Do I need Discrete Math to transfer to RPI

Colleges and Universities A-Z Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
1

I am wanting to transfer in fall 18, and I wanna transfer to computer science. I go to HVCC, and I had an appt for my last semester of courses.

My advisor told me that I had to take discrete math to transfer to RPI. I was never told this, and she said this was new. If this is the case, then I would be screwed because I also needed calc 2 and physics 2, and taking discrete math would mess that up because of the requirements needed to take calc 2 and physics 2 wouldn’t be there.

I will call the transfer people at RPI if nobody has an answer but I was just wondering what people did here before I go get there take? Plus I am at school so I really can’t call yet. Did any of you guys take discrete math before transferring, or did you take it while you were there? Even the website doesn’t say anything about having to take a discrete math.

2

RPI’s CS major requires CSCI 2200 “Foundations of Computer Science”, described as “This course introduces important mathematical and theoretical tools for computer science, including topics from set theory, combinatorics, and probability theory, and then proceeds to automata theory, the Turing Machine model of computation, and notions of computational complexity. The course will emphasize formal reasoning and proof techniques.” Presumably, if you do not take a discrete math course before transfer, you will have to take this course after transfer.

You may want to ask the RPI CS department as well as RPI transfer admissions if completing a discrete math course before transfer is required.

3

@ucbalumnus If I have to take it at RPI, that is fine. It’s just that if I have to take it prior to transferring, it would be bad as this is my last semester. My old advisor never told me that I had to take it, but then I spoke to someone different and show said I have to. I have emailed a prof. in the CS dept. who handles this sort of stuff and I will get his take, since I don’t have a whole lot of time to be calling people. If nobody responses by tomorrow, I will call the admissions.

I don’t think I need it to be fairly honest, as a fair number of transfer students (Especially one exactly from HVCC), has told me they never took discrete math proir to transfer. But I just wanna be safe than sorry. Thank you!

4

https://sis.rpi.edu/rss/yhwwkwags.P_Select_Inst indicates that HVCC MATH 183 = RPI MATH 2800.

However, http://catalog.rpi.edu/content.php?filter%5B27%5D=MATH&filter%5B29%5D=2800&filter%5Bcourse_type%5D=-1&filter%5Bkeyword%5D=&filter%5B32%5D=1&filter%5Bcpage%5D=1&cur_cat_oid=16&expand=&navoid=390&search_database=Filter&filter%5Bexact_match%5D=1#acalog_template_course_filter indicates that RPI MATH 2800 no longer exists in the catalog. It looks like RPI CS currently requires CSCI 2200, described at http://catalog.rpi.edu/content.php?filter%5B27%5D=CSCI&filter%5B29%5D=2200&filter%5Bcourse_type%5D=-1&filter%5Bkeyword%5D=&filter%5B32%5D=1&filter%5Bcpage%5D=1&cur_cat_oid=16&expand=&navoid=390&search_database=Filter&filter%5Bexact_match%5D=1#acalog_template_course_filter . The CS major requirements at http://catalog.rpi.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=16&poid=3552&returnto=388 do say that “Students may not receive credit for both CSCI 2200 and MATH 2800”, indicating at least partial equivalency.

So it looks like you need to find out from RPI’s CS department what you need to do before and after transfer.