Undergraduate Advising

The undergraduate programs are listed in the catalog and linked from the undergraduate programs page. The present page contains advise and information about which order to take courses in, which non-CS courses to consider taking, etc. For a quick introduction to the program and description of resources available on the CS website related to advising (current as of Fall 2016), see this youtube video by Jeff Kinne.

Who to Get Advice From

Each student has an official advisor who should approve your selection of courses. First year students normally have an advisor from the University College to make sure you are on track to complete the Foundational Studies requirements. After the first year, students are assigned an advisor in their major. Students who do not yet have a CS faculty member as an advisor should feel free to contact the CS advisors or assistant chairperson to get advice and make sure you are taking the right courses.

The CS faculty who currently serve as advisors for undergraduate students are Dr. R.B. Abhyankar and Dr. Rob Sternfeld. Students can also get unofficial advice from other CS faculty and other students. Students should feel free to ask the assistant chairperson of CS for advice as well.

Other Courses and General Advice

When Offered Most classes are only offered once per year. So, for example, you cannot plan to take CS 470 in the spring. Only the beginning CS courses are offered every semester, and certain courses are only offered once every two years or as needed. See the courses page for information on when courses are normally offered.

Breadth Exposure You must take all the courses from one of the concentrations. For the broadest exposure to computer science, we recommend taking the courses from both concentrations.

Non-CS Courses Courses that are not required but which are useful and recommended: Math 341 Probability and Statistics, Math 231 Calculus III, Physics (Phys 105 and 106, or Phys 115 and 116), Electronics (ECT 160 Electronic Fundamentals, ECT 231 Digital Computer Logic, ECT 232 Digital Computer Circuits), an economics course. See the catalog undergraduate catalog of courses for information on particular courses.

Internships/Cooperative Experiences Students are encouraged to seek internships and part-time jobs related to computer science as early as possible in your education. These experiences can greatly increase your chances of finding a good job right after graduating. Note that students who are in the US on a student visa can only be employed off campus as part of a requirement for a course. Undergraduate students can enroll in CS 399; graduate students can enroll in CS 699. Contact the assistant chairperson of CS for more information.

Course Sequencing See the CS prereq map for which courses are prerequisites for others and for a graphical depiction of courses required for the major.

The following are the recommended sequence of CS courses to complete the major in either 4 years, 3 years, or 2 years (for transfer students with significant previous CS coursework). Note that all 300-level and 400-level courses are offered at most once per year, so you must take each of these courses in whichever semester is recommended (e.g., CS 420 is only offered in the fall, so cannot be taken in the spring).

4 Year Plan of Study

SEMESTER	BOTH CONCENTRATIONS	CS CONCENTRATION	INFO SCI CONCENTRATION
Fall year 1	CS 151	Math 131
Spring year 1	CS 201	Math 132	CS 170
Fall year 2	CS 202, CS elective
Spring year 2	CS 451, CS 456, CS 303
Fall year 3	CS 470	CS 458	CS 479
Spring year 3	CS elective	CS 420	CS 469, 473
Fall year 4	CS 471		CS 457
Spring year 4	CS 452, CS 499	CS 421

3.5 Year Plan of Study, Beginning in Spring

SEMESTER	BOTH CONCENTRATIONS	CS CONCENTRATION	INFO SCI CONCENTRATION
Spring year 1	CS 151	                Math 131	
Fall year 2	CS 201	                Math 132        	CS 170
Spring year 2	CS 303		                                CS 469
Fall year 3	CS 202		                                CS 479
Spring year 3	CS 456, CS 451	        CS 420	                CS 473
Fall year 4	CS 470, CS 471, CS elective  CS 458	        CS 457
Spring year 4	CS 452, CS 499, CS elective  CS 421	

Starting in Spring, finishing in 6 Semesters It is theoretically possible to finish one semester earlier than this: move the last CS elective to Spring year 4 or Fall year 3, take remaining courses from Spring year 4 and add those to Spring year 3 (resulting in taking 13 or 15 credits of CS in Spring year 3, depending on the concentration). This is not particularly recommended.

3 Year Plan of Study

If a student does not start the CS major courses until their second year at ISU, the following is the recommended sequence to take the courses so the student can finish in 4 years. For a plan of study that included foundational studies courses (with all CS courses in the last 3 years), see the plans for the computing science and information science concentrations; these are excel files.

SEMESTER       BOTH CONCENTRATIONS	     CS CONCENTRATION	INFO SCI CONCENTRATION
Fall year 1	CS 151	                     Math 131	
Spring year 1	CS 201, CS elective	     Math 132	        CS 170
Fall year 2	CS 202		
Spring year 2	CS 303, CS 451, CS 456		                CS 469
Fall year 3	CS 470, CS 471, CS electives  CS 458	        CS 479, 457
Spring year 3	CS 452, CS 499	              CS 420, CS 421	CS 473

2 Year Plan of Study

For students completing an accepted "Transfer Single Articulation Pathways (TSAP)" two year program (for example, the associates degree in CS at Ivy Tech), the student will be given transfer credit CS 151, 201, 202, 303 and Math 131, 132. For these students, the CS degree can be completed within 2 years; plans are given below depending on whether the ISU portion is begun in a fall semester or spring semester.

Note that according to our normal transfer agreements, Ivy Tech students completing the associates in CS degree will likely also have credit for CS 457 and two CS 001 electives - meaning that the CS 457 and two CS electives in the table will already be taken care of.

Beginning in the Fall

SEMESTER       BOTH CONCENTRATIONS	CS CONCENTRATION	INFO SCI CONCENTRATION
Fall year 1	CS 470, CS elective		                CS 170
Spring year 1	CS 451, 456	        CS 420	                CS 469
Fall year 2	CS 471, CS elective	CS 458	                CS 479, 457
Spring year 2	CS 452, CS 499	        CS 421	                CS 473

Beginning in the Spring

SEMESTER       BOTH CONCENTRATIONS	     CS CONCENTRATION	INFO SCI CONCENTRATION
Spring year 1	CS 451, 456		                        CS 469
Fall year 2	CS 470, CS elective		                CS 170
Spring year 2	CS 452	                     CS 420, 421	CS 473
Fall year 3	CS 471, CS elective, CS 499  CS 458	        CS 479, 457