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Computer Science

Basic Structure of the Department

  • The department offers a major in Computer Science, a minor in Computer Science, a minor in Digital Arts, a minor in Computational Methods, a minor in Operations Research, a major modified with Engineering, a major modified with Digital Arts, and the ability to create a modified major with Computer Science.
  • The major in Computer Science is designed for students who want a comprehensive background in Computer Science. Rather than just teaching you the systems and programming languages of today, a Computer Science major at Dartmouth allows you to be able to learn what you need to know for graduate studies or a professional career.
  • A Computer Science major consists of 3 prerequisites and 9 major courses. Prerequisite courses are: COSC 5, COSC 8 and COSC 19 (MATH 19 may be substituted). Nine additional courses are required for the major; five of those nine must be COSC 23, 25, 37, 39, and 58 or 78.
  • The minor in Computer Science is designed for students who want to complement a different major with a significant background in Computer Science. A Computer Science minor consists of 3 prerequisites and 5 upper-level courses. All the prerequisites and 3 of the upper-level courses are required, but there are choices for the remaining 2 upper-level courses.
  • The minor in Digital Arts is designed for students who want to bring their talents and skills into the digital arts realm; it teaches the principles, aesthetics and practice of digital art, modeling, and animation. A Digital Arts minor consists of 1 prerequisite and 5 upper-level courses. There are 3 required upper-level courses, but there are choices for the prerequisite and the remaining 2 upper-level courses.
  • The minor in Computational Methods prepares students to work at the interface of computer science and another discipline, training them in formulating, developing, implementing, and applying computational solutions to domain-specific challenges. A Computational Methods minor consists of 2 prerequisite courses, 3 upper-level computer science courses, and 2 upper-level courses from the relevant discipline. Most of the requirements offer several choices.
  • The minor in Operations Research is offered for students who want to complement a different major with a background in quantitative optimization. An Operations Research minor consists of 4 prerequisites and 5 upper-level courses. All the prerequisites and 4 of the upper-level courses are required, but there are choices for the remaining upper-level course.
  • The Computer Science major modified with Engineering is offered for students who want a background in Computer Science with a focus on the design of computer systems. This major consists of 8 prerequisites and 11 major courses. All the prerequisites and 5 of the major courses are required, but there are choices for the remaining 6 major courses.
  • Computer Science can be part of a modified major (frequently with Digital Arts, Engineering, or Economics, but also with Music, Philosophy, Psychology, and many other disciplines).

Courses for the Student with Little or No Background Who Wants to Explore Computer Science

  • COSC 2: Programming for Interactive Digital Arts (10W), is an introductory programming course tailored for students interested in the Digital Arts minor. It is not open to students who complete or place out of COSC 5, so a first-year student interested in a potential Digital Arts minor should be aware of that when considering which course to take and when.
  • COSC 3: Computational Thinking (10S), is a new introductory course for students from other disciplines who want to bring a computational perspective to those disciplines. It is tailored for students interested in the Computational Methods minor. It assumes no computational background.
  • COSC 4: Concepts in Computing (10X), is a broad overview for students who might never take another Computer Science course but want a basic introduction to computers and web pages.
  • COSC 5: Introduction to Computer Science(09F and 10S), is the header course for the major. There are no prerequisites for the course, and it is available to everyone.

Other Information About Courses and Considerations

  • A student who plans on majoring in Computer Science should, by the end of sophomore year, have taken at least COSC 5 (Introduction to Computer Science, offered every fall and spring), and preferably also COSC 8 (Problem Solving with Computer Science, offered every fall and winter), and MATH 19 or COSC 19 (Discrete Mathematics in Computer Science, offered every fall and winter, respectively).
  • A student planning on majoring in Computer Science is also advised to take at least two of the following: COSC 23 (Software Design and Implementation), COSC 25 (Algorithms), and COSC 37 (Computer Architecture) by the end of sophomore summer.
  • ENGS 20 does not satisfy the prerequisite requirement for the Computer Science major; students considering these two majors should instead take COSC 5, as it satisfies the prerequisite requirement for both. ENGS 20 does however satisfy the prerequisite for the Computational Methods minor.
  • The earlier a student starts taking Computer Science courses, the more flexibility there will be later on.

Current Enrollments, Class Size, and Distributives

Course Descriptions - ORC

The Computer Science home page

Last Updated: 9/9/09