Computer Science Prerequisites for Top U.S Colleges

College Majors Math/Computer Science Majors
1

Hi all, I am a sophomore taking the IB (International Baccalaureate) Curriculum. What courses should I take that are prerequisites for Computer Science generally for the top colleges and should they be HL / SL?

Higher Level
Group 1: English Literature;English Language and Literature; Japanese Language and Literature
Group 2: Japanese B; French B
Group 3: Economics; Asian History;Information Technology in a Global Society
Group 4: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Design Technology
Group 5: Mathematics
Group 6: Music; Visual Arts

Standard Level
Group 1: English Literature;English Language and Literature; Japanese Language and Literature
Group 2: Japanese B, Japanese Ab Initio; French B
Group 3: Economics; Contemporary World History; Information Technology in a Global Society; Psychology
Group 4: Biology, Chemistry, Physics,Design Technology, Environmental Systems and Societies
Group 5: Mathematics; Mathematical Studies
Group 6: Music; Visual Arts

I won’t be taking Music / Visual arts so I can choose another science or social science. Most HLs I can take are 4. 6 I can take in all.

2

Have you taken bio, Chem, and physics at the IGCSE/8-10th grade/MYP level?
If so, my recommendation would be:
HL Math (if you’re very good at math), Design technology, Information technology, and either physics or chemistry
SL: English language, any Group 2 subject

If you’ve not already taken Bio/Chem/Physics or aren’t very good at math, this would become
HL: Chemistry, English or group 2, design tech
SL: Math, English or group 2 subject, information tech

3

Of the courses listed above, math HL is the most important (if, for some reason, you cannot take math HL, choose math SL over math studies SL). Everything else, choose HL or SL based on interest. Although physics HL may seem relevant, it is a non-calculus-based course, so it will not give you advanced placement in physics if an engineering-based CS major requires calculus-based physics (but do take some physics, whether SL or HL).

Is a course similar to AP CS principles available so that you can get an overview of what CS is about and gauge your interest? Looks like IB ITGS (either SL or HL) gives an overview of how computing relates to society and can therefore be helpful to you, but it does not appear to cover as much in the technical aspects (IT traditionally describes business-oriented management of computers and software, rather than design and development of computers and software).

Otherwise, try to have a well rounded base high school curriculum, including the IB selections:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/1995563-faq-high-school-college-prep-base-curriculum.html

4

^^ mostly agree. Take Math HL (I assume you’re good at math since you want to study CS). Physics HL might help for some schools (and some schools, including some Ivies, will give you credit even though it is not calculus based). But you should be aware that these two are the most difficult IB courses (after IB Further Math of course).

For the rest, take the classes you enjoy most. IB program is hard and very time consuming. If you don’t enjoy at least most of the classes, it will be harder for you to see the end.

5

Are you in the US?

6

Design Tech is a science course that involves various technologies (including applied CS, robotics, User-centered tech), with a variety of topics such as ergonomics, sustainability, commercial production, tech&innovation). The IDEAL science course for you would be CS, which is mostly programming, but it doesn’t sound like your school offers it.

7

@Sybylla No I’m in an international school in Japan.

8

@dodosol I’m “okay” at math, but if I study extra over the summer break before my junior year would I be okay for Math HL? I’m going into computer science and most of the work I’ve done with programming hasn’t been much math intensive and I’m enjoying it… your thoughts??

9

@MYOS1634 The thing is I’m scared I won’t get a great grade for Design Tech since it’s hard to quantify something so hands on driven, right? Right now I’m just taking Design Tech as an elective, but I’m already finding it a bit odd since my teacher is the one who doesnt really teach in a classroom centered style (It’s hard to explain)…

10

If you are just “okay” with math, you will have struggle with the HL Math. It is not easy and you will have to study for math much more than any of your other classes. Your time allocation to study math might be %40 of your total time of study just to be able to get a 6 (this is not an exageration, I saw that happened to many students who are not strong in math). It’s you to decide whether it is worth or not.

I also suggest you to take a look at the degree requirements of CS programs of the schools you are interested in (and you should also take a look to the syllabus of some courses). In most schools, you will have to learn a lot of math (and that won’t be just some relatively easy calculus courses, but some serious discrete maths, proofs, etc). Some of the courses will also be related to math even though at the first sight you’d think they are not. It is true that you don’t use serious math when programming some easy stuff. But this will not be the case when studying CS. First of all, application side is not heavy in most schools. They emphasize on the theoritical parts and let the students gather the practical knowledge on their own.

11

@dodosol I’m currently a sophomore and I am suffering a little bit in the honors math, but it could have just been a bad start to the year and I’m regaining speed (hopefully)… If I took Math SL would that put me in detriment trying to apply for Computer Science at good schools in the U.S (Ivy League, Stanford, etc)? I have a nice and wide range of extracurriculars (Robotics Club President, Wrestling, Brain Bowl, Student Council Class President, MUN, School Tech Group, part of a international academy of students trying to solve problems, Honor Band, Speech) and I think the good SAT Scores are achievable (I will start studying for it soon)… and i’m trying to maintain a 3.95+ GPA…

12

I am not an expert on admissions, therefore I won’t dare to make you a suggestion on whether or not Math SL will decrease your chance of admission. But, on the other hand, getting a 5 from Math HL will not make your chance better. In our school, kids’ averages in math usually get lower in their IB years. Maybe you can get some info on math from your school’s juniors/seniors. Some high schools put the grade distrubitions on each subject for different years on the school profile (usually these are the high schools that do not rank). Those might give an idea on your survival probability in the Math HL class.

Very good ECs btw. Congrats.

Good luck.

13

@dodosol Thanks! It is good to know at least my ECs may be on track at least. I don’t want to limit my unconfidence in math to prevent me from doing Math HL… I know yes, it would be a bit risky (and I will definitely talk to my seniors and juniors), but if I were to study in advance for Math HL (I have the Textbook at home) over my summer break (2 months) do you think that would give me the edge. In Math Honors 10th Grade (Sophomore) we are actually using the HL Textbook already to do polynomials, etc…

14

HL is harder than calculus BC. It’s designed for future math/STEM majors, but it’s very difficult to get a 6 (let alone a 7. )
SL, on the other hand, is roughly equivalent to Calc AB + Stats. It shouldn’t be too hard to get a 6, but it’s not as good as HL for a CS major, especially since your school doesn’t offer CS as a science.But HL 4 or 5 is even less good than a 6 SL. So, definitely talk with classmates but mostly with your math teacher, the HL and the SL math teachers, etc.

15

Just a re-comment in case you didn’t see: --> Regarding Design Technology

@MYOS1634 The thing is I’m scared I won’t get a great grade for Design Tech since it’s hard to quantify something so hands on driven, right? Right now I’m just taking Design Tech as an elective, but I’m already finding it a bit odd since my teacher is the one who doesnt really teach in a classroom centered style (It’s hard to explain)…

16

You could take it as SL, and take Technology in a global world as HL… but it’d be a social science.
Perhaps you can ask your GC whether they’ll offer CS next year for SL or HL?

17

Well they potentially could, the problem is

  1. First year of it… how good would the course actually be?
  2. They’d need to hire a teacher, set up a course all over the summer… and then probably the IB people need to come and check if the course requirements and teacher are all good… could that be achieved all over the summer? June - August?
18

@MYOS1634 Well they potentially could, the problem is

  1. First year of it… how good would the course actually be?
  2. They’d need to hire a teacher, set up a course all over the summer… and then probably the IB people need to come and check if the course requirements and teacher are all good… could that be achieved all over the summer? June - August?
19

Studying over the summer could work out for you. But only studying the topics will not be enough. The difficulty of the questions of the IB Math HL exams comes from the structures of the questions. You might think you know very well a topic, but you might find out that it is hard to solve a problem on that topic because the question usually will not be a straight forward one. In order to solve it, you will have to use your knowledge of different topics.

So, it is doable only if you study hard, if you try to really understand the topics (and not just to memorize some trics) and if you solve lots of questions on each topic (therefore if you solve all the questions in the past IB exams). One of my kids (who was not strong in math) dit it, but she had to allocate half of her study time to math!

If you want to take a CS course, you can take an online AP CS course. You can find it from many institutions in the US (JHU CTY is one, but there are others). When I say online, it will not be a course that you study alone on your own pace, but a course in a virtual classroom with students from all over the world (and with a teacher of course). If your school accepts it as one of your six courses it might be more doable, otherwise it wouldn’t worth it in your IB years (you won’t have enough time to study and to do the homeworks of a 7th subject).

One other strategy for you might be to enroll to 4 HL classes including the Math HL and then drop one of the HLs to SL in the middle of your junior year (of course if your school allows such things). That way, you could see how hard is Math HL and then you could decide on whether or not to continue with it.

20

The schools in the US practice a largely different system of that in Japan (as a whole).

Except for a few exceptions like Carnegie Mellon University’s Computer Science, you generally get accepted to the university as a whole. (others include Berkeley EECS, UIUC Computer Science, UWashington Computer Science. But I can’t recall the others. Generally almost every school accepts by “overall” standards and not by major.)

In other words, when you apply, the major you enlist most likely will not impact your admissions. You could for all I care apply to Stanford as an aspiring Sculpturer and decide it is not for you and change the first day of college to something like linguistics (or for your case, computer science) then in third year have a revelation and decide to major in Physics and Music.

As US universities are aware of such ^, don’t fret about “which” courses to take to have a chance to take Computer Science courses. You should concentrate more on taking challenging courses that also interest you while having a balance with your extra curricular.

And as of the AP CS course or any other CS courses, I am sorry to disappoint many high schoolers aiming to be CS majors but it isn’t really taken seriously at most reputable universities in the States. In fact, I know universities such as Columbia, MIT, Princeton, etc. largely ignore the AP/IB CS class. Take the AP CS or the IB equivalent if you really wish to learn it (cause you want to, not to pad resume) as it most likely won’t be of much help in your admissions. <it will="" be="" helpful="" though="" in="" whether="" you="" actually="" enjoy="" programming="" or="" not="" (as="" these="" courses="" high="" school="" are="" geared="" toward="" programming,="" cs="" itself)="">

And to @titanrey15
CS is not entirely programming. It leads to software jobs after graduation but many times, there will be CS courses (especially theoretical) that are very math intensive. After all, CS until fairly recently used to be in the Applied Math department. And even now in places like MIT, the theoretical CS side is in the math department, not the CS department.

I haven’t been really “programming” in any of my college courses outside my first semester or two. That’s how much “programming” that can happen in a CS degree. Of course if you are more interested in the software side, you are more likely to be programming more than me as I spent majority of my CS degree with writing proofs / doing abstract computations.

And the link Ucbalummus put is a great guide to follow. If you are aiming for top schools, I do recommend taking as much math as available in your school (or until you feel challenged). It’s not abnormal to see undergrads in the engineering/science side to finish courses well past Pre-Calculus. My roommate alone probably did more math than a typical math major in high school (and myself almost included too). Of course this is not the norm but if you really are interested in Computer Science, math is a great way to showcase this. Physics, not as much.