CS Minor

Updates for Spring 2023:

• Students who have not yet taken COMPSCI 121 should refer to the CICS Introductory Course Revision webpage as COMPSCI 121 will no longer be offered: https://www.cics.umass.edu/content/cics-introductory-course-revision

CS MINOR LIST

Students intending to minor in Computer Science must complete the CS Minor Intent form. **

Many of our courses are only open to CS majors, so being added to the CS Minors List will allow the best service to our minors through the override registration process. Submission of the form does not guarantee course enrollment, so students pursuing the minor must be flexible when planning schedules over several semesters in order to complete the minor requirements before graduation. CS Minor Intent forms are reviewed two times a year with deadlines preceding Spring and Fall registration periods.

FORM AVAILABILITY: CS Minor Intent forms are available after Add/Drop ends through the stated deadline (Oct 1 or Mar 1).  **Intent forms are accepted until 5 PM EST/EDT on the deadline. 

IMPORTANT TREND:  Given a trend in demand for CS courses by a steadily increasing population of CS Majors, we may not have seats for all interested students to complete the CS Minor, even for students on the CS Minor List.

QUALIFICATIONS and eligibility FOR THE CS MINORS LIST

1. The CS Minor is subject to the Academic Regulation governing the Application of Courses towards Multiple Credentials (Sen. Doc. No. 15-030).  Effective September 1, 2019, the Multiple Credentials Policy will be strictly enforced by the Undergraduate Program to ensure that no more than two courses are used to fulfill the requirements of more than one credential.  Due to significant overlap in coursework, we will no longer consider CS Engineering, Math Computing, or Computational Linguistics* majors for the CS Minor.
2. Overall GPA of at least 3.00 required.
3. Must be enrolled in at least COMPSCI 187 and preferably MATH 131 (or MATH 132) to submit CS Minor Intent form.
4. Successful completion of the CS Predictor Courses (COMPSCI 121, COMPSCI 187) is required to be added to the CS Minors List.  Minimum grades in CS predictor courses must meet current standard (B or better).
5. MATH 131 and MATH 132 are highly recommended since they are required prerequisites for half the CS core (240, 250) and subsequent upper level CS Electives (e.g., 311, 348, 370, 373, 383, 446, 513, 585)
6. Expectation that students reserve 5 semesters to complete the CS Minor, if starting with 121 @UMass Amherst.  SPIRE EGD may impact eligibility.
7. No course for the minor may be taken on a Pass/Fail basis. (Note: does not apply for these courses taken in Spring/Fall 2020 or Spring 2021)
8. At least 2.00 overall Minor GPA required for courses used for minor requirements with no more than one of these having a grade of less than a C (see below for CS minor requirements).
9. The minor must be completed within the 10 semesters allowed for the completion of all graduation requirements, including the major.
10. Poor performance in CS courses impacts override eligibility for subsequent CS courses.

*Until Computational Linguistics is officially approved as a major, we will continue to accept Minor Intent applications from current Linguistics majors.

CS Minor Intent The form is no longer open.

CS MINOR REQUIREMENTS

The minor requires five computer science courses:

• COMPSCI 121 Introduction to Problem Solving Using the Computer (or equivalent)
• COMPSCI 187 Programming with Data Structures (or equivalent)
• Three COMPSCI courses for majors (200-level or higher, not including CICS/COMPSCI 305) taken at the College of Information and Computer Sciences at UMass-Amherst)

Of the five courses, students must take at least two computer science "core" courses from the following list:

• COMPSCI 220 Programming Methodology
• COMPSCI 230 Computer Systems Principles
• COMPSCI 240 Reasoning Under Uncertainty
• COMPSCI 250 Introduction to Computation

There is no specific mathematics requirement for the computer science minor, but all the above courses require R1 proficiency (such as MATH 104) and COMPSCI 240 and 250 require MATH 132 as a prerequisite.

A cumulative quality point average of at least 2.00 is required for all UMass Amherst courses used to satisfy the requirements for the CS minor. No courses used to satisfy the minor can be taken on a pass/fail basis. (Note: does not apply for these courses taken in Spring/Fall 2020 or Spring 2021)

No more than one course used to satisfy the requirements for the CS Minor may have a passing grade below a C.

Program questions

If you would like more information about the CS Minor after reading the details about the requirements, please email askcsminor@cs.umass.edu.

REGISTRATION/OVERRIDES

Overrides are usually needed to register for CS courses that are restricted to majors, so if you meet prerequisites, make sure that you request an override via the on-line form for the upcoming semester (when link is available).

IMPORTANT NOTE:  Students approved for the CS Minors List get some priority for seats in CS courses.  Eligible students not on the CS Minors List may still be awarded the minor if they are able to enroll in required courses via the override process, but will have a lower priority for seats.

MINOR DECLARATION

Undergraduate Program Staff will prepare the Declaration of an Academic Minor form for students on the CS Minors List completing requirements during each semester.  The CS Minor credential (MN-CS) is posted on SPIRE after all requirements are completed (see Student Services Center or transcript).  Students who are not on the CS Minors List who believe that they are eligible for this credential should email askCSMinor@cs.umass.edu for a transcript review.