Bachelors Curriculum - Admitted 2014, 2015 & 2016

Students pursuing a B.S. in Computer Science must take a minimum of 360 units in the following categories: Computer Science, Mathematics/Probability, Engineering and Natural Sciences, Humanities and Arts, Required Minor, Computing @ Carnegie Mellon and Free Electives.

Curriculum Requirements Revised November, 2018

(requirements below are binding on students admitted Fall 2014, 2015 & 2016, students admitted prior to Fall 2014 should refer to curriculum information under Current Students)

Computer Science
The following computer science courses are required:

15-128: Freshman Immigration Course*
15-122: Principles of Imperative Computation**
15-150: Principles of Functional Programming
15-210: Parallel and Sequential Data Structures and Algorithms
15-213: Introduction to Computer Systems
15-251: Great Theoretical Ideas in Computer Science
15-451: Algorithm Design and Analysis

*Students with no prior experience with software tools (editors, scripting, code management, etc.) are encouraged to take 15-131: Great Practical Ideas in Computer Science concurrently with this course.

**Students with no prior programming experience take 15-112: Fundamentals of Programming before 15-122.

Communications Course (choose one)

15-221 Technical Communication for Computer Scientists (retired)
15-300 Research and Innovation in Computer Science
76-270 Writing for the Professions
17-200 Ethics and Policy Issues in Computing (approved, old number 08-200)

Algorithms & Complexity Elective (choose one)

15-354: Computational Discrete Mathematics
15-355: Modern Computer Algebra
15-453: Formal Languages, Automata, and Computability
15-455: Undergraduate Complexity Theory
15-456: Computational Geometry
15-458: Discrete Differential Geometry (approved as a substitute)
21-301: Combinatorics
21-484: Graph Theory
Others as designated by the CS Undergraduate Program

Applications Elective (choose one)

02-510: Computational Genomics
05-391: Designing Human-Centered Software
10-401: Introduction to Machine Learning (or 10-315)
11-411: Natural Language Processing
15-322: Introduction to Computer Music or 15-323 Computer Music Systems & Information Processing
15-381: Artificial Intelligence: Representation and Problem Solving
15-415: Database Applications
15-462: Computer Graphics
16-384: Robot Kinematics and Dynamics
16-385: Computer Vision
17-313: Foundations of Software Engineering (new course number)
Others as designated by the CS Undergraduate Program

Logics & Languages Elective (choose one)

15-312: Foundations of Programming Languages'
15-314: Programming Language Semantics (approved as a substitute)
15-316: Software Foundations of Security and Privacy (approved as a substitute)
15-317: Constructive Logic
15-414: Bug Catching: Automated Program Verification and Testing
15-424: Foundations of Cyber-Physical Systems
17-355: Program Analysis (approved as a substitute)
21-300: Basic Logic
80-310: Formal Logic
80-311: Undecidability and Incompleteness
80-413: Category Theory (approved as a substitute)
Others as designated by the CS Undergraduate Program

Software Systems Elective (choose one)

15-410: Operating System Design and Implementation
15-411: Compiler Design
15-418: Parallel Computer Architecture and Programming
15-440: Distributed Systems
15-441: Computer Networks
15-445: Database Systems (approved as a substitute)
Others as designated by the CS Undergraduate Program

Computer Science Electives (choose two)
Choose two courses from any SCS department, usually at the 200-level or above. Departments include Computer Science (15-xxx), Lane Center for Computational Biology (02-), Human- Computer Interaction Institute (05-), Institute for Software Research (08-,17-), Machine Learning (10-), Language Technologies Institute (11-) and the Robotics Institute (16-).

NOTE: The following courses do NOT count as Computer Science electives: 02-223, 02-250, 02-261, 05-341, 08-200, 08-532, 08-533, 15-351 (or any equivalent cross-listed courses to these courses). Check with your academic advisor before taking any new SCS courses to determine eligibility.

Mathematics & Probability
Five mathematics courses are required.

21-120: Differential and Integral Calculus
21-122: Integration and Approximation
21-127: Concepts of Mathematics
One of the following Linear Algebra courses: 21-241: Matrices and Linear Transformations; 21-242: Matrix Theory; 21-341: Linear Algebra
One of the following Probability courses: 15-359: Probability and Computing; 21-325: Probability; 36-217: Probability Theory and Random Processes; 36-225: Introduction to Probability Theory

Engineering & Natural Sciences
Four engineering or science courses are required, of which at least one must have a laboratory component and at least two must be from the same department. Courses with a primary focus on programming, computation or mathematics are not acceptable for science or engineering courses.

Courses meeting the lab requirement include:

02-261: Quantitative Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory
03-124: Modern Biology Laboratory (coreq 03-121)
09-101: Introduction to Experimental Chemistry (this 3 unit lab together with 09-105, Introduction to Modern Chemistry, satisfies the lab requirement)
09-221: Laboratory I: Introduction to Chemical Analysis
15-321: Research Methods for Experimental Computer Science
27-100: Engineering the Materials of the Future
33-104: Experimental Physics
33-228: Electronics I
42-203: Biomedical Engineering Laboratory (crosslisted with 03-206)
85-310: Research Methods in Cognitive Psychology
85-314: Cognitive Neuroscience Research Methods

The following courses from the Lane Center can be used to satisfy the Science and Engineering requirement and can be paired with a Biology [03-] course for two courses from one department:

02-223: Personalized Medicine: Understanding Your Own Genome
02-250: Introduction to Computational Biology (or 02-251 + 02-252)
02-261: Quantitative Cell and Molecular Biology Laboratory (also meets the lab requirement)

The following courses cannot be used to satisfy the Science and Engineering requirement:

03-511 Computational Molecular Biology and Genomics
03-512 Computational Methods for Biological Modeling and Simulation
06-262 Mathematical Methods of Chemical Engineering
09-103 Atoms, Molecules and Chemical Change
09-104 Fundamental Aspects of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry
09-108 The Illusion and Magic of Food
09-109 Kitchen Chemistry Sessions (nor 09-209)
09-231 Mathematical Methods for Chemists
12-215 Introduction to Professional Writing in CEE
12-271 Introduction to Computer Application in Civil & Environmental Engineering
18-090 Digital Media Interactions: Signal Processing for the Arts
18-099 Mobile App Design and Development
18-200 Emerging Trends in Electrical and Computer Engineering
18-202 Mathematical Foundations of Electrical Engineering
18-213 Introduction to Computer Systems
18-345 Introduction to Telecommunication Networks
18-411 Computational Techniques in Engineering
18-482 Telecommunications, Technology Policy & Management
18-487 Introduction to Computer & Network Security & Applied Cryptography
18-540 Rapid Prototyping of Computer Systems
19-101 Introduction to Engineering and Public Policy
19-211 Ethics and Policy Issues in Computing
19-350 SP TP: Research Methods & Statistics for Engineering & Public Policy Analysis
19-402 Telecommunications Technology, Policy & Management
19-403 Policies of Wireless Systems and the Internet
19-411 Global Competitiveness: Firms, Nations and Technological Change
19-448 Science, Technology & Ethics
27-410 Computational Techniques in Engineering
33-100 Basic Experimental Physics
33-115 Physics for Future Presidents
33-124 Introduction to Astronomy
33-232 Mathematical Methods of Physics
39-100 Special Topics: What Is Engineering?
39-200 Business for Engineers
42-201 Professional Issues in Biomedical Engineering

Humanities and Arts
All candidates for a bachelor's degree must complete a minimum of 63 units offered by the Dietrich College of Humanities & Social Sciences and/or the College of Fine Arts. The humanities and arts (or general education) courses for SCS students are to meet the distribution requirements found on the SCS Humanities and Arts page.

Required Minor
All CS undergraduates must complete a minor. Completion of a second major (or double degree) also satisfies this requirement. If permitted by the minor or second major department, courses taken in satisfaction for the minor or second major may also count toward any category other than required courses in computer science. More information can be found on the minor requirement page.

Computing @ Carnegie Mellon
All CMU students must take 99-10x Computing @ Carnegie Mellon.

Free Electives
A free elective is any Carnegie Mellon course. However, a maximum of nine units of Physical Education and/or Military Science (ROTC) and/or Student-Led (StuCo) courses may be used toward fulfilling graduation requirements.