Department of Computer Science

Admission to the Computer Science major is an important step on the path to completing the Bachelor's degree, and is necessary before students can register for most upper division CS courses (i.e., CS 3xx or CS 4xx courses).

  • Admission is not automatic: students must complete the opt-in form to begin the process.
  • Admission is guaranteed, once the required lower-division courses have been completed.
  • The opt-in form is available for the first eight weeks each term and should be submitted in the term after a student has completed all required lower-division courses.
  • Students who have satisfied the requirements and complete the opt-in in a given term will be formally admitted for the following term.
  • We encourage students to complete the opt-in form early so that their requests can be processed before registration opens for classes in the following term.

Requirements for Admission to the CS Major

Current requirements for admission to the CS major are listed in the PSU Bulletin.

Students can use the following steps to verify that they have met these requirements:

  • Navigate to the DARS site. (This can also be accessed from myPSU by selecting the "Academics" menu and scrolling to the "Academic Planning" section.)
  • Make sure  "audit level" is set to "PSU - Undergraduate or Post-bac Audit" and then click "Continue".
  • In the drop-down box for "Degree Program," select "Computer Science - Admission Requirements - ADMIT-CS" (make sure you pick the option ending with "ADMIT-CS"); select the appropriate catalog year; and then click "Run Audit".
  • The audit report will  be displayed.  To save a copy, click the "Print/Download" link to display a printable version, and then use your browser to print or save it as a PDF file.

Completing the Opt-in Form

If the message at the top of your ADMIT-CS report is "All requirements identified below have been met" (shown in green), then congratulations, you are ready to opt-in!  Be sure to save a copy of the report as a PDF file, and then proceed to fill out the opt-in form (Odin login required).

If the message at the top of your ADMIT-CS report is "All requirements are complete using in-progress courses", then you are making great progress, but will not be able to opt-in until the beginning of the next term.

If the message is "You're making progress: at least 1 requirement remains unmet", then you are not ready to complete the opt-in at this time, but you can review the items listed in the DARS report to confirm which requirements you have already satisfied, which ones are in progress, and which ones remain to be completed in a future term.

Upper Division CS Courses Before Admission

Students require at least 56 credits of upper division CS courses (or 52 credits for those using a Catalog from before Fall 2023).  However, there is also a requirement that students must complete at least 44 of those credits after admission.  As a result:

  • Students using the Fall 2023 catalog (or later) can take a maximum of 12 credits (3 courses) of upper division CS classes prior to admission.
  • Students using an earlier catalog can take a maximum of 8 credits (2 courses) of upper division CS classes prior to admission.

A limited number of specific upper division CS classes (CS302, CS350, and CS 486) are available to students before admission.

  • Students registering for these courses prior to admission must be careful to avoid exceeding the credit limits described above.
  • Students must have junior standing or higher (90+ credits) to register for these courses.
  • Credits for any other upper division CS courses taken prior to admission (as a result of an approved transfer, for example), will also count towards these limits.
  • Students should generally plan to take these courses in the same term that they complete the opt-in; taking these classes earlier than that may result in a gap in available courses that could delay progress in the major for one or more terms.
  • Students with special circumstances who plan to take any of these courses prior to opt-in should talk to their advisor to ensure they have a plan that will meet their needs.

Other courses that students might consider during the term when they opt-in, without impacting the credit limit, include ECE 341, general education courses (arts and letters/social science, or junior cluster courses, for example) or math electives.

Questions?

Please let us know if you need any help in understanding the requirements or process for admission: