Welcome to PSU Computer Science!
Unabridged Advice and Answers for
Postbac Students Interested IN Computer
Science
Warren Harrison, Chair
Barbara Sabath, UG Advisor
Sara Smith, Graduate Coordinator
What Are My Choices
If I Already Have a B.S. Degree???
• A Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science
– may be quicker for some students
– allows for modest performance
– broader topical coverage by design
• A Master’s Degree in Computer Science
– may be quicker for some students
– requires superior performance
– more focused study (but can follow a broad
curriculum if you want)
• Not really a significant difference in starting
salary
Speaking of Salaries and Jobs …
• We see our students starting at between $55K
and $85K (of course some start much higher).
• Hiring in 2014 is performance based. As a new
graduate, you’ll need to demonstrate your
programming and problem solving ability
during the interview.
– See:
– courses.csail.mit.edu/iap/interview/materials.php
• We want you to be very, very successful
What Are My Choices
If I Already Have a B.S. Degree???
• A Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science
– must complete all undergraduate major UG
requirements besides just CS courses
– Comm 220 (Public Speaking); Wr 227 (Technical
Writing); Mth 251, 252, 253 (Calculus I, II, III);
Approved Lab Science; ECE 341 (Computer
Hardware); Stat 451 (Applied Statistics for
Engineers and Scientists); Approved mathematics
electives; Approved science electives
Plus
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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)
What Are My Choices
If I Already Have a B.S. Degree???
• A Master’s Degree in Computer Science
– must complete (or demonstrate mastery) most
undergraduate computer science coursework before
applying to the graduate program:
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CS 162 Introduction to Computer
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
CS 311 Computational Structures
CS 321 Languages and Compiler Design I
CS 333 Introduction to Operating Systems
CS 350 Algorithms and Complexity
Very Important
• You’ll need to get As and Bs (mostly As) in all
the preparatory CS coursework you take.
• Anything below a B- at the graduate level is
considered failing, so if you’re getting C’s or
even too many Bs, you won’t be a candidate
for the graduate program.
• And yes, if you repeat a class, the Admissions
Committee considers all your attempts.
Plus
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CS 581 Theory of Computation
CS 558 Programming Languages
CS 533 Concepts of Operating Systems
Three classes from a Track:
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Databases
Intelligent & Adaptive Systems
Languages
Security
Software Engineering
Systems
Theory
• Nine additional graduate level CS courses
Using Credits From
Your First Degree Program
• Chances are you have taken some (perhaps many) of
our required undergraduate courses, especially Math
and Science.
• See u.select to determine if your old course will
match one of our required courses:
– http://www.pdx.edu/admissions/uselect-courseequivalency-system or http://tinyurl.com/k548y7v
• Your school not in u.select? 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.
• WR227 (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 expectations of what
we expect of our students from these classes.
We won’t waive these courses for writing
reports or giving talks at school.
I’ve Taken Other CS Courses
Elsewhere - What About Those?
• If the course is in u.select, you can transfer it to
replace the corresponding PSU CS course.
• If the course isn’t in u.select, you’ll need to take a
Credit By Exam (CBE) to demonstrate that you
have gained (and retain) the knowledge and skills
that go with that course.
• CBE is available for all of our 100- and 200-level
major courses.
• You get one try at a CBE. If you fail it, you’ll need
to take the course.
I’ve Already Have an IT (or CIS) or
Networking Degree
• While valuable for a lot of things, it probably
won’t help you much in getting a Computer
Science Degree.
• Computer Science and IT/CIS are completely
different fields. Don’t expect many (if any) of your
courses to fulfill any of our requirements.
• Even students with a BA in Computer Science
may have a good deal of undergrad prep to do in
order to be admissible to a CS grad program.
A Couple of Things to Keep in Mind
• Advanced courses in Computer Science build
on earlier courses.
• It isn’t just about checking off courses – a
weak preparation in one class may mean
problems throughout the rest of your
program.
• We enforce prerequisites! If you haven’t had
the class, or done a CBE, you’ll be barred from
registering for advanced courses.
I Took My CS Classes a Long Time Ago
• Once again, it isn’t just about checking off
courses – a weak preparation in one class may
mean problems throughout the rest of your
program.
• If you can’t recall what you covered in a course,
or do the problems without peeking, you
probably need to retake it.
• What about self-study? It works for some people,
but not most, or even many. If it’s been a long
time, and you decide to “brush up” – cap it off
with a CBE to evaluate if you really did.
I’m Sure I can Learn All This Stuff On
My Own
• Maybe. Most people can’t.
• We aren’t going to help you beside providing a
syllabus. We’re not going to grade your
exercises or help you debug your programs.
You truly will be on your own.
• You’ll need to do Credit By Exam when you’re
done to establish that you have actually
mastered the material. Remember, you only
get one attempt at a CBE!
No, Really I Can …
• Again. Maybe. Most people can’t.
• We discourage people from trying to teach
themselves Computer Science (vs. brushing up
on existing knowledge) because it usually
doesn’t work and they waste a term studying
only to find they’ll have to take the class the
next time it is offered (which may not be the
next term). This can set their entire program
back as much as a year.
CS581
CS311
CS251
CS250
CS533
CS333
CS201, CS202
CS162, CS163
CS558
CS321
CS300
CS201, CS202
CS162, CS163
CS584
CS350
CS311
CS251
CS250
Scheduling
• Once again, we enforce prerequisites. Make sure
you take them into account when planning out
your program.
• Our admissions (to the upper division CS
program) is in the Fall and Spring. Typically
students begin with CS300 and CS311 which are
only offered in the Fall and Spring.
• All your lower division CS should be complete by
the time you are admitted and take CS300 and
CS311.
What’s This Admission Stuff?
• Once students have mastered all the lower
division course work, as documented by
course grades or CBE, they can apply to the CS
major (or in the case of postbacs, the grad
prep program).
• This allows us to assume a certain minimum
level of skill and knowledge among students in
the upper division courses.
What Do I Need In Order to be
Admitted to the Undergrad Program?
• CS Courses: CS162, CS163, CS201, CS202,
CS250, CS251 with grades of C PLUS a 2.0 GPA
over all attempts at these courses.
• Mth251, Mth252 (Calculus I and II)
• An approved Lab Science sequence
• WR227 and COMM 220
What Do I Need In Order to be
Admitted to the Grad Prep Program?
• CS Courses: CS162, CS163, CS201, CS202,
CS250, CS251 with grades of C PLUS a 2.0 GPA
over all attempts at these courses.
• However, to have a chance of getting admitted
to the graduate program, you really need to
complete all these courses with a minimum of
a B, and have NO retakes within the past few
years.
How Long Will It Take Me to Complete
My Degree?
• It depends
– How many classes will you take a term?
– Will you pass all of them on the first try?
– Have you already taken all the non-CS
requirements?
– Don’t forget the prerequisite structure
Entry Points to the Program
• No prior programming experience
– Start with CS161
• Programming experience
– Start with CS162
• Self-placement:
• Write a function that receives two parameters: an array
(or list) of integers and an integer value indicating the
number of elements in the array. Each element in the
array will be either a 0 (zero) or a 1 (one). The function
should count the number of zeros and the number of
ones in the array and return the larger of the two counts.
Typical Grad Prep Schedule
Year 1
• Fall: CS162
• Winter: CS163
• Spring: CS202
Year 2
• Fall: CS201, CS250
• Winter: CS251
• Spring: CS300, CS311
Year 3
• Fall: CS321, CS333
• Winter: CS558, CS350
• Spring: CS533, CS581
• Summer: GE
Year 4
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Fall: GE, GE, GE
Winter: GE, GE, GE
Spring: GE, GE, GE
Summer: GE, GE
QUESTIONS?