Questions about Admissions, Internal Transfers, and Degrees

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carnegie Mellon University
1

<p>I am very interested in Carnegie Mellon and right now it is my top school. I am fairly certain that I will be applying ED come this fall. (Currently a junior). I am interested in doing Computer Science and Economics (Not incredibly unique, I know. It also sounds like a lot of people might be trying to do what I want to do). I don't believe I have the stats for SCS: All honors, 4 APs (Computer Science, Stat, English Language, US), and probably 5 APs next year. 3.5 unweighted, 4.2 weighted. Grades rose over the years though, 3.8 weighted freshman year, 4.1 weighted sophomore year, 4.5 junior year. 700M/660CR/750W SAT. Just took it again last Saturday and hopefully brought up math significantly and CR a bit. Taking the ACT in June as well. Taking Subject Tests in Math 2 and US History in June as well. Decent ECs. </p>

<p>I would really like to be done December 15th, and I think I have a decent to good shot at H&SS although I may be wrong. I don't think I have really any shot at SCS but I may also be wrong there too. </p>

<p>So the questions:</p>

<p>1) Is it worth taking the risk and applying SCS ED and then going H&SS RD if I get denied?
2) If I applied to H&SS ED and was accepted, could I apply to SCS and other schools at CMU RD? Any idea how they handle this? I would imagine they would have to let you for multi-school programs like Arts and Humanities although SCS and H&SS unfortunately don't have a dual-program to my knowledge.
3) Is it possible to get a B.A. in CS at Carnegie Mellon? Or only a B.S.?
4) Would it be possible to to take 15-122, 15-150, and 15-2xx throughout the freshman year along with some economic courses, availability wise? According to the guidelines for transferring into CS from another internal school, you are judged off grades in those three classes. Any idea how hard this is to do? What kind of grades you need? If this is just possible in general?
5) It appears you can double major outside of CSC, so I could double major in econ and CS from H&SS. Any idea what exactly the degree is from the major in CS? Is it a B.A? A B.S.? I have heard from alumni that it basically a CS degree with a very different name. They said CMU is very careful about making sure that you cannot have a "real" CS degree from SCS unless you actually went to SCS. </p>

<p>Sorry for the wall of text. Thank you very much to any help!</p>

2

<p>There’re lots of questions and to a bunch of them I honestly don’t know the answer. I might also not be in the best position to answer these questions (being neither a CS major nor an Econs major; considered double-majoring in CS once upon a time though), but here’s what I know to the best of my knowledge:</p>

<p>Should your primary major be CS, the degree you receive from SCS is a BS in Computer Science. If, say, your primary major is Economics, and you’ve double-majored in CS, then your degree is going to be a “BA/BS in Economics with an addditional major in CS”. That’s how it looks like on the actual diploma. Whether it’s a BA or BS in econs depends on your choice. Unlike the economics dept which offers 4 different econs degress, I believe SCS only offers a BS in CS, as there is no indication of the offering of a BA in CS in SCS’s undergraduate catalog. (see [School</a> of Computer Science](<a href=“School of Computer Science < Carnegie Mellon University”>School of Computer Science < Carnegie Mellon University)) I have personally never heard of anything about being unable to have a “real” CS degree from SCS unless you went to SCS. If you look up the catalog (which is a really useful resource for answers to most of the academic curriculum-related questions you would have throughout your undergraduate career), you would see the requirements for an additional major in CS is almost identical to a primary major in CS, other than the GenEd requirements, one or two immigration courses, and the mandatory minor requirement. The only differences are that your administrative home is not SCS and that you may not registration priority for certain popular CS courses. Besides those things, I really do not see why an additional major in CS is not as ‘real’ as a primary major in CS. At the very most, I think what people who said that meant was that your degree information printed on the actual diploma is not exactly a “BS in CS”, but a “BA/BS in xxx (something else) with an additional major in CS”.</p>

<p>From what I’ve heard, apparently the CS courses you need to do well in for transferring are 15213 and 15251, both of which are quite notoriously tough. 15213 has 15122 as prerequisite. 15122 has 15112 as prerequisite. So unless you come in with credits for 15112, there is no way you could take 15213 in your freshman year. 15251 has 15112 and 21127 as prerequisites. You have to get rid of 21127 if you want to do 15251 in your freshman spring. However, most of the 21127 sections in the fall are reserved for CS freshmen (I could be wrong regarding that though), so you might get waitlisted for that class if you are not in CS. I believe you need to get As in these two classes in order to be considered for transferring. Those are hard courses, but it is definitely possible to transfer. Some might claim it is harder for HSS students to transfer into CS, but I don’t quite agree on that. What is important is you doing well in those classes, not which college you are currently in. I actually have the feeling that plenty of people who wanted to do CS got transferred into CS. </p>

<p>The core economics courses (73100 73150 73200 73252 73253 73261) are highly sequential and each has the previous one as a prerequisite. It is not possible that you can take ‘some’ (some being greater than 2) of these core courses in one year. Availability-wise, 73100 could be quite popular. Econs majors have priority when the econs dept clears waitlists, but so far not being an econs major I have had no problem getting myself registered for 73150. </p>

<p>While there is no BXA between SCS and HSS, you could always do a dual degree, provided that you complete enough credits (called ‘units’ here) required for graduation with two degrees. I’m not sure about the requirement on the SCS side, but the HSS side requires that you complete 90 units beyond the 360 units required for any HSS degree in order to receive a dual degree. It could be feasible within 4 years if you entered with lots of AP credits, but again, it’s better that you consult your academic advisor on that matter. </p>

<p>(No comments on admission stuff.)</p>

3

<ol>
<li>You only need to turn in one application. On the app, you choose and rank which colleges you are interested in.</li>
<li>^ Same</li>
<li>It’s a BS in CS, but there isn’t really a difference between a BA and BS in CS.</li>
<li>Basically, if you get good grades in your intro CS courses, you will probably be able to take the higher level CS courses (251, etc). You might have a harder time getting into some electives, but often times, people drop out in the first couple weeks. Besides getting priority in choosing CS courses, there isn’t much of a point to transferring to SCS if you’re double majoring in CS and Econ, but you can if you really want to.
5.

I don’t think this is true because in order to double major in CS, you have to take the same classes as the regular CS majors.</li>
</ol>

4

<p>"They said CMU is very careful about making sure that you cannot have a “real” CS degree from SCS unless you actually went to SCS.’</p>

<p>Huh? If you want to double major in CS, without ever getting accepted to SCS, you can do it. I don’t think there will be any employer that looks at your double major of CS and econ (or whatever) and asks whether you got it from SCS. If you have a degree in CS from Carnegie Mellon, that’s what you have. I doubt anyone looks at the minutia of which school at CMU it is actually from, and as whale says, you have to take the same classes.</p>

5

<p>Thank you all for your responses.</p>

<p>I am expecting a 4, maybe a 5 on the AP Computer Science test. I am also going to self-learn some C and maybe Python over the next year, so hopefully that will be enough to place me out of 15-112 and go straight into 15-122. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>I am talking about early decision, which only always you to apply to one school. I am trying to figure out if you are allowed to apply to additional schools within CMU if you are accepted to a different school within CMU early decision. My suspicion is that there must be some type of additional application process for accepted ED students who want to do BXA. And by the way, at most schools, there is a fairly significant different between a B.S. and B.A. From the programs I have looked at, a B.S. in general is about 5 additional classes compared to a B.A. </p>

<p>My confusion I believe is the difference between a dual major and a double major/additional major at CMU. They appear to be different things. It seems like a double/additional major is a primary B.A/B.S. with an “additional major” in another field. A dual major appears to be a B.A/B.S. in one subject and a B.A./B.S. in another. Correct me if I am wrong. </p>

<p>I believe a B.S. in Computer Science sounds significantly better than an “additional major” in Computer Science to employers, regardless if they are similar course requirements, but I may just be completely wrong. The other aspect of that, is the convenience of having a true double major is you can always omit one if you are applying to a job that directly applies to only one. For example, if you had a B.A/B.S. in Econ/CS and you were applying to a tech firm you could simply omit the Econ and it would look like you studied solely CS. Putting only “additional major” in CS would look strange on a resume. </p>

<p>I have also gather that you cannot get a B.A. in Economics and a B.S. in CS from H&SS and you cannot get a B.S. in CS unless you are specifically enrolled in CSC. Is this correct?</p>

<p>Thank again for all your responses.</p>

6

<p>"Computer Science as a Secondary Concentration
Revised July, 2011</p>

<p>The School of Computer Science offers both a Double Major and a Minor in Computer Science as of Fall, 2010.</p>

<p>Double Major</p>

<p>NOTE: The double major/minor requirements have changed significantly as of Fall, 2010. Non-majors admitted in Fall, 2010 can follow the new double major/minor requirements (below) or the Fall, 2009 double major/minor requirements as determined by course availability. Students admitted in Fall, 2008 should follow the Fall, 2008 double major/minor requirements. Students admitted prior to Fall, 2008 but on or after Fall, 2006 should follow the Fall, 2006 double major/minor requirements. Students admitted prior to Fall, 2006 should follow the prior double major/minor requirements."</p>

<p>Maybe you should talk to an employer. But I strongly believe that your resume will say, bachelor of science, computer science/economics…or whatever you want it to say. Or during your internship phase, double major compsci/econ. You do not have to list it as “additional major” on your resume, you can list it as a Bachelor of Science. I suggest you email someone from the compsci dept and ask them if you get a double major/additional major in comp sci, will it be a bachelor of science. What else could it possibly be? A comp sci degree from CMU is a comp sci degree, I doubt anyone is going to be nitpicking and asking you if it is a “additional major” or granted from SCS.</p>