Welcome to PSU’s Department of
Computer Science
Advice and answers for post baccalaureate students
interested in Computer Science
Warren Harrison, Department Chair
Barbara Sabath, Undergraduate Advisor
Rebecca Sexton, Graduate Advisor
Agenda:
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As a post-bac, you have options!
Bachelors or Masters…what’s the difference?
Overview of Bachelor’s Degree
What can I do to prepare for a Master’s degree?
• Grad Prep
• New Beginnings
Planning your program of study
Admissions to the Computer Science Dept.
Using credits and experience from your past
Questions?
What are your options?
1. Second Bachelor’s degree in
Computer Science
2. Master’s degree in Computer Science
Path #1 Second Bachelor’s Degree in Computer
Science
• Broader topical coverage than master’s program
• Begin any term
• Must complete all undergraduate major
requirements; 72 CS credits in addition to other
courses (Math, Science, etc.)
• Must maintain a C or better
• Completed in as little as four years
What makes us unique
- Many of our masters students do not hold
Computer Science undergraduate degrees
- We value diverse academic backgrounds
- We offer pathways for students to complete
the necessary coursework that prepares
them for our graduate program
- We don’t require any prior computer science
experience in order to pursue these
pathways
Path #2 Traditional Grad Prep Track
• Begin any term
• Must maintain a B or better
• Completed in as little as two years plus time required
for masters
Path #3 New Beginnings: Accelerated Grad Prep Track
• Cohorts begin summer term
• Highly accelerated, full-time program (16
credits/term)
• Acceptance to master’s program upon completion
• Completed in 9 months (July - March) plus time
required for masters
Bachelors or Masters?
Bachelor’s Degree:
Master’s Degree:
1. May be quicker
1. May be quicker
2. Performance
2. Performance
3. Broad study
3. Area of focus
Planning to get a Bachelor’s
Degree in Computer Science?
- Must complete all undergraduate major UG
requirements
- Including: Public Speaking (COMM 220),
Technical Writing (WR 227), Calculus (MTH
251, 252, 253), Approved Lab Science,
Statistics (STAT 451), Computer Hardware
(ECE 341), and other Math and Science
electives
Undergraduate major CS
Courses (72 credits total):
CS 162 Introduction to Computer Science
CS 163 Data Structures
CS 201 Computer Systems Programming
CS 202 Programming Systems
CS 250, 251 Discrete Structures I & II
CS 300 Elements of Software Engineering (4 credits)
CS 305 Social, Ethical, and Legal Issues (2 credits)
CS 311 Computational Structures (4 credits)
CS 321, 322 Languages and Compiler Design I & II
CS 333 Introduction to Operating Systems
CS 350 Algorithms and Complexity
CS 486 Introduction to Database Systems
CS 469, 470 Software Engineering Capstone I, II
Approved upper-division computer science electives (12 credits)
Planning to get a Master’s
Degree in Computer Science?
You don’t need a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer
Science in order to do the Master’s program.
We offer two options for graduate preparatory course
work for non-CS degrees
1. Grad Prep (traditional post-bac track)
2. New Beginnings (accelerated post-bac track)
Traditional Grad Prep Track
- 15% of the graduating class of 2014-15
- Begin taking classes any term
- Must complete (or demonstrate mastery) of most
undergraduate computer science coursework:
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
CS
162 Introduction to Computer Science
163 Data Structures
201 Computer Systems Programming
202 Programming Systems
250, 251 Discrete Structures I & II
300 Elements of Software Engineering
311 Computational Structures
321 Languages and Compiler Design I
333 Introduction to Operating Systems
350 Algorithms and Complexity
Possible Grad Prep (w/masters)
Schedule
Year 1 – Grad Prep (lower division)
Year 3 – Master’s program
Fall: CS161
Winter: CS162, CS250
Spring: CS163, CS251, CS201
Summer: CS202
Fall: CS533, Grad Elective (2)
Winter: CS558, Grad Elective (2)
Spring: Grad Elective (3)
Year 2 – Grad Prep (upper division)
Year 4 – Master’s program
Fall: CS300, CS311
Winter: CS321, CS350
Spring: CS333, CS581
Fall: Grad Elective (3)
Winter: Grad Elective (2)
New Beginnings
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Highly accelerated
9 month cohort (July – March)
No prior programming experience is required
16 hours a week in class
30+ hours a week out of class
Students are not allowed to work off campus
Not a vocational training program
New Beginnings
Admission to New Beginnings is required and
competitive
Applicants are expected to have:
• At least a year of mathematics beyond precalculus
• An undergraduate GPA of 3.5 of better
• GRE Scores are required: A Quantitative
score in the 70th percentile or above and a
Verbal score in the 50th percentile or above
Master’s Degree in Computer
Science (45 credits)
•Core
•Track
• CS 581 Theory of Computation
• CS 558 Programming Languages
• CS 533 Concepts of Operating
Systems
• Databases
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Intelligent & Adaptive Systems
Languages
Security
Software Engineering
Systems
Theory
•Additional courses (electives)
Keep in mind…
Advanced courses in Computer Science build
on earlier courses.
You must successfully pass or demonstrate
mastery (through CPL) in order to move
forward in our programs.
A weak preparation in one class can lead to
issues throughout the rest of your programs.
For that reason...
We enforce prerequisites!
Where do I begin?
We have multiple entry points to our post-bac
programs for second bachelor’s and grad prep
students
• No prior programming experience?
• Start with CS 161
• Some programming experience?
• Start with CS 162
• How should I know if I am ready for CS 162?
• There is a self-placement available from our
office to help you determine if you should begin
at CS 161 or CS 162
Scheduling is IMPORTANT
for many reasons
1. We enforce prerequisites! Consider this when
planning your program of study
2. Departmental Admissions is required in order
to complete upper division CS courses
3. Planning to do the master’s? You must have
all grad prep courses completed before you
start.
Departmental Admissions
Grad Prep or Second Bachelor’s? Same application
and deadlines. Different requirements.
• Admissions takes places twice a year: Fall term
(July 1st deadline) and Spring term (February 1st
deadline)
• Students begin with CS 300 and CS 311 which
are only offered in the Fall and Spring
• All lower division CS courses should be completed
and mastered by the term you are applying to
• Documented by grades or Credit for Prior
Learning (CPL)
*CS 202 Programming Systems
- For those who do not complete CS 202 at PSU, you will need to
demonstrate that you have gained an acceptable level of
proficiency in programming through one of our Proficiency
Demonstrations.
- This examination is part of the final if you complete the course
at PSU.
- Proficiency exams are scheduled in February and July each year.
Plan ahead to take this as it is part of the departmental
admissions requirement if you do not complete the course here.
Applying to the Department
for Grad Prep
• CS courses: 162, 163, 201, 202*, 250, and 251
with a 3.0 GPA (all attempts will be considered)
• Must complete all Grad Prep courses with a
minimum grade of a B (for department and
graduate admissions)
• Recommended: Take the GRE while completing
the lower division Grad Prep courses
• All A’s in the Grad Prep will not guarantee you admission
to the graduate program if you do not meet with the
minimum GRE scores
• Quantitative: 60th percentile Verbal: 25th percentile
Applying to the Department
for a Second Bachelor’s Degree
• CS courses: 162, 163, 201, 202*, 250, and
251 with an overall GPA of 2.0 (all attempts will
be considered)
• MTH 251 & 252 (Calculus I and II)
• An approved Lab Science sequence
• COMM 220
• Required courses outside of CS must be
completed with a minimum grade of a C-
Using Credits from Your First
Degree
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Chances are you have taken some (perhaps many) of our
required undergraduate courses, especially Math and
Science.
• See transferology.com to determine if your old courses
will match one of our required courses:
- https://transferoloy.com/school/pdx
- If your school is not in transferology, you’ll need to
contact the course’s home department here at PSU
and see if your course is equivalent to the one taught
here.
- Make sure you have your syllabus, samples of your
exams/homework and the course appears on your
DARS report.
I Have Lots of Experience
There are some courses you can waive on the
basis of documented professional experience.
• WR 227 (Technical Writing) and/or COM220
(Public Speaking) can be waived if you can
provide us with materials documenting your
experience writing and/or giving presentations at
work. We will evaluate these materials based on
our students from these classes.
We won’t waive these courses for writing reports or
giving talks in courses at school.
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I’ve Taken Other CS Courses
Elsewhere – What about those?
• If the course is in transferology, you can
transfer it to replace the corresponding
PSU CS course.
• If the course isn’t in transferology, you’ll
need to take a Credit for Prior Learning
(CPL) to demonstrate that you have
gained (and retain) the knowledge and
skills that go with that course.
• CPL is available for all of our 100- and
200- level CS major courses.
Thank you!