Last Fall, of all the students directly admitted to UMD for CS, only 405 actually enrolled.
Also, there were no CS 131, or 132 Honors courses offered
Last Fall, there were a Total of 3,021 Undergraduate Students Majoring in CS at UMD
Do you think it was a down year or does UMD have a lot of external and internal transfers?
Those are average numbers since 2018. The total Undergraduate would include transfers. There are students who transfer out of CS for various reasons.
The direct admit enrollment may only be 400, but UMD CS graduated about 800 students in 2021.
Anyway, itās reassuring that the OP felt UMD devoted enough resources to make it workable.
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There are students who were admitted to L&S, instead of CS, and I suspect that many of them are able to do an internal transfer. For some number of them, they will not be able to do that until the beginning of Sophomore year. There are also students who transfer in from other Colleges, after their freshman year.
Posters on this forum are concerned about being able to get into CS, if not directly admitted. The increase in CS students, from those directly enrolled freshman year, to the number that graduated proves that getting into CS from L&S in very doable
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It is possible to change majors. It is also possible to have a double major with business and arts and sciences. It will be a lot of work, but definitely still possible in four years.
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or Bank of Mom js
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Hi,Thanks for offering to provide advice.
I wanted to understand is there any particular benefit of accepting an offer for becoming a member of carillon communities ?My DS was interested in CS but was offered a place in Letter and Sciences and an offer of a place in the Living and Learning program.Does becoming a member of such a community require extra coursework?
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This FAQ Link addresses the coursework question under āAcademicsā
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DC will get AP credit for CMSC 131 and MATH 140 & 141. In HS they took two years of CS beyond AP CS A. We saw there are placement tests for CHMS 131, 216, and 250. We arenāt sure whether DC should take those tests even though DC believes they have had the course material in HS. Do you know students who have tested out of any of those classes? How challenging will it be for a freshman taking whatever the next class is after CMSC 250? Is it better that they retake some of those classes?
Good question! S23 just took one class beyond AP CS-A, the āoldā AP CS AB. 5 on calc BC in 11th. Took Calc 3 first semester and linear Algebra 2nd semester this year.
I see there is an option to apply for Scholars program. My DC was offered Carillon and wants to major in Computer Science Sophomore year. Is Scholars somehow better than Carillon? Better housing with Scholars? Thank you!
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Towards the bottom of the following link, there is a box for Scholars Self-Nomination. The link in that box will not be active until March 1.
I have no particular knowledge of Scholars or Carillon and I donāt know anything about their associated housing.
I know students who did test out of those classes. Testing out of 131 and 132 is fairly doable, and Iāve met multiple people who did that. The only person I know who exempted out of 216 and 250 was someone who dual-enrolled at UMD in high school and took those classes already. Your child can take a look at the course material for 216 and 250 and decide if they know enough to pass the tests External New Student Exemption Exams | Undergraduate Computer Science at UMD. I donāt recommend exempting out of 216 and 250 personally, since those courses are quite rigorous and are important foundationally. They are even helpful for review. My boyfriend even found taking 132 useful after being one of those kids who had coded since he could read. It really is a great foundation for solving Leetcode problems. The course after CMSC250 is CMSC351 - algorithms. Algorithms is a notorious weedout class at UMD. I canāt imagine what it would have been like to take 351 as a first semester freshman. I would not have had the study habits and acclimation to college to pass it, and I was an excellent student in high school, graduating as the valedictorian. At the very least, taking CMSC250 in the fall is my recommendation.
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Very helpful information. Thank you!
Current Senior: thanks so much for answering our questions. Any wondering if you might know the differences (pros/cons) between Schooars and Carillon programs? I see itās possible to self nominate for Scholars even if currently in Carillon. Is housing better? Any better opportunities in Scholars? Thank you.
I believe that Scholars is seen as more selective, but I do not know as much about these two programs as I do about Honors
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Thanks. Thatās good to know. We were encouraging DC to try to test out of 132 but not the rest, thinking the college transition is difficult enough without piling on high-level coursework.
DC has taken eight semesters of math that have Calculus BC or multivariable as prerequisites and four semesters of CS that have AP Calc as a prerequisite. However, knowing that CMSC 350 is a weed-out class is enough for me to encourage DC not to take it freshman year, so thatās very helpful.
Yes, I think that they will likely have an easy time with her classes freshman year, but that means theyāll have more time to apply to internships and Leetcode. Freshman year is the toughest year to find an internship, so having that extra time and freedom will be good. They should enjoy freshman year!
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Hello, can a newly admitted students (letters and science) take cs131 exemption exam in summer and register 132 in fall as a freshman? thanks