Computer Science General Information
Students transferring to most computer science programs must complete a science sequence.
For the most up-to-date information regarding computer science LEPs, please refer to the respective website per receiving institution.
Computer Science Transfer FAQs
What are "gateway requirements"?
Gateway requirements are courses determined to be indicators of student success in a
Limited Enrollment Program. Research has shown that students who successfully
complete gateway courses go on to successfully complete the degree program at a high
rate. Students who struggle in these courses have been shown to be significantly less
likely to continue to complete the degree successfully.
What are the requirements for admission to Computer Science at College Park?
Computer Science at the University of Maryland is not a Limited Enrollment
Program. Any student may declare Computer Science as their major. However,
transfer students find the process to transfer to College Park in Computer Science to be
challenging as Computer Science courses from schools outside of College Park are not
accepted for transfer. An exemption exam is given to students who may be able to
prove their knowledge of programming to be sufficient to move on to higher level
computer science courses. The exam is notoriously difficult to pass and many transfer
students end up repeating Computer Science 1 & 2 which delays their progress toward
completing their bachelor's degree.
Additional information transfer students in Computer Science at College Park should
keep in mind is the 12 upper level elective credits that are part of the Computer Science
degree. The credits may be taken in any major outside of Computer Science. Most
common chooses include Mathematics, Physical Sciences, and Economics, but student
choose courses from all available coursework at College Park. This is important for
transfer students to consider as they will want to consider what upper level electives
they want to pursue in order to take any lower level pre-requisite coursework as part of
their AA degree.
Link to information about Exemption Exams (Links to an external site.)Links to an
external site.
What are the requirements for admission to Computer Science at UMBC?
For admission to the Computer Science major at UMBC students must complete the
following:
CMSY 141 or 181 with a B or higher
CMSY 171 or 281 with a B or higher
MATH 220 with a C or higher
Students in the College of Engineering and Information Technology are allowed 1
repeat of each course. Students who require a 2nd repeat to pass ANY math, science
or technology course or pre-requisite course for a major requirement will not be
admitted. This includes ALL MATH courses including Developmental MATH
(MATH 061, 067, 070) AND Pre-calculus courses (MATH 143 & 153).
What are the transfer requirements to other schools in Computer Science?
Other schools in the state of Maryland that offer Computer Science degrees do not have
any particular gateway or admission requirements. You can always visit the schools
website and ARTSYS to see how individual courses transfer or talk to an Academic
Advisor.