Mar 28, 2024  
Undergraduate Record 2021-2022 
    
Undergraduate Record 2021-2022 [ARCHIVED RECORD]

Interdisciplinary Major in Computer Science


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Prerequisites


To be accepted into the interdisciplinary major, students must satisfy the following pre-requisites. Coursework used to satisfy these must have a grade of C+ or higher.

  • An introductory computer science course, such as CS 1110, CS 1111, CS 1112, CS 1113 or CS 1120; or an equivalent; or successful completion of the associated place-out test.
  • CS 2110, Software Development Methods, or an equivalent; or successful completion of the associated place-out test.

NOTE: The CS 1110 & CS 2110 place-out tests do not grant course credit, they merely allow a student to move on to the next requirement. These credits will need to be made up for students who plan on completing the CS minor, rather than the BACS major.

Declaring the Interdisciplinary Major and Application Process


Applications to declare the major will be processed three times per academic year (fall, spring, summer). Students must have successfully completed the pre-requisites for their requests to be considered.

Due to prerequisite dependencies, it is difficult for students who have not completed CS 2110 by the end of their second year to complete the major in their four remaining semesters. Ability to complete the degree in a timely manner is a factor in acceptance into the major.

Second Majors: College of Arts and Sciences students who wish to declare the Interdisciplinary BA in CS as a second major must follow process described here. Because the goals of the degree are integrated with the study of the liberal arts, students from outside the College of Arts and Sciences who have not taken significant coursework in the College will not be allowed to declare the Interdisciplinary BA in CS degree as a second major.

Transfer Students from Outside the University: Students transferring into the University from other institutions must apply to the department to be allowed to declare the Interdisciplinary BA in CS major. These requests will be considered the summer before a transfer student begins classes, and the overall process will be discussed during the summer orientation session. If an incoming transfer does not attend summer orientation, they must meet with a CS advisor before classes begin to discuss their request.

Transfer students who have not completed the degree’s pre-requisites (CS 1110 or equivalent and CS 2110 or equivalent, with grades of C+ or higher) before their first semester in residence cannot be accepted into the major. Due to prerequisite dependencies, it is difficult for third-year students who have not completed CS 2110 or its equivalent to complete the Interdisciplinary BA in CS in the four remaining semesters. It is important that students transferring to the University as third-years complete the equivalent of CS 2110 before coming to UVA. In exceptional cases, students in this situation may request to declare the major, but the ability to complete the degree in a timely fashion is one factor that will determine if you are accepted into the degree program.

In recent years, there has been a rapid growth in demand for computing classes at UVA and other universities. UVA (like other universities) had a selective admissions process for this degree, but we no longer do. All students who meet the course prerequisite requirements will be accepted (if they can complete the degree on schedule). In the future, if resources are inadequate to satisfy student demand, the department may initiate a selective admissions process to evaluate applications to declare the Interdisciplinary BA in CS. This update would be noted in the Record as well as any Departmental resources. The primary (but not only) criterion for admission would be evidence that a student will be able to complete our computing curriculum in a timely manner. (This includes grades in completed CS coursework.) Secondary criteria reflect the mission, values and goals of both the University as a whole and the Department in particular, including our goal to develop graduates who will become effective contributors, collaborators, innovators, or leaders in the profession and society.

Requirements for the Interdisciplinary Major


The following version of the interdisciplinary major’s requirements applies to students with official “requirements terms” of Fall 2021 or later. Those with requirements terms of Summer 2021 or earlier, must meet slightly different requirements which can be found in an archived version of the Undergraduate Record.
To complete the Interdisciplinary BA in Computer Science, students must satisfy the pre-requisites, then complete 27 credits of CS coursework as well as 12 credits of related non-CS coursework as described below:

Prerequisites: 

As noted earlier, to be accepted into the major, students must satisfy these pre-requisites. To be accepted into the major, courses used to satisfy these must have a grade of C+ or higher, or must have successfully completed the associated place-out tests. NOTE: Place-out tests do not grant course credit, they merely allow a student to move on to the next requirement. These credits will need to be made up for students who plan on completing the CS minor, rather than the BACS major.
  • An introductory computer science course, such as CS 1110 , CS 1111 , CS 1112 , CS 1113  or CS 1120 , or an equivalent course; or successful completion of the associated place-out test.

Required CS courses (15 credits):

CS elective courses (12 credits):

These are CS courses at the 3000-level or above, in addition to the required courses listed above. At most, 3 credits of CS 4993 - Independent Study can be counted towards this requirement. CS 4980  and CS 4998  cannot be counted towards this requirement.

Integration Electives (12 credits):

These are non-CS courses that contribute to this program of study by exploring applications of computing to arts and sciences fields in a significant way or by providing fundamental computing depth and background. Integration electives are courses offered by departments in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The list of approved courses for students with a “requirement term” of Fall 2021 or Spring 2022 is available here.

 

 

Distinguished Majors Program


Distinguished majors complete the B.A. degree requirements as well as a fourth year thesis project, which requires two semesters of CS4998, Distinguised BA Majors Research (3 credits each semester). The thesis project must be approved by two advisors, typically one from Computer Science and one from Arts and Sciences.  Both advisors must approve the student’s plan of study, thesis proposal, and thesis report. For more information regarding the Distinguished Major Program, please visit https://engineering.virginia.edu/departments/computer-science/academics/computer-science-undergraduate-programs/ba-computer-science#accordion67814.

Requirements for the Minor


Any student who is able to complete all of the requirements for a minor in Computer Science before graduation will be awarded the minor if they submit the minor request form at the beginning of their graduation semester.

More information regarding the CS Minor, including when and how to apply to declare the minor, can be found here  or by contacting cs-student-support@virginia.edu.

Computer Engineering students cannot get a Computer Science minor because the degree combines Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, and they will automatically have the equivalent of the minor in CS.

 

Additional Information


For more information, contact Tina Hittinger, Manager for Student Services & Administration, Department of Computer Science, 85 Engineer’s Way, P.O. Box 400740, Charlottesville, Virginia 22904-4740; Phone: 434-924-9392, Fax: 434-982-2214; t-rex@virginia.edu.

Course Descriptions


Descriptions of Computer Science courses appear in the School of Engineering and Applied Science section.

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