech at least 1 week before the start of the first semester and actively visit professors in the program if they want to improve their chances of finding appropriate work.

About 50 – 100 students apply.

Each year, we generally accept 20 to 25 M.S. students and up to 8 Ph.D students.

We have applicants from various backgrounds, ages, and cultures, with and without programming experience. Some courses do require that students write code. However, we offer a coding bootcamp prior to the start of the Fall semester to ensure everyone enters with an understanding of the fundamentals.

You can defer for one year after you are accepted. If you do not attend within one year, you will need to reapply to the program, resubmitting everything in your application package except for any GRE/TOEFL scores (which are acceptable within a 5 year period).

The HCI program is interdisciplinary and students choose a home unit from Computer Science, Psychology, and LMC (the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, which is the home of the DM program). HCI-DM students take four courses in LMC (that is, within the Digital Media offerings). DM students are strongly recommended to take at least one course in HCI.

The Digital Media M.S. program (formerly known as IDT) emphasizes the representational aspects of the digital medium, seeing it as part of the traditions of representation that include books, theater, film, graphic and fine arts. 

HCI emphasizes the computer engineering and empirical psychology aspects of design, such as usability, user testing, and system design. Applicants to HCI-DM must submit the same Statement of Purpose and portfolio as applicants to the DM M.S. 

It is permissible to apply to both programs, but it requires two separate complete applications since the applications are screened and processed differently.

There is no set number. It depends on the availability of our funds.

The deadline for Ph.D. applicants is December 15th and February 1st for M.S. applicants.

The standard Graduate Records Examination (GRE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) or IELTS for international students. There is no minimum required GRE score for the program (the GPA and the complete application package as a whole is taken under consideration).  See www.gre.org and www.toefl.org or https://www.ielts.org/ for dates of testing.

Generally, paper-based GRE group testing in November or December will provide results in time for our consideration. The computer-based tests are administered individually at local GRE centers year-round and scores are released approximately 10-15 days afterwards. Refer to the GRE Bulletin and website (http://www.gre.org) for up-to-date information on test schedules.

GRE requirement is waived for the Fall 2023 applications.

In December 2006 the M.S. in Information Design and Technology (IDT) changed its name to M.S. in Digital Media. The course requirements have remained the same. You should now apply to the M.S. in Digital Media. Students in the program are prepared for careers in information architecture and interactive arts and entertainment. The new name better reflects the range of the program,which has characterized it since its founding in 1993, and does not reflect a change in emphasis.

• Complete the online Georgia Tech Graduate Application and pay the fee (Domestic Student- $75 | International Student- $85.00)
• Official Transcripts (two unopened copies)
• Personal Statement (explaining the place of the DM program in the applicant`s creative, intellectual, and professional development.)
• Three letters of recommendation (academic/professional)
• GRE Scores  –
  The GRE is waived for all grad applications to Digital Media in 2020/2021
• TOEFL/IELTS scores for non-native English speakers
• URL for an online portfolio or work sample (e.g. video, text, web, computational artifact, or other).

DM graduates have found jobs in a range of careers, including work as interaction & UX designers, data scientists, interactive media and game designers, Imagineers, digital artists, and educators.