Advice for Potential Computer Science Majors
College of Arts and Sciences
Advising with Wallace Mayo
is by appointment (phone 974-4483) in the
A&S Advising Services,
for students who:
All others should contact Mrs. Mayo by e-mail for an appointment. She does not
work summers.
Students who have completed an undergraduate degree, regardless of the
major, should consider the
Master of Science degree in Computer Science through the College of
Engineering. Check The Graduate School
admission requirements,
and then contact the
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS).
For job/career information, contact
Career Services.
Note: Students who enter UT before Fall, 2008, may get a CS degree from the
A&S College, but in most cases must complete the degree by Summer, 2014.
Please check with your advisor to see if an earlier date applies.
All students who meet the College of Engineering admission requirements
have the option of getting a CS degree from EECS.
The advice below is for Arts and Sciences CS majors, but much will also apply to the CS degree in EECS.
- Schedule computer science courses
as soon as possible to avoid taking exclusively CS your last year.
Take math every
semester until you complete the requirements. Take Math 300 as soon
as you complete Math 142; it is the gateway to many CS courses.
CS classes expect mathematical maturity.
- Transfer students should meet with
Wallace Mayo once they arrive
at UT to get an evaluation of CS course work completed elsewhere.
Before that meeting the student should try to determine the UT courses
for which credit will be granted. This is best done by checking the
catalog descriptions of the UT courses in question, reading the web page
for each course, and examining the required course text books.
Do not schedule a meeting until you have done this.
-
Computer Science 102 is a problem solving course that requires,
at a minimum, high school algebra. Class attendance is essential,
and since 102 is demanding and time consuming, you will
need to manage time wisely in order to do well.
Students who get behind typically cannot catch up. CS 102
or its equivalent or proficiency (see the next item) is
a strict prerequisite for CS 140 and CS 160. Once 102 has
been completed, a strong student who needs to speed up graduation
may take 140 and 160 the same semester,
providing the remaining course work is light. 102 and 140 may
not be taken concurrently.
- The Computer Science Department
does not offer proficiency exams. On the other hand, a student who
knows C or C++ well and has adequate programming skills
may skip CS 102 and register for 140.
A petition to waive 102 will be required after
completing 140.
- Undergraduates are required to apply to the CS Department for admission to
the major. Students who have made a grade of C or better in CS 140, CS 160,
and Math 141, and who have kept their noses clean, will be accepted. Apply
during the semester that you are enrolled in the last of the three courses.
Applications are available in Claxton 203. It is not necessary
to have completed Math 142 or the lab science sequence.
- Watch your grades! You must make a grade
of C or better in courses required for the major, including all
math courses and English 360 (or 355 if you prefer).
Petitions to count a grade of D toward
graduation will be denied.
- Look at your DARS and formulate a plan of study to ensure that you
have completed all
prerequisites before a course you need is offered. Some
upper division courses are taught only once a year, and few if
any CS courses are offered during the summer. Stay
alert to prerequisites and the schedule of course offerings.
Example:
Math 141 --> Math 142 --> Math 300 --> CS 311 -- >CS 380 (often Spring only)
This shows that CS 380, usually taught only Spring semester, has a
four semesters string of prerequisites. Plan ahead!
- For your lab science sequence, consider
Physics
135-136 .
This sequence is required for the CS degree in EECS. Be aware that
Math 141 is a co-requisite for Physics 135.
- Math 371 may be substituted for
CS 370;
CS 471 and 472 are cross-listed with math (they
are the same as Math 471 and Math 472).
Check prerequisites before enrolling.
- CS 411, Math 400, or Math 411 may serve as a Capstone course under pre-2004 catalogs.
- English 355 may be substituted for English 360.
- Math 323 may be substituted for Math 231 for the CS major but not
for the math minor.
- Consider getting a math minor. In addition to the math
required for a CS major, the math minor may require only
three additional hours of course work. A typical plan is:
- choose Math 231 to use as an upper division CS;
- choose CS 370 or Math 371;
- choose Math 400 as a Foreign Studies;
- choose Math 400 as a Foreign Studies;
a petition may be required under some catalogs;
- take three hours of additional upper division math,
excluding Math 399, 401, 405, and 490.
- Note: CS 311 and 380 do not count toward the math minor;
they do count toward the math major.
- Read the catalog and visit
http://www.cs.utk.edu for additional information. This page
is not intended to be comprehensive.