FAQ

This year’s admission deadline is June 30, 2022. We encourage you to not wait until the last minute to apply.

We find that a portfolio of your work is a better indicator of your promise in the program than a GRE score. So, for those of you who have been working, please put together a portfolio. More information on that can be found here.

The executive committee for the program reviews every applicant in detail both for general admissions to the program and for individual fellowships. We will attempt to notify fellowship winners at the same time as admissions, but there can sometimes be a delay in this process.

Most of the people who are asking this question are actually asking two related questions. (1) As this is a low-residency program that only requires you be on campus for three intense visits, we do not have the ability to issue I-20s at this time. International students should consult with an immigration attorney if you want to live in the US while taking this program. (2) The program is intense over the entire year. So, there is not dedicated time to take off for internships. Most of our students do work while in the program, but these are their regular positions, not internships.

Like all Master’s degrees at the University of California, the MHCID program is accredited by the WSCUC accrediting agency. Additionally, formal oversight of the program rests with the University of California Academic Senate.

You know the sales pitch: you can be a superstar UXer in a brief period of time with our bootcamp! If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Bootcamps are great for figuring out if you have any interest or aptitude for UX. They don’t reach the threshold you need to be considered an expert. A Master’s degree is just what it says, a degree that indicates you have developed Mastery of a domain. At UCI, we take this very seriously. In our Master’s program, you won’t just create portfolio pieces. You will learn the fundamentals that underlie the theories, the tools, and the processes for conducting research, designing interactive systems, and working with developers. Once you are truly a master of these topics, building a strong design or research portfolio is easy.

Yes! Our Program Director works alongside student affairs, our industry advisory board, and the program faculty to support career development and placement.

Student Health Insurance Program (SHIP)is not offered through this program and is not required. If you wish to purchase health insurance independently and would like referrals, please visit the UCI Student Health Center’s concierge service at http://www.shc.uci.edu/insurance/student-insurance-advocate-program.”

Yes! We expect that people are working. However, it will be intense. You should think about this program as picking up another part-time job and anticipate spending around 20 hours per week on the program during each quarter. That’s in addition to the residency portions of the classes.

Excellent ones! The goal here is to get people who know you well and can speak to your strengths. This might be someone you work with or for, a client for whom you have completed a project, or a former professor. They should know you well though and be able to speak to your ability to complete a professional Master’s program successfully.

The MHCID Program Learning Outcomes are:

1 Understand theories of human behavior and cognition and the ways in which they relate to use and engagement with computational systems.

2 Develop user facing software, including high and low fidelity prototypes and understanding the place for HCI in the software development life cycle.

3 Use appropriate quantitative and qualitative methods to gather data about users and potential interactions and to evaluate prototype designs and completed systems.

4 Understand and apply a variety of ideation and design processes.

5 Communicate effectively with clients, software developers and within teams

6 Function as an effective team member and team leader on mixed user experience design and evaluation teams.