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Computer Engineering focuses on creating and developing computer systems, spanning from digital circuits to compilers, operating systems, and global network infrastructures. As an engineering field, it requires understanding the physical dimensions of computation—such as power consumption, speed, space, reliability, and cost—while skillfully balancing these competing factors in system design. With modern high-performance programmable devices enabling vast computational workloads to be handled through software, computer engineers must strategically allocate functionalities between hardware and software, adapting to technological progress and engineering considerations. Breakthroughs in manufacturing now allow cost-effective production of systems with billions of components and millions of code lines, which are increasingly vital for mission-critical and time-sensitive applications. Computer Engineering aims to master the design and oversight of such complex systems while ensuring their safety and reliability.
International applicant should have completed a program of secondary education that would enable you to enter a university in your own country (e.g., A-levels, Abitur).
A strong command of the English language is necessary for successful study at Penn. Applicants whose families do not speak English at home, or applicants who have not attended a high school or secondary school where the primary language of instruction is English, are asked to take the TOEFL, the Test of English as a Foreign Language, administered by the Educational Testing Service. In the event the TOEFL is not readily accessible, Penn will accept results from the IELTS, the International English Language Testing System.