Undergraduate Advising
The undergraduate programs are listed in the catalog and linked from the programs page. The present page contains advice not contained there. Check the programs page and catalog information first, and then come back here.
Contents
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 associate 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 Jeff Kinne and Luke May. Students can also get unofficial advice from other CS faculty and other students. Students should feel free to ask the associate 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 Courses 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 a few courses from other concentrations as well.
Non-CS Courses Courses that are not required but which are useful and recommended: 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 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 (depending on your particular visa situation). Undergraduate students can enroll in CS 399; graduate students can enroll in CS 699. Contact the associate chairperson of CS for more information.
Plans of Study
The course catalog contains plans of study for each major as does MySAM after you have declared a major. To see sample plans of study for all of the different concentrations in one place, see Program_plans_CS_2020.xlsx. Note that this file contains the following plans of study, which are all separate sheets.
- CS BS computing science concentration, 8 semester plan
- CS BS computing science concentration, 6 semester plan (assuming foundational studies courses taken during first year but no CS).
- CS BS computing concentration, 4 semester TSAP plan (assumes you have completed a two year computer science TSAP at Ivy Tech or other Indiana college/university, then complete the CS degree at ISU in 4 semesters)
- CS BS data science concentration, 8 semester plan
- CS BS data science concentration, 6 semester plan
- CS BS data science concentration, 4 semester TSAP plan
- CS BS information science concentration, 8 semester plan
- CS BS information science concentration, 6 semester plan
- CS BS information science concentration, 4 semester TSAP plan
- Computer science master's degree plans for each of the CS MS concentrations (academic, bioinformatics, data science, professional). This is "FYI" in case you become interested in staying at ISU for an MS.
- Computer science 4+1 plans for each of the CS MS concentrations (possible way to earn a BS in 4 years and an MS in one additional year - this is not yet approved)
Constraints on Completing the CS BS
There are two main constraints on how quickly you can finish a major - prerequisites (must case course X before Y, and Y before Z, etc.) and when courses are offered. You can see the prerequisite structure for the CS courses in ISU CS BS program and prereqs - 2020. You can see when courses are normally offered at Courses
You can also see how each of the concentrations can be completed in 6 semesters (assuming starting CS courses in the fall) in the program plans spreadsheet linked above. You can see how the last two years of the major in each concentration can be completed in two years by checking the TSAP program plans in the program plans spreadsheet. Your exact situation may differ slightly than any of these scenarios depending on what you already have completed in terms of CS courses and math courses.
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
