3. Application to Major

3.1. CLA Computer Science BA Application

Application Link

Introduction

Once students have been admitted to the College of Liberal Arts, they may pursue admission to the Computer Science major. Admission to the major is competitive and is based on an unbracketed Technical GPA from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities courses. Students should be careful to follow the steps and deadlines listed below. Eligible students need to apply online at z.umn.edu/applycsciba.

Application Process

Students are eligible to apply for Computer Science major status once they have met the following minimum requirements:

 Completed the following courses with a C- or better or have the courses in progress during the current application cycle:

  • Math 1271 or 1371  (Calculus I)
  • Math 1272 or 1372  (Calculus II)
  • CSci 1133, or 1113, or 1103
  • CSci 1933 (if 1133 is taken), or 1913 (if 1113 or 1103 are taken)
  • CSci 2011

Students must have an appropriately connected CSCI I and CSCI II sequence (CSCI 1133 & 1933, CSCI 1113 & 1913, CSCI 1103 & 1913). While any of these appropriately connected sequences are acceptable, CSCI 1133 & CSCI 1933 is the recommended sequence.

Students are only eligible to apply to the major two times. 

Technical GPA

The Technical Grade Point Average (Technical GPA) is calculated using your University of Minnesota - Twin Cities grades in the courses listed in the link provided in this sentence. Courses taken at other institutions may fulfill degree requirements; however, they will not be included in the technical GPA calculation.

An "unbracketed" Technical GPA will be used for admission to the major. This means that all attempts at a course (which resulted in a letter grade of A - F) or its equivalent will be used to calculate the Technical GPA. The Technical GPA is used in the admission to the major process.

The technical GPA can be found on a "What If" APAS Report for the BA in Computer Science.

Admission Standards

Admission to the Computer Science major is a competitive process based on two factors:

  • The successful completion of specific technical courses (as listed above)
  • The student's technical (unbracketed) grade point average (GPA) for courses taken at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
    • Students with a 3.2 technical GPA will have guaranteed admission to the major
    • Students below a 3.2 technical GPA, but above a 2.00 technical GPA, will be considered for admission to the major based on space available in the program
    • Students below a 2.00 Technical GPA will automatically be denied
  • Students may only apply to the major twice. After the second denied application, students will need to choose a different major. 

Application Deadlines

Applications for the Computer Science major are accepted during two periods each academic year:

Admission Term

Applications Begin

Application Deadline

Spring semester

March 1

Last day of spring classes

Fall semester

October 1

Last day of fall classes

Please apply as soon as possible.  Early application will allow us to better understand how the demand for the Computer Science major may impact the technical GPA cutoff point required for admission and to advise students accordingly.

Admission Notifications

Students will be notified of their admission decision once all grades have posted for the semester and a review has been done. Students applying in fall should expect email notifications in early January. Students applying in spring should expect email notifications in late May or early June.

Historical Admission Results

Admission to the major is based on the space available. This is to ensure students who are admitted to the program can register for required classes as they need them and graduate in a timely manner. Below you will see a table of historical admission statistics to provide a sense of how competitive it has been in previous semesters. Keep in mind that every cycle is different. The statistics below only include CLA applicants. CSE applicants are competing for admission to the major in the same pool as CLA applicants.

SemesterApplicantsAdmittedPercentageLowest Tech GPA Admitted
Fall 2015765369.74%2.400
Spring 2016916268.13%2.400
Fall 20161046562.50%2.500
Spring 2017985556.12%2.500
Fall 20171449868.06%2.500
Spring 20181117264.86%2.500

3.2. CSE Computer Science BS Application

CSE students are usually accepted into the B.S. program upon admission to upper division. Students should apply online when they have completed or they are currently enrolled in Calc I, Calc II, CS I (CSci 1133, 1103, 1113, or 1901), CSci II (CSci 1933, 1913, or 1902), and CSci 2011. Failure to apply in a timely manner will result in a major declaration hold which may prevent future registration.

Information on applying to a major in CSE can be found here.

Here is part of that page:

"Admission to a major in the College of Science and Engineering is a competitive process based on the successful completion of specific technical courses and a grade point average (GPA) based on technical courses (the technical GPA). Students who have completed the necessary technical courses and have a 3.2 or above technical GPA at the end of fall semester will be guaranteed admission to that major.
All other students who have completed the necessary technical coursework for their intended major (as identified by each department) will be considered for admission to that major on a space-available basis."

Students applying for the computer science B.S. should have completed the following courses by the end of the semester they submit their online application: Calc I, Calc II, CSci I (CSci 1133, 1103, 1113, or 1901), CSci II (CSci 1933, CSci 1913, or 1902), and CSci 2011. Each course must have been completed with a C- or better. Admission to the major is based on the unbracketed technical GPA. This is the GPA in all attempts of Computer Science, Math, Statistics and other technical courses required for science or engineering degrees. More information on the technical GPA can be found here. CSE students can check their technical GPA on their APAS report. Only classes taken at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities count towards the technical GPA.

Note if the GPA in technical courses is not sufficiently high, the college reserves the right to deny admission to the major. Students are also advised not to delay application to the major.

Historical Admission Results

Admission to the major is based on the space available. This is to ensure students who are admitted to the program can register for required classes as they need them and graduate in a timely manner. Below you will see a table of historical admission statistics to provide a sense of how competitive it has been in previous semesters. Keep in mind that every cycle is different. The statistics below only include CSE applicants. CLA applicants are competing for admission to the major in the same pool as CSE applicants.

SemesterApplicantsAdmittedPercentageLowest Tech GPA Admitted
Fall 201515514593.55%2.400
Spring 201615214494.74%2.400
Fall 201617715688.14%2.500
Spring 201717515588.57%2.500
Fall 201718316690.71%2.500
Spring 201818316992.35%2.500

3.3. Changing Majors or Adding a Major

Students wishing to switch to the CSci major or add the CSci major to their existing degree plan should begin with their college advising office. Be sure to clearly specify that you are either changing or adding the CSci major. Acceptance is based on the same criteria as acceptance to the major described in section 3.1 (for CLA) and 3.2 (for CSE) for a change in major or major addition.

3.4. Transferring Between CLA and CSE

Students wishing to transfer from CLA to CSE to obtain a B.S. degree, or from CSE to CLA to receive a B.A. degree, must file a Change of College Form online. The following One Stop page describes the process. Pay particular attention to the application deadlines. Students transferring to CSE should refer to this website for admission criteria and information sessions.

3.5. Transfer Students

Students transferring to the University of Minnesota from another school and wishing to select Computer Science as their major should first consult with the appropriate CSE or CLA admissions counselor. Some transfer students will be admitted as pre-majors who will still need to apply to the major (detailed in 3.1 for CLA and 3.2 for CSE). Some transfer students will be admitted as major students will not need to apply to the major. This is based on the transfer work a student has completed at the time of admission to the university. Transfer students will meet either a college advisor (pre-major students) or a departmental advisor (major students) during the orientation day organized by either CSE or CLA.
https://www.cs.umn.edu/book/export/html/46351
www.cs.umn.edu
crawl=CC-MAIN-2018-26
14140
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:7PY6BUJAAYQQAVMSKSCNSECNHL47XLJP
<urn:uuid:822a9b67-0045-4679-874d-2d49a406389c>
2018-06-21T20:16:05Z
54.225.121.103
application/xhtml+xml
sha1:FYNIGNQMCNN3ATU7CSZL6LJ2SWFFMKLG
<urn:uuid:22fceb03-a859-40bc-a352-d452f0848a4c>
https://www.cs.umn.edu/book/export/html/46351
response
<urn:uuid:c4767d1e-6bf8-4a0a-9335-dcbd64a7f97d>
robots: classic
hostname: ip-10-158-201-18.ec2.internal
software: Nutch 1.6 (CC)
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2018-26
operator: Common Crawl Admin
description: Wide crawl of the web for June 2018
publisher: Common Crawl
format: WARC File Format 1.0
conformsTo: http://bibnum.bnf.fr/WARC/WARC_ISO_28500_version1_latestdraft.pdf