Computer Science Advising
Every declared CS major and minor is assigned a CS faculty member as an academic advisor. (Undeclared students are assigned an advisor in their indicated area of interest.) Prior to class registration each semester, students meet with their advisor to discuss which courses the student should take.
SPRING 2025 CS Advising Notes
- Small changes to the CS major went into effect in Fall 2024. (These are small changes to the Math/Stat requirements and the Data Science requirement. Details are here, here, and here. Students who are already declared CS majors can stay on their original catalog.) Contact Prof. Sanft if you have questions.
- The new Minor in Data Science (administered through the Math and Stat department) has been approved and is now in the UNCA catalog.
- Current CS majors who did not take CSCI 183 may be able to substitute a higher programming course for the Data Science minor. Talk to the MATH/STAT department chair for substitution approval.
- CSCI 347 in Spring 2025 will satisfy the Data Science course requirement for the CS major (for students who declared their major prior to Fall 2024).
- We will continue to accept MATH 280 as a substitute for MATH 251 for the CS major (both concentrations).
- Undergraduate Research: Prof. Whitley, Rashid, and Van Wart are actively seeking students for research projects. There may be funding available for summer student researcher assistants. Contact these faculty to learn more about their projects.
General SPRING CS Advising Notes
- Planning to graduate this Spring?
- Register early! Ensure you get in to the courses you need to graduate.
- Verify that your plan checks all the boxes in GradPlan and verify that your plan does not contain schedule conflicts (two courses at the same time).
- Planning to graduate next Fall?
- Register early to ensure you get into the courses you need.
- Remember that some required courses are only offered in the Spring–see the course description in the catalog. (CSCI 313, 329 (even years), 338, 347, 364, 431, and MATH 251 and 295)
- Note: 338 is typically offered every semester, despite the catalog stating “spring”. Ask the department chair or your advisor about expected deviations from the catalog schedule.
- Computer Systems concentrators:
- There is a prerequisite chain of MATH 167 -> MATH 191 -> MATH 251 -> CSCI 302 -> CSCI 431, and since CSCI 302 is offered only in the fall and 431 only in the spring:
- You must complete MATH 167 by Spring (or summer) in order to graduate two years later
- You must complete MATH 251 by Spring to graduate the following year
- There is a prerequisite chain of MATH 167 -> MATH 191 -> MATH 251 -> CSCI 302 -> CSCI 431, and since CSCI 302 is offered only in the fall and 431 only in the spring:
General CS Advising Notes and FAQs
- Data Structures (CSCI 202) (with a grade of C or better) is a prerequisite for most upper level (300+) CS courses. Most CS majors should prioritize completing and doing well in that course.
- It is usually desirable to complete the MATH/STAT and PHYS (Computer Systems concentration) requirements as early as possible (to avoid conflicts with upper level CS courses that you want to take later). But it can be nice to save some LAC requirements for later semesters to avoid too many upper level CS courses
- You should sketch out a rough schedule plan for each semester from now until graduation and discuss it with your advisor. Remember that some courses are offered only in the fall or only in the spring, so plan accordingly.
- For financial aid purposes, you must be enrolled in at least 12 credits for full time status. Also, federal financial aid (“CPOS”) requires you to take 12 credits of required courses (courses required for your major(s) (not minors!) or toward the 120 hour graduation requirement). Therefore, students receiving federal financial aid should plan their program of study carefully to avoid losing available aid.
- Q: How many credits should I take?
- A: This depends on the student. Most students take at least 12 credits to maintain full-time status (which is required for things such as certain financial aid and on-campus housing agreements). Most full-time students take about 15 credits. Taking much more than 15 credits is usually not recommended, especially if your schedule includes multiple upper-level CS courses.
- Q: Should I take CSCI 18X and CSCI 201 simultaneously?
- A: This depends on the student. Many students take both and do well in both. However, some students struggle in both (and sometimes decide they don’t want to study CS!), which means they don’t learn the material as well, it hurts their GPA, and it can slow their progress toward graduation if they end up withdrawing from (or failing) a course. Students who are uncertain should consider taking CSCI 18X first, before enrolling in CSCI 201.
