Subsections

COMPUTER SCIENCES UNDERGRADUATE MAJOR REQUIREMENTS

1. Acceptance Requirements

To be accepted to the Computer Sciences major, students must fulfill two requirements:

1. They must complete CS 240, CS 302, and CS 367 (either here at UW-Madison, or via AP credit, or via transfer credit). Note that completing 367 alone counts as completing both 302 and 367.

2. They must have a GPA of 2.6 or higher in an admissible sequence of Comp Sci courses taken here at UW-Madison. The rules that define an admissible sequence are:

(a) The sequence must contain 2, or 3, or 4 courses.
(b) Each of Comp Sci 240, 302, and 367 must be included in the sequence, provided that it was taken here at UW-Madison.
(c) None of CS 298, CS 310, CS 368, CS 371, or CS 550 can be included.
(d) Every other Comp Sci course taken at UW may be included or excluded at the student's discretion, provided that (a) above is satisfied, and provided that: if the student chooses to exclude from the sequence a certain cs course taken in a given semester, he/she must exclude from the sequence all cs courses (other than 302, 240, or 367) that were taken in later semesters.

Note:

(e) If a student takes the same course twice, only the first grade is used in the GPA calculation, unless that grade is an F, in which case both grades are used.

Students who are having difficulties interpreting or meeting the requirements for the Comp Sci major may meet with a member of the Comp Sci undergraduate advising committee. Office hours for the members of this committee are posted at http://www.cs.wisc.edu/ugac/advisors.html. No appointment is required.

When you have completed the acceptance requirements, you should meet with a member of the Computer Sciences Department Undergraduate Advising Committee to work out a course plan and file a ``Declaration of Major'' form. Bring an up-to-date transcript to the meeting. It will be added to your file. You may also wish to download the course plan form http://www.cs.wisc.edu/ugac/courseplanform.pdf and fill it in before the meeting. This form allows you to list the courses you intend to take for the Comp Sci major and when you intend to take them. Your course plan can be changed later, as many times as needed. If you are not sure what courses to choose or when to take them, raise those issues during your meeting with an advisor. For subsequent visits with an advisor, pick up your folder from room 5351 in the Computer Sciences Building. Course plans may be changed with the approval of a member of the committee. Maintaining an up-to-date course plan is the responsibility of the student. The office hours of the committe members can be found at http://www.cs.wisc.edu/ugac/advisors.html.

2. Required Course Work

In addition to all college requirements, students majoring in Computer Sciences must complete the following courses:

(1) Basic Comp Sci Courses: CS 240, CS 302, CS 367, CS 352, and CS 354.

(2a) Basic Calculus: Math 221 and Math 222.

(2b) Additional Mathematics Courses: Two mathematical courses that presuppose basic calculus. The recommended courses are Math 331 (Introduction to Probability and Statistics) and CS 416 (Introduction to Scientific Computing). Note that some specific areas of computer sciences may recommend other choices.

Other courses that may be used to fulfill this requirement include:  CS 412513,  514525526; Math 234, 319, 320, 321, 322, 340, 375, 419, 431, 443, 461, 475, 521, 541, 542, 567, 571; Stat 309, 310, 311, 312. For the purposes of this requirement, Math 375 may not be combined with Math 234, 320, or 340, and CS 412 may not be combined with CS 416.

(3) Advanced Comp Sci courses: a total of six Comp Sci courses:

(3a) One course chosen from CS 577 (recommended), or CS 520. Students who intend to do graduate work in computer science should take both CS 577 and CS 520.

(3b) Two courses chosen from CS 536, CS 537, CS 538, CS 552, CS 564, or CS 640. CS 536 and CS 538 may not both be used to satisfy requirement (3b).

(3c) One course chosen from CS 412, CS 416, CS 425, CS 513, CS 514, CS 515, CS 525, CS 540, CS 547, or CS 559. If either CS 412 or CS 416 is used to satisfy requirement (2b), neither course may be used to satisfy requirment (3c).

(3d) The remaining two courses are considered general electives, and should be chosen in consultation with a member of the Undergraduate Advising Committee. Each elective must be a Computer Sciences course numbered 400 or higher and carrying a minimum of 3 credits.

CS 550 may not be used to fulfill this requirement, and CS 638 and and CS 691-699 may only be used in exceptional cases. A description of the material studied must be included with the course plan. Note that CS 691 may not be used by itself; it must be followed by CS 692.

No course to be used more than once

No course may be used to satisfy more than one requirement for the Computer Sciences major.

Prerequisites

The student should be aware that some of the courses listed above have prerequisite courses not specifically required for the major. It is the student's responsibility to meet prerequisite requirements, but courses taken to meet such requirements do not necessarily count towards the major.

3. Certification of Competence in English

Students who first matriculated at a college or university before May 20, 1996, should consult their DARS report and major adviser for information regarding L&S requirements for Basic Composition and English Proficiency in the Major.

4. Honors Program and Honors Major

Students enrolled in the honors program may elect to take Computer Sciences courses for honors credit. With the permission of the course instructor and the Departmental Honors Advisor, any course numbered 300--699 may be taken for Honors credit. In addition, any course numbered 700 or above carries Honors credit for undergraduate students.

Here are the requirements for obtaining a Computer Sciences Major with Honors:

(1) Minimum GPA of 3.5, computed on all courses used for the major.

(2) A 2-semester senior thesis or project (CS 681682) involving at least 6 credits of work. (The student will be responsible for obtaining a thesis/project advisor. The thesis or project must be approved by both the thesis/project advisor and the Departmental Honors Advisor. A thesis or project must be filed with the Comp Sci Department before a final (passing) grade for CS 682 can be awarded.)

(3) One of the courses counted for Requirement (3d) for the Computer Sciences Major must be obtained at the 700 or 800 level, with a grade of B or better. (These courses must be approved by the Departmental Honors Advisor and should be selected to complement the student's degree plan and to aid in the student's senior thesis/project.)

5. Letters & Science Grade Requirements

To obtain a Computer Sciences major, a student must have at least a 2.0 grade point average in each of the following four groups of courses taken on this campus: (1) all courses carried for a grade; (2) all intermediate, advanced and intermediate/advanced required courses taken for a grade; (3) all Computer Sciences courses; (4) all upper-level Computer Sciences courses.

Here, ``Computer Sciences course'' means ``any Comp Sci course, even those merely cross-listed with Computer Sciences, whether or not on the student's Comp Sci Major Course Plan, as well as any non-CS course on that Course Plan''.

All grade point averages are computed by weighting each course grade by the number of credits for the course. In this, the first grade received for a course is always counted. The grade in a repeated course is counted in (2), (3), (4) only if the first grade was an F.

In Computer Sciences, courses numbered less than 300 are elementary, 300- and 400-level courses (with the exception of CS 475) are intermediate, course numbered 500 or higher (as well as CS 475) are advanced, and courses numbered 400 or higher are upper level.

We have tried here to give an accurate description of some of the Letters & Science Major requirements. However, in spite of our best efforts, our description may be incorrect and/or outdated, hence cannot be relied upon. For an authorative description of these, and of any other, Letters & Science Major requirements, speak to someone in the Dean's office at 70 Bascom Hall, or look into a current copy of the Bulletin of the College of Letters & Science or the Undergraduate Catalog of UW. For example, there you will find the 15-Credit Rule: At least 15 upper level required Computer Sciences credits must be earned while on campus.



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