Computer Science Policies
Admissions Policy
Admission to the computer science majors is selective. First-year applications may receive direct admission at the time they apply to UCSC based on their high school record and test scores. Admission to the major after a student has entered UCSC is based on the School of Engineering grade point average (SoE GPA) (performance in all School of Engineering and Physical and Biological Sciences courses attempted at UCSC, see the School of Engineering section of the catalog). An SoE GPA of at least 2.8 is expected for admission to the major. After the first three quarters, students must have completed the foundation courses for their major (listed below) and be able to complete the major within campus limits. Denials of admission to the major may be appealed by submitting a letter to the School of Engineering Undergraduate Office, addressed to the Computer Science Undergraduate Director, describing why the SoE GPA is not an accurate reflection of the student's potential.
Foundation Courses
The foundation courses for each computer science major are as follows:
Computer Science B.S. and B.A.: Computer Science 12A (or CMPS 5J and CMPS 11) and 12B; Computer Engineering 16; and Mathematics 19AB, or 20AB
Computer Game Design: Computer Science 12A (or CMPS 5J and CMPS 11) and 12B, Computer Engineering 16; and Mathematics 19AB, or 20AB.
UCSC students that have completed three or more quarters at UCSC must complete the foundation courses before they can declare a computer science major.
Disqualification and Satisfactory Progress in the Major
Students who do not make adequate progress in the computer science major may be disqualified from the major. Adequate progress normally means passing a minimum of three courses required for the major over every three consecutive quarters. (For part-time students, 15 credits attempted equals one full term.) Students who do not expect to meet this requirement should consult their faculty adviser and/or the undergraduate director for their major beforehand.
Students who receive a total of three grades of D, F, or No Pass in the key courses, Computer Science 12A, 12B, 13H, 101; and Computer Engineering 12 and 16, may, at the discretion of the department, be disqualified from the major.
The department may, at its sole discretion, disqualify from the major any student making two unsuccessful attempts in any one of the following principal courses commonly used to satisfy degree requirements:
Computer Science 12A, 12B, 13H, 101, 102, 104A, 104B, 105, 111, 112, 115, 116, 130, 132, 140, 160, 161, 180, 181, and 183;
Computer Engineering 12, 16, 100, 107, and 110;
Applied Mathematics and Statistics 10, 131, and 147;
Physics 5A, 5B, 5C, 6A, 6B, and 6C;
Chemistry 1B and 1C;
Mathematics 19A-B or Mathematics 20A-B, and 23A.
Each grade of D, F, or No Pass counts as one unsuccessful attempt; each grade of W counts as one-half of an unsuccessful attempt.
The School of Engineering section contains additional disqualification policies, such as maintaining a 2.0 School of Engineering GPA and the ethics requirement, that apply to computer science majors.
Students at risk of disqualification must meet with an undergraduate adviser to discuss their options for continuing in the major.
Letter Grade Policy
The Computer Science Department requires letter grades for all courses applied toward the B.A., B.S., Computer Game Design B.S., and minor in computer science with the exception of two lower-division courses which students may elect to take Pass/No Pass. This policy includes courses required for the computer science majors but sponsored by other departments.
Transfer Students
Most courses in the computer science program at UCSC have a strong theoretical component to prepare the student for designing, as opposed to simply using, computer systems. Often, courses taken at other institutions which emphasize applications of current languages and computers do not count toward the computer science major at UCSC.
At UCSC, students are first introduced to programming using the programming language Java. The core programming sequence, courses 12A/L and 12B/M (or 13H/L, which covers both 12A/L and 12B/M), exposes students to both Java and C. Many upper-division courses that involve programming use the C and C++ programming languages. Transfer students who are not familiar with both Java and C may need to take a remedial course. Students familiar with C++ and Unix should find the transition to Java and C relatively simple.
Please refer to the School of Engineering section of the catalog for the policy regarding transfer students.
School of Engineering Policies
Please refer to the School of Engineering section of the catalog for additional policies that apply to all School of Engineering programs. These policies include admission to the major, limits on the number of times courses can be attempted, and the need for computer science students to obtain preapproval before taking courses elsewhere.
Preparation for the Major
It is recommended that high school students intending to apply to the computer science major have completed four years of mathematics (through advanced algebra and trigonometry) and three years of science in high school. Comparable college mathematics and science courses completed at other institutions also serve to properly prepare a student for the computer science major.
:charizardli ck: 
:flaffylick:
:raichu lick: 
:giratin alick: 
:riolulick : 
1 – OMGITSJAD
