<p>Hey guys, I'm going to Berkeley next Fall aiming to do Computer Science (in the School of Letters and Science), and I saw that a requirement for the vast majority of my upper-division classes (including the two required upper-division classes) is Math 55.</p>
<p>I've done my research on my classes, and I found out that Math 55 and CS70 are both about Discrete Mathematics; the only difference is that CS70 is more tailored towards Computer Science courses. Furthermore, if you take Math 55 or CS70, you don't get credit for taking the other class.</p>
<p>So, I'm wondering, would taking CS70 cover classes that list Math 55 as a prereq, or would I still have to take Math 55? For instance, Software Engineering requires Math 55 or Math 113, but doesn't list CS70 as a prereq. Does that mean CS70 wouldn't cover the Discrete Mathematics prereq?</p>
<p>Pretty sure they intend for CS 70 to replace Math 55 for all CS major purposes, so don’t worry about that (and listed prerequisites are not enforced by the registration system).</p>
<p>If you intend to double major in CS and Math, check the departments about which one you should take (CS requires CS 70 and Math requires Math 55).</p>
<p>CS 70 information:
<a href=“http://inst.cs.berkeley.edu/~cs70/fa11/web/[/url]”>http://inst.cs.berkeley.edu/~cs70/fa11/web/</a>
[CS70</a> Home Page](<a href=“http://www-inst.eecs.berkeley.edu/~cs70/archives.html]CS70”>CS70 Home Page)</p>
<p>Math 55 information:
[Math</a> 55 | Department of Mathematics at University of California Berkeley](<a href=“http://math.berkeley.edu/courses/choosing/lowerdivcourses/math55]Math”>Math 55 | Department of Mathematics at University of California Berkeley)
[Discrete</a> Mathematics](<a href=“http://math.berkeley.edu/~bernd/math55.html]Discrete”>Discrete Mathematics)</p>
<p>I don’t intend to double major in CS and Math, and thank you so much for the information! I’ve realized I wanted to take more extra classes than I expected after planning out my first schedule.</p>
<p>I’m a EECS major and math minor.</p>
<p>For any CS course, you’ll want to take CS70. It’s geared towards computer science (in particular, theory) and prepares you much better for such courses.</p>
<p>MATH55 started out as just a discrete math course, but it’s now mainly a bridge between lower and upper division math. You learn discrete mathematics for math purposes and get an introduction to writing proper proofs. All the CS stuff is briefly skimmed over in a snippy algorithms section.</p>
<p>Did the two departments want you to take both courses, or did they accept one or the other?</p>
<p>It used to be that there was just Math 55, which was not required for math majors but was required for L&S CS majors. Many upper division CS courses listed “Math 55 or 113” as a prerequisite.</p>
<p>When I took it, the CS department took both MATH55 and CS70 while the math department only took MATH55.</p>
<p>However, looking at the topics covered, I have to say: those two courses are nowhere near equivalent. I’d say the overlap is only around 30%, and of the overlap, the most important parts of MATH55 are the least important parts of CS70 and vice versa. CS70 won’t really prepare you for upper division math, and MATH55 won’t really prepare you for algorithms.</p>
<p>My suggestion for those that are doing both (EE)CS and Math is to take both MATH55 and CS70 if possible.</p>