Choosing Your Electives - Requirements for both CS Majors include nine elective courses broken down
into these categories:
- Both majors also have a "free elective" component. In Engineering
these are the Advisor-Approved Electives while
in Arts they are the College Electives.
- In reading the details below, understand that when we say "a
3000+ course" we mean that the course number is "3000 or above."
And when we refer to a course in this context we do not mean seminars like
CS 7x90.
- Extra Courses. In addition to those
courses being used to fulfill college or field requirements, it is not unusual
for students to have "extra" courses that are not used toward any
degree or major requirements.
CS Electives All CS majors are required to take two Computer Science courses at or above the
4000 level. Note: CS 4999 can not be used as a CS elective. The two CS 4000+ electives are normally selected from the following
group: Visit the Course Conversion website for the 3 digit course numbers used prior to summer 2008 | Course Number | Course Name |
|---|
| CS 4110 | Programming Languages and Logics | | CS 4120 | Introduction to Compilers | | CS 4300 | Information Retrieval | | CS 4302 | Web Information Systems | | CS 4320 | Introduction to Database Systems | | CS 4420 | Computer Architecture | | CS 4450 | Computer Networks | | CS 4620 | Computer Graphics I | | CS 4700 | Foundations of Artificial Intelligence | | CS 4702 | Artificial Intelligence: Uncertainty and Multi-Agent Systems | | CS 4740 | Introduction to Natural Language Processing | | CS 4780 | Machine Learning | | CS 4812 | Quantum Information Processing | | CS 4860 | Applied Logic | | CS 5150 | Software Engineering | | CS 5430 | System Security | | CS 5410 | Intermediate Computer Systems | | CS 5420 | Parallel Computer Architecture | | CS 5300 | Architecture of Large-Scale Information Systems | | CS 5640 | Computer Animation | | CS 5643 | Physically Based Animation for Computer Graphics | | CS 5620 | Interactive Computer Graphics |
Note: Plan your schedule accordingly. || The CS Project The CS project requirement can be fulfilled with any one of the following:
CS 4121 - Practicum in Compilers CS 4321 - Practicum in Database Systems CS 4411 - Practicum in Operating Systems CS 4450 - Computer Networks CS 4621 - Computer Graphics Practicum CS 4701 - Practicum in Artificial Intelligence CS 5150 - Software Engineering
CS 5410 - Intermediate Computer Systems CS 5450 - Advanced Computer Networks
CS 6670 - Machine Vision
A grade of C- or better is required. || The Math Elective The Math Elective is a 3000+ course that has a rigorous mathematical
content. There are only two exceptions to the 3000+ rule: ENGRD 2700
(Probability and Statistics) and MATH 2930 (or MATH 2220). Courses in Mathematics and Theoretical and Applied
Mechanics obviously qualify. But courses like CS 4860 (Applied Logic) and ECE
3100 (Introduction to Probability and Random Signals) are also acceptable. Math courses that do NOT qualify as Math Electives for CS majors include courses
like: Math 4030 "History of Math"; and Math 4080 "Mathematics in Perspective". A grade of C- or better is required. 3 credit minimum. Here are examples of courses that qualify as Math Electives || The Technical Electives The Technical Electives are two 3000+ level courses that total six or more credit hours. Normally these courses
are chosen from application areas such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics,
Economics, Linguistics, and all the Engineering fields including CS. The courses
must engage the student in a technical, quantitative way. Courses that simply
involve writing about science or technology do not qualify, e.g., Government
3071 (Introduction to Public Policy) or Communications 3520 (Scientific Writing
for the Mass Media). A grade of C- or better is required. Courses must be 3 or more credit hours. Still not sure? Here is more on Technical Electives. || The Specialization (formerly "The Minor") The CS Specialization involves nine or more credit hours at the 3000+ level. Absolutely no CS courses are allowed.
The three courses must be related to each other. Frequently, the three courses
are from the same department, e.g., OR&IE 3300 (Optimization I), OR&IE
3310 (Optimization II), and OR&IE 4330 (Discrete Models). However, a great
strength of Cornell is the multitude of interdisciplinary threads that cut across
departmental boundaries. Thus, Psychology 4150 (Concepts, Categories, and Word
Meanings), Philosophy 3320 (Philosophy of Language), and Linguistics 5530 (Representation of Structure in Vision and Language) define an acceptable Specialization. Not all fields are created equal, and it may be more of a challenge finding
3000+ level courses in some fields than in others. Careful planning and creative
course selection is especially important when you find that a field has limited
offerings at or above the 3000 level. A student specializing in Fine Arts, for
example, might find only two 3000+ level courses offered by that department that
he is qualified to take. That student must then find a third course, perhaps
one in another field, that will fill out his specialization. Another common
example of this can be found in the field of neurobiology, where much of the
"junior" level work is numbered at the 2000 level. Regardless of these
departmental variances, only 3000+ level courses will be counted toward the Specialization. We mention four very interesting "official specializations" in the
Arts College. These include the concentration in Cognitive Studies and the concentration
in Science and Technology Studies. The Information Science concentration, and the Computing and the Arts concentration are also available to students. The word "concentration" is Arts
College jargon for "specialization" and the word "official"
means that completion of the concentration requirements is certified on the
transcript. These two concentrations have deep connections to CS and should
be explored by students who want a particularly broad education. Though the Specialization has traditionally been thought of as a "minor"
within the field of Computer Science, it should not be construed as such. The
College of Engineering offers "official" minors in second disciplines,
including Computer Science. To complete a minor in one of these second disciplines
requires a minimum of 18 credits and six courses. Thus, a student majoring in
Computer Science may choose to specialize in ECE by taking the three requisite
3000+ level courses in ECE, whereas a student majoring in Computer Science who
chooses to minor in ECE must take additional courses, as set by the field of
ECE. Finally we mention that the courses used for your Specialization do not have
to be technical in nature, and they do not have to have an explicit connection
to CS. It is an arena wherein you can tap the great intellectual resources of
the University. A grade of C- or better is required. Courses used for the Specialization must
be 3+ credit hours each, totaling at least 9 credit hours. || The Advisor-Approved Electives (Engineering)
Six credits of coursework from any academic program at Cornell.
"Advisor-Approved" means that you have justified your selection to
your advisor and that your advisor has approved the selection. It makes good
sense to use these electives for lower-level introductory courses that may be
required prerequisites for the 3000+ technical elective courses and the courses
used to satisfy the Specialization. Phys Ed, and ROTC courses below the 3000-level, do not qualify
for academic credit and can not be used toward the degree requirements in CS.
Up to 6 credits of advisor approved electives may be allowed for ROTC courses at the 3000-level or above. || Free College Electives (Arts and Sciences)
Fifteen credit hours of courses outside CS. The courses used in this category
cannot be used fulfill any other requirement for the CS major.
Note: It makes good sense to use the Arts electives to qualify for upper-level
courses in other categories. For example, Psych 3470 "Psychology of Visual
Communications" has Psych 1101 as a prerequisite. Psych 1101 could be used
to fulfill 3 credits of Arts Electives, while Psych 3470 could be used in a Psych
Specialization. || Extra Courses Extra courses are those not being used to fulfill any specific undergraduate
degree requirements, however, they should not be thought of as wasted credit hours. Your
education is made up of many elements. Some elements are graded and help to
indicate progress in specific subject areas. Other elements are not graded and
do not show up on your transcript. Each element plays a role in the overall
process, however. So too it is with extra courses. While they represent graded
work on the transcript, their importance lies in the fact that they ARE a part
of your overall education, and not whether they fulfill a specific requirement. ||
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