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Computer
Science Major Requirements (11
3/4 ) |
-
Nine and three-quarter units departmental
units:
-
Five and one quarter units of core courses: Computer Science 121, 123, 125, 131, 201, 205, 211, 281, 301, and 381 taken twice.
- Four and a half
units in computer science taken from 221, 231, 241, 251, 301, 311, 321, 325, 331, 341, and 345. Note that a course used for requirement 1a. cannot be used tomeet this requirement, but 301 may count if taken a second time as a different topic.
- A maximum of one unit of Computer Science 161, 261, and Physics 220 may be used to replace courses in 1b. Note that Physics 220 counts as 1/2 unit toward the major (even though it is a one unit course). In addition, 1/2 unit of an internship approved in advance by the department may be applied toward this one unit maximum.
- Two supporting units
- Mathematics 110 and either Mathematics 160 or 200.
- Students planning to atttend graduate school in computer science should consult with an advisor for additional courses that should be taken.
- Writing/Communication requirement: At least five courses designated by the College as WL or LW, at least two courses and two units of which must be from inside the mathematics/computer science department and at least two courses of which must be from outside the department. Transfer students should consult with a departmental advisor about potential credit for courses taken else where. Departmental courses which qualify include 131, 205, 341, 345, 381, and other courses as designated by the instructor. Computer scientists need to know both how to write for other professionals in the field and how to report their work to others not necessarily trained in the discipline. Professional writing for computer scientists usually consists of program design documents or code description. Many of the department's courses focus on such writing. Explaining our work to nonprofesionals often requires significantly different skills. While some departmental courses emphasiz this type of writing, often the best training for this is writing courses inother disciplines. Consequently, computer science majors are required to take writing coures both inside and outside the department.
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|
Bachelor
of Science Degree |
A
Math or Computer Science major can choose
a B.S. degree instead of a B.A. if they
have at least 4 units from the natural
sciences, i.e., 4 units from Division
I that are not courses in the Math/CS
department. These 4 units can include
Physics 160, for the CS majors, or the
Physics course requirement for the Math
majors.
There
is no clear advantage to a B.S. instead
of a B.A. In most cases, prospective employers
probably don't care which degree you have.
A B.S. might be better for getting a technical
job in the computer field, or for jobs
that apply mathematical skills to scientific
or engineering problems; a B.A. might
be better for most jobs that do not fit
these categories. There are, however,
some specific jobs where students have
been offered higher starting salaries
if they have a B.S. than if they have
a B.A.
Often, the Bachelor of Science degree is
chosen by students intending to go on to
engineering school or to a related
graduate program. Such students are
strongly encouraged to take Math 190, 201,
205, and at least one of Math 300 or 310
to prepare themselves for such a program.
CS 195 is also an
excellent course for this type of preparation.
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One
of the advantages of going to a small
college is the ability to take a Special
Project course with a professor on a topic
of particular interest to you. Is there
something special you would like to learn
about? Does the idea of doing research
with a faculty member interest you? Most
faculty members have projects that they
would like to get to, but haven't been
able to -- and these often make good research
projects. Check with your favorite teacher
to see what possibilities there might
be.
What
do you do with a Special Project? Well,
you could:
Give
a Presentation on Symposium Day:
Each spring, students doing special projects
are invited to give a presentation to
other students, faculty, and staff on the work
they've been doing. This can be an exciting
and rewarding experience. (It also goes
on your transcript.)
Present
a Talk at an Undergraduate Research Symposium;
or
Publish a Research Paper:
There are several regional meetings and
conferences held for presentations on
such research projects, and journals that
publish this type of research by undergraduates.
You don't need to prove a new theorem
to publish a paper; often a new way of
understanding something, a good exposition,
or experimentation with conjectures can
be good enough to warrant such a paper.
The Beloit Spring Symposium is one good
place to present such a talk. Others are
discussed in the page on Extracurricular
Activities.
Put
it on your Resumé:
Never underestimate the power of something
special on a resumé. Something
like this can make you look as good as
you are.
Write
an Honors Project:
The department gives honors credit for
students who do a project of sufficient
quality. (This is described in more detail
in the next section.)
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The
goals of the departmental honors program
in Mathematics and Computer Science are:
(1)
to encourage students to explore independently
a topic in mathematics or computer science
outside the scope of our formal curriculum,
and
(2) to enhance students' abilities to
communicate mathematical and computer
scientific ideas.
Eligibility:
To be invited to participate to the honors
program, a student must have completed
six terms of credit work, have declared
a major in Mathematics or in Computer
Science, and have a GPA greater than 3.0
overall and greater than 3.2 in courses
in the major (meaning all mathematics
and CS courses taken at Beloit, including
Physics 160 if taken). Other declared
majors with six terms of credit work and
a GPA greater than 3.0 may apply for admission
to the department chair within the first
two weeks of a semester.
Activities:
Honors students in mathematics either
engage in original research or exposit
and demonstrate thorough knowledge of
a piece of mathematics done by others.
For computer science students, a broader
range of activities may be appropriate,
such as designing or implementing software.
In either case, the student works under
the supervision of an advisor, who helps
the student attain the level of excellence
in both content and exposition that the
College expects of honors work.
The
honors project involves independent study,
a written paper, an oral presentation
in the departmental colloquium, and a
second oral presentation to a broader
audience. All honors project activities
should normally be completed by one month
before the end of the student's last term
at the College.
An
honors student must enroll for credit
in one or two courses for which departmental
honors is to be recorded. The normal and
most convenient way to do so is to register
for Mathematics Colloquium or Computer
Science Colloquium in the semester before
the last semester at the College; then
preparing the colloquium talk and paper
constitutes the project, and the oral
presentation to a broader audience can
take place in the subsequent semester
(exceptions are possible). Alternatively,
the honors work can take place in connection
with a regular course or a Special Projects
course.
Examples
of suitable fora for the presentation
to a broader audience are:
Fall: Argonne Undergraduate Research
Symposium, Pew Research Symposium;
Spring: the College's Student Research
Symposium, annual meeting of the Wisconsin
Section of the Mathematical Association
of America, Small College Computing
Conference.
Designation:
Successful completion of the honors program
results in "Departmental Honors"
appearing on the transcript, together
with the title of the project. The decision
to award a degree with departmental honors
is made by the department chair in consultation
with the student's honors advisor and
the other members of the department. The
decision is based on the quality of the
honors paper, of the colloquium presentation,
and of the presentation to a broader audience,
together with the student's grades in
departmental courses since admission to
the program and other ways in which the
student may have achieved distinction.
